Is it safe to buy a Chevy Bolt?

A

avacado11

Joined
Aug 12, 2015
Messages
801
Location
NY
'17-'19 Bolts are currently recalled for overheating batteries that catch on fire. GM hasn't developed a permanent fix yet(recall is a month old). The temporary fix reduces capacity to allow margin for excessive charge. Do you think GM will ever have a permanent fix for this? it's recalled but GM is known to put money before consumer safety. I believe there are only about 12 reported cases out of some 60k+ examples.

I think it's absolutely stupid to buy a car that has a possibility of blowing up...but at the same time it's the only EV for this type of money to offer 200+ miles range. My BMW i3 is a ticking time bomb with it's cracked motor mount bushing that requires too much labor to replace.

Should I buy a Bolt now or wait it out another month or two? The i3 is garaged at the moment but it would be nice to have a useable EV in the winter instead of driving the gas car.
 
gathermewool said:
Why is the i3 garages?
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20" wheel option only allows summer tread, tried running last 2 winters and had to buy new tires by spring. Plus the sub 40 mile winter range is useless just isn't worth the hassle of buying $1500 set of winter wheels. Hence why I want a EV with a common tire size and useable range after cold temperature drop.
 
slacktide_bitog said:
It doesn't stop charging when fully charged? I thought they'd be able to prevent it from being overcharged :eek:
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The batteries do stop charging, but a design flaw of the cell makes it prone to overheating and catching on fire if at 100% SOC. From what I understand by limiting it to 90% they leave margin for any fluctuation to stay within safety perimeters. This takes about 25 miles off advertised range and still isn't a permanent fix as the cells are still defective by design.
 
Ah, I thought you had a REX for some reason.

I would wait on the Bolt, as you say, to be permafixed and offered at a steep discount for the trouble. No discount = no buy; not worth the risk.

Actually, now that I think about it, I don’t think it’s worth the risk at all, unless they say they’re going to do something like replace the defective packs with a redesigned one.
 
Well that's a bummer. That's probably my favorite electric car on the market. Definitely the one I would buy if I were to buy an electric car.
 
They are coming out with a new version, maybe it will have a heat pump for less range drop especially in a cold winter state. Also a larger version of the Bolt. I don’t know of any ev’s that charge to 100%, they all have a pretty good buffer on top and bottom of the capacity. Like the Volt had 3 kwhr on top and bottom approximately, giving 6 less kwhr of useable capacity compared to total capacity. But I don’t know all the ins and outs like the ev gurus do.
Amazon thermostats caught fire because consumers drove the wall mounting screw in the casing instead of the correct screw. Just that intrusion into the battery made it catch fire.
 
Farnsworth said:
They are coming out with a new version, maybe it will have a heat pump for less range drop especially in a cold winter state. Also a larger version of the Bolt. I don’t know of any ev’s that charge to 100%, they all have a pretty good buffer on top and bottom of the capacity. Like the Volt had 3 kwhr on top and bottom approximately, giving 6 less kwhr of useable capacity compared to total capacity. But I don’t know all the ins and outs like the ev gurus do.
Amazon thermostats caught fire because consumers drove the wall mounting screw in the casing instead of the correct screw. Just that intrusion into the battery made it catch fire.
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They all should have buffers to improve life expectancy. The fact that GM had to lower SOC even with a built in buffer to save them from blowing up really proves that it's a defective battery. It's sad because the Bolt is the only economy EV that offers 200+ range for less than 20k
 
avacado11 said:
'17-'19 Bolts are currently recalled for overheating batteries that catch on fire. GM hasn't developed a permanent fix yet(recall is a month old). The temporary fix reduces capacity to allow margin for excessive charge. Do you think GM will ever have a permanent fix for this? it's recalled but GM is known to put money before consumer safety. I believe there are only about 12 reported cases out of some 60k+ examples.

I think it's absolutely stupid to buy a car that has a possibility of blowing up...but at the same time it's the only EV for this type of money to offer 200+ miles range. My BMW i3 is a ticking time bomb with it's cracked motor mount bushing that requires too much labor to replace.

Should I buy a Bolt now or wait it out another month or two? The i3 is garaged at the moment but it would be nice to have a useable EV in the winter instead of driving the gas car.
Click to expand...

Only you can answer.....I see central NY in your signature. That sized EV is not something I would have faith in for central NY winters. Different if you won't need to travel is the winter conditions. If you do need to travel in winter conditions this is NOT the vehicle for it. Neither is a Prius.

I don't know your situation but I'd look at a Camry :geek:
 
It’s actually the best time to buy a bolt, only Chinese sourced batteries flame and only if you don’t use hilltop reserve under specific cases.

Buy $10,000 used bolt, use hilltop reserve then enjoy the eventual recall if you get a non-us battery


Only thing I will warn of is check your local county and state title and registration for a BEV.

Then honestly and accurately figure out how many miles you drive and how much gas do you burn, compare to your assumed electric cost + EV taxes

You may find BEV TCO is a lot higher than a normal econobox, the EV tax around here costs more than I pay for fuel annually making it a no go
 
Last edited:
Rmay635703 said:
Buy $10,000 used bolt, use hilltop reserve then enjoy the eventual recall if you get a non-us battery
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Good luck. About the only Bolt you will get for $10,000 is this one or one with 200,000 miles.

97434a7a-7381-497b-880c-13d7b6a4481d.JPG
 
atikovi said:
If that's the reason you wouldn't buy, I'd say a car with 10 gallons of gasoline right under it has a greater likelihood of doing that then the 12 out of 60,000 Bolts that have.
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Ended up purchasing a 2017 Bolt with 18k miles. Best decision I ever made with absolutely no regrets. It’s 5 days since I’ve plugged in to charge. Hilltop mode on. Frankly, not even going to get the recall done until GM comes out with a permanent fix as all it does is permanently rob range.

only gripe I have is not having DC fast charge. Guess I’ll have to drive my Rav4 or Tacoma for long trips lol
 
You’ll be fine. They will have a proper fix for it by early next year. Making sure it only goes to 90% insures no surprise issues. Battery tech is still pretty fresh technology when it comes to mass produced cars....but most automakers will have most of the bugs out pretty quick....
 
avacado11 said:
Ended up purchasing a 2017 Bolt with 18k miles. Best decision I ever made with absolutely no regrets. It’s 5 days since I’ve plugged in to charge. Hilltop mode on. Frankly, not even going to get the recall done until GM comes out with a permanent fix as all it does is permanently rob range.

only gripe I have is not having DC fast charge. Guess I’ll have to drive my Rav4 or Tacoma for long trips lol
Click to expand...
Good on ‘ya … must be great around town in particular 🦌
 
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