Yeah, I usually avoid his videos
. Not a fan either. He had the first charging test I’ve seen though.
2027 Chevrolet Bolt - Revealed
- Thread starter E365
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Yeah, I usually avoid his videos
. Not a fan either. He had the first charging test I’ve seen though.Thanks for the explanation, I explored what you are saying in your last post. I knew nothing about batteries until the video was posted on the Bolt. Yeah, I was under the impression that LFP was the newest and greatest.
With that said, after reading some more it explains pretty much what you were saying. It tends to align a little with that video too. Yes GM stating a full charge is better to balance the cells vs the NMC which encourages charging to 80%.
It seems besides LFP cheaper to make the safety factor also comes into play. And the writer of this story does say LFP can handle more charging cycles. Also better hot weather performance, but yeah, NMC is better at cold weather and I suspect that would be more important. Though I THINK I mentioned in the southern part of the USA that isnt an issue.
Anyway, the story aligns with what you posted, seems like a draw... being in the SouthEast I might be more inclined to like the cheaper LFP however, it would not in anyway influence what vehicle I would drive... I do see the mainstream industry according to this article seems to be moving to LFP. Most likely cost, yet that safety margin seems to be in every article I read on the subject too.
Thanks for your reply!
Here is what I just read up on.
"LFP Batteries: Why Tesla, Ford, & BYD Are Switching to This Cheaper, Safer EV Technology"
https://www.batterytechonline.com/l...switching-to-this-cheaper-safer-ev-technology
..
He does not say what the price/cost to recharge was and price per mile.
Blabbering for ages is typical for any “out of spec” videos.
The new Bolt is great but the fact that you can get an Equinox EV for the same price or less, you’d have to be stupid to buy one.
Once they sit for a while and the discounts start it’ll be a great value too
I think he charged for close to 30 minutes, right? Depending on location and time of day, a rough estimate in So Cal might be $25 - $35. Charging faster is more per minute, of course because the "hose" is bigger. Figure $0.40 $0,50 per kWh.
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It's part of their brand. I think many of their subscribers listen to them in the background at work. Their videos are ridiculously long and some people seem to like it, so they keep doing it.
I was debating this as well. The only reason i can see someone going with the Bolt is that they prefer a smaller vehicle, or they want to spend the extra money on features. When the Equinox dropped, I was enamored of that 35K price. But I really wanted ventilated seats because my region is very hot and we often spends weekends outdoors for softball. I also preferred AWD for the extra acceleration. GM only made the seats available on the top level 3RS AWD trim, which was well over 45K. If you've ever sat in an Equinox, it's not a $45,000 car. Hence, I paid a bit more and got the larger Blazer instead. It lost half its value already, but I'm trying to keep it long enough to not care.The new Bolt is great but the fact that you can get an Equinox EV for the same price or less, you’d have to be stupid to buy one.
Once they sit for a while and the discounts start it’ll be a great value too
Manufacturers are adopting the LFP cells for the lower range trims. Ford, Tesla, and Rivian have already done this. I'm surprised Lucid hasn't gone this route because with their vehicle efficiency LFP would still deliver excellent range. GM and Ford are working on Manganese rich cells, which I guess are a middle ground between NMC and LFP. Higher energy density than LFP, but less Cobalt for cost reduction.
Fair enough, although our "$45K" Equinox EV RS FWD was more than $10K less than that after negotiation and incentives. When you look at it as a $35K car it's much more reasonable. Now the deals are even better on new ones, and if your budget is $25K for a car you can get a barely used EqEV AWD - I don't think any other car can give you what that car will give you for your money.
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The Equinox definitely provides a lot of value in the 25K to 35K price space. Even the base trim at 35K was a good deal for someone that was ok with the interior and powertrain. There's a lot of compression in used EV pricing in that 20 - 30K range. You have a choice of the Ariya, Model 3, ID.4, Mach-E, Ioniq, EV6, Polestar 2, Equinox, Blazer EV...so many options. And even the brand new Bolt and Leaf are in that range. The EGMP vehicles might be excluded because of the ongoing ICCU issue, but even without those there are plenty of other options and the Equinox and Blazer are right up there as far as value.
I'm eager to see its charging and cabin AC performance on a hot day, but then again Im almost positive I know what Im going to see.
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Hopefully GM learned from its experience with the other Ultium vehicles how to retain optimal charging in hot weather, but you know the bean counters run things. They probably have some spreadsheet analysis on how many target customers live in areas with elevated temps vs the cost of upgrading the cooling hardware.
@alarmguy I think there is an error in my post #105. Tesla Superchargers charge more per kWh for non-Tesla cars. Perhaps 10 cents more? Don't quote me on the rate.
I don't pay much attention to Supercharging because I so rarely use them. I will say this, once you stop the "thinking like ICE" mindset, you realize EVs are doable. Depending on your use case and preferences, of course.
I don't pay much attention to Supercharging because I so rarely use them. I will say this, once you stop the "thinking like ICE" mindset, you realize EVs are doable. Depending on your use case and preferences, of course.
Agree, which you should know by now.
I think the other way around though and would suggest some stop thinking like EV mindset.
It depends on the household and use of the vehicle as you and most others also have ICE vehicles.
There's a review ( 3/9/25 ) at AutoGuide of the new '27 BOLT . Good looking vehicle . Starts under $29,000 ( includes destination charge ) . But is it worth it with high electricity costs compared to gas prices of the past , present and future . 
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I'm talking about charging vs gas stations. The mindset we all have is, I can gas up in 5 minutes vs sitting on a supercharger for an hour. My point is, these cars are different so the ICE mindset does not fit. You learn, at least I did.
I am not sure what an EV mindset is.
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Me watching the pump put 30 gallons into my Expedition at Costco while two other cars already finished.
For real though, I never get gas that quickly when traveling. Everyone is taking a restroom or meal break. Yes, my EV is slower than gas, but for the vast majority of my use case it's more convenient because I don't have to alter my schedule to get gas. I'm a stickler for Costco because it has the best price on top-tier premium fuel and my Expedition is tuned for 93. Even when I get gas from Costco I try to leverage the trip to get other stuff I need from the store, despite it only being 10 minutes away. Not really much different as compared when traveling. A 10-minute refueling stop turns into 40 minutes of doing other stuff.
Exactly. That's my point, neither do most people unless that have a gas pump at home. There is no 5 minute fill up if you include travel time, waiting in line, whatever. I spend far less time fueling my EV than just about any ICE vehicle.Me watching the pump put 30 gallons into my Expedition at Costco while two other cars already finished.
For real though, I never get gas that quickly when traveling. Everyone is taking a restroom or meal break. Yes, my EV is slower than gas, but for the vast majority of my use case it's more convenient because I don't have to alter my schedule to get gas. I'm a stickler for Costco because it has the best price on top-tier premium fuel and my Expedition is tuned for 93. Even when I get gas from Costco I try to leverage the trip to get other stuff I need from the store, despite it only being 10 minutes away. Not really much different as compared when traveling. A 10-minute refueling stop turns into 40 minutes of doing other stuff.
We'll have to wait for a next gen rig from GM before see anything competitive if they even bother.
For moving people ICE buys me nothing from a cost or time standpoint at this stage, nor will it ever.
Ice will never offer me the convenience of skipping the filling station.
An EV buys me back substantial personal time 50 trips/ stops a year or more to a remote location and Id typically get a better performing vehicle.
This all before counting in that I can make fuel for an EV off my roof, and at the moment, even if I have t buy the energy on the road its less than ICE.
Well, you’re the one who brought it up ice mindset so I don’t know what that means either.
I would think you have an EV mindset but I like to point out you yourself have two gasoline vehicles.
We both agree one size does not fit all and there is no way in heck that I am going to drive four hours to my son’s house for a five hour visit drive four hours back home and sit at a supercharger along the way when I could gas up in five minutes and go. We drive nonstop straight through visit. Drive home.
Next step my daughter’s house five hours away straight through.
Doesn’t make any sense in my scenario’s
I can only assume you do not take trips like I just highlight it and if you do more power to you. I know people do stop. We are not a munch and stop family.
I know you have a distain for stopping at gas stations. For me, I love it less than eight minutes. My car is fully charged no matter where I wanna go anytime day or night completely thoughtless process any place in the country.
I would like to have a local EV possibly someday however as long as I have a boat that I tow I never will and even then I might go for a big giant pickup truck instead
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The entire "Ultium" concept of modular components, parts, cells, and software shared across a variety of vehicles made sense for GM. No other automaker was doing that. But, the entire project was also an excercise in cost-cutting and they still made it too traditional of an architecture with software as an afterthought.
On the other hand, while I appreciate their investment and I do love GM EVs (you know I've had multiple), the entire platform is "good enough." Good enough is not wrong, it's just... a choice. Good enough is a smart choice in a country where EVs are less than 10% of new cars sold. And when you're stacking $10K+ of cash on the hood of every single unit you sell, it matters more if you can cut costs than if you have the absolute fastest charging or fastest accelerating EV on the market.
And good enough is really, good enough for most people. That's why GM EVs are 2nd in sales in the US. And why there's one in my driveway that we felt confident enough to purchase (not lease) and put 25-30K miles/year on. Sure, the depreciation is awful, but we basically shopped based on "miles of range per dollar" and "the cheapest way to get to 200,000 miles" and the Equinox EV can do that.
Early adopters and rich people want the car that goes 0-60 the fastest. Charges up the fastest. Can fart from the mobile app (not that I know a single Tesla owner that actually cares about that gimmick)... But as EVs go mainstream, that stuff matters less and less.
Incremental improvements to GM Ultium stuff will continue. Completing the transition to NACS ports, minor updates to drive units to improve efficiency (as they did from 2024 to 2025 model year stuff), etc. But we aren't going to see anything major for a while. From my understanding LFP cells were coming but given that GM is buying those from China for the New Bolt (Boltium?) who knows how long that will take.
Where GM really failed with Ultium was software. They claimed OTA updates. And sure, it does technically have it, and there have been many, but only for certain updats to certain modules. Most updates still require the dealership to do... and dealerships hate it, and the customers do too. GM has a TSB that any GM Ultium EV should undergo "Vehicle wide programming" any time it's in for any service (any unrelated warranty repair, tire rotation, etc) and that customers can request all the updates at any time under the vehicle warranty at no charge for no reason. Yet go to any GM EV FB group or forum any there are countless posts of "the dealer said they won't update it" "the dealer bricked my car" "it took them 4 days to do the updates" "dealer #1 lied and said there were no updates so I took it to dealer #2 and they had no problem updating the car"
Oh and good luck with the myChevy app. If you want to use it, you have to pay for it... and even if you pay, it straight up just doesn't work most of the time. Oh, and no CarPlay (although they bothered to code it given that it exists in the Prologue, so stupid!).
You can build the best car in the world but if the software sucks, the entire car sucks. Software is what sets Tesla and Rivian apart and why VW invested billions in Rivian and is building their Scout vehicles with Rivian software... because they get that software is just as important for an EV as the physical components.
GM understands this now that the reviews and real world owner experiences are in and they're basically starting over in software, starting with the 2028 Escalade IQ: https://news.gm.com/home.detail.htm...-computer-platform-electric-gas-vehicles.html
And Ford killed the Lightning to start going that route too in their upcoming cheaper EV. They're all finally understanding that lines of code are cheaper than more parts. But, it's VERY challenging to do at scale, reliably, and securely. I wish both GM and Ford the best on this aspect and look forward to what they come out with in the upcoming years. But in the meantime Tesla and Rivian still make the best overall EVs while GM makes the best value EVs.
PS: To remain at least somewhat on topic, the new Bolt is a GREAT value and great idea. But like I've said before, the Equinox EV is cheaper to buy after discounts and incentives so why buy a Bolt. GM offering so many options is working against them. It does suck the new Bolt is already discontinued but if enough people vote with their wallets and buy them, they might change their mind. Who knows. But while I hear complaints from people about the Botl already being discontinued all over the internet, 99.9% of those people don't have a 2027 Bolt in their driveway. If you aren't willing to buy the product, you shouldn't worry about if it exists or not.
PS2: Discontinuing Brightdrop was SO STUPID. Last mile delivery and small business use cases like electrician, plumber, etc. is the perfect application for an EV van. The biggest problem with this vehicle was IMO, the marketing. Nobody knew it existed. When we bought the Equinox EV I asked both the salesman and the finance manager about how many Brightdrops they sell. NEITHER OF THEM EVEN KNEW WHAT IT WAS even though I could see two of them sitting there... in the back... super dusty... and you couldn't even find that model on that dealer's website (you could if you Googled for it but not directly on their site). Brightdrop is the perfect opportunity to scale production (even if you don't make any money on the vehicles themselves) because businesses but 10s or 100s or 1000s of vehicles at a time... not 1 every 5 years like a normal person.
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