I bought a 2019 Chevy Bolt in September 2018 in California where I then lived. (I had a perfectly good 13-year old Toyota Prius which I sold to a friend.) I couldn't resist the subsidies. The list price of the car was about $40,000, but federal, State of California, Sonoma (County) Clean Power, & Chevrolet ended up kicking in $16,500, so the bottom line was about $23,500.
It was a drag when shortly thereafter Chevrolet started saying one had to dial back on the amount the car could be charged while they figured out what the problem was with the batteries. One of the selling points of Bolt was that it had the reputation of charging for 238 miles. I have accepted the numbers that Chevy sold 140,000 Bolts, and four burned. Once my car got to Mass. in December 2020, the charging capacity was very much reduced because of the cold (batteries don't like cold). (The car got to Mass. on a car shipping tractor trailer.) I then had a long frustrating period while Chevrolet kept saying they would solve the battery problem, but didn't. I was living in an apartment in West Concord while I hunted for a house to buy, and was using Colonial Chevrolet in Acton for service (which means for a Bolt getting the tires rotated). I finally figured out that Colonial had only done one replacement of batteries, that they only had one mechanic trained on Bolts, and he was the same guy that did all the other hightech service work for Colonial. Then I learned from a friend who also owns a Bolt of similar vintage about a guy who works at the State level for Chevrolet, a fixer guy who really wants to help people get their new batteries. A few weeks later this winter, my batteries were replaced at a Chevrolet dealership in Framingham. Brand new batteries, reportedly better batteries, and supposedly at a point I will get warranty documents extending my warranty. As spring is coming on, and it's not so cold, I'm charging to about "250 miles." I figured out that in February, last month, the electricity to run my Bolt cost a little over $40. You could check my math! I read a news email from Bloomberg to follow the EV market: here's a link to one from March 8: https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?tab=rm&ogbl#search/Bloomberg+hyperdrive/FMfcgzGmvLWSHwbSqsjnMJJVVfXBnvzq. If this link doesn't do it, the newsletter is called Bloomberg Hyperdrive. The Bolt has incredible torque which I resist showing off when I move forward from lights on Rt. 2. It's fun, four electric motors on each of the four wheels. It has a "gear" called L which is all I ever use, when you pull your foot off the accelerator the car slows down, just like a golf cart, so I never use the brake. Now that I have my new batteries, I recommend this electric car, but I've read that Chevrolet may phase out the Bolt when it brings out the Chevy Equinox. I guess I should let the LFD know that I have an EV.
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