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MM Test-Drive: 2023 Chevrolet Bolt EUV.
https://www.chevrolet.com/electric/bolt-euv
I was at my Chevy/Buick/GMC dealership today (one of the largest on the East Coast), getting a 4-wheel-alignment for my 2021 Encore GX It’s about two years old now…and I will shortly be doing a two-year-ownership-report. I figured, after two years, the wheels could use some alignment with some of the crap-roads in this area, but it wasn’t bad at all..…off-specs, but not very far. And I got a good price with VIP service-discount coupon from the dealership.
While I was there, I thought, since I had never test-driven an all-electric Chevy Bolt before, I’d go ahead and check one out today while I had the time, and a couple of them were in stock (they are “currently” rather hard to get…no pun intended). So, after a nice chat with the sales-rep about the latest GM vehicles and the auto market in general (he had sold me all three of my Buicks), he went and got me the key-fob to a new 2023 Chevy Bolt EUV…a somewhat larger version of the regular Chevy Bolt that is much like a electric version of my own Buick Encore GX, except with a somewhat lower roofline and slightly smaller cargo area. It was regular appliance-(Summit) White, with chrome trim and a black leather interior. A Bolt EUV Premier trim-version, it factory-listed for about 38K, but the dealership had an Adjusted-Market-Value sticker on it with 43K….5K over list. When I noted that, he told me that, only just recently, as slightly more Bolts have become available, did they mark them at 5K over list……before, they were 10K over list. (Not with my money, they aren’t…LOL). To be fair, though, electric-car-buyers sometimes get Federal or State tax-credits, HOV highway-lane-privilidges, and at my dealership, free recharges on request…..for me, the free recharging would eliminate one big possible headache to BEV ownership, as my own condo-townhouse is simply not feasible for an outdoor recharging-plug. That dealership has the latest 400-volt Super-Chargers that will go from a 0-100% charge in about an hour…less than that, of course, if the battery is not down low. There are also a number of Tesla-grade charging stations at local businesses near my house, but they may (?) need an adapter to fit the GM charge-plugs.
Anyhow, to the test-drive. My left leg has not been in the best of condition lately (In fact, I’m going to miss the January D.C. Auto Show this year because of it)…so I didn’t do one of my former and usual MM-grade reviews, but I did give it about a 10-mile test drive on a few different kinds of roads and checked out the interior, cargo area, and road-manners.
In short, with a couple of exceptions, this is one Honey of a little car….although it actually functions more like a crossover. GM put a lot of time and effort into all of the different versions of this Bolt, and, particularly with this larger/roomer EUV version, it shows. Unfortunately, I couldn’t even get it completely out of the dealer-lot before some clown in a big white Ford F-150 truck comes around a narrow entrance-curve, right at me on my side of the ramp, and, just as I went to hit the horn and the car’s automatic-regenerating braking system activated to avoid a collision, he saw me and swerved just enough to avoid hitting me. I’ve been test-driving cars for more than 50 years, and this is only the third close-call I’ve had…the other two were in a first-generation Porsche Panamera and a Nineties-vintage Pontiac Firebird Formula.
On the road (and even while sitting still) I liked this car MUCH more than the Tesla Model 3…the last full-electric car I sampled. Not only was this car more solidly-built, it had (mostly) a sensibly-designed interior/dash, a logical control-layout, and was far more user-friendly inside than a Tesla. There were no squeaks/rattles, everything fit tightly, and fit/finish was excellent. A number of the controls/switches inside (not everything) were from the standard GM-parts-bin-grade, but, IMO, that simply makes them easy to find and get used to….particularly for those like me who are already used to newer GM products. I am generally not as much of a Chevy fan as I am of Buick, my favorite nameplate, but, this, IMO, is probably the best Chevy product I have sampled in recent years.
PLUSSES
The full-electric drive-train on this car is absolutely first-rate…IMO close to what I’d call perfection. Even though it doesn’t have the dragster-level-torque of the Tesla Model 3 that lunges you forward like a slingshot, it has enough power to get out of its own way, and enough for most normal driving. The road-manners are fit for a king. The electric motor is magic-carpet invisible/silent in its operation (especially compared to the 1500-2000 rpm-range vibrations of the turbo-three in my GX), the single-range transmission has no shifting at all, and the car just glides down the road in utter refinement. The ride comfort is generally good, and bumps/road imperfections are well-absorbed. There is little if any wind noise at most suburban-driving speeds, mostly due to the well-sealed doors and tightness of construction. The doors, unlike some other recent GM products, shut with a reasonably solid thunk. The steering, though not particularly quick, was reasonably responsive, and, like the drivetrain, was absolutely butter-smooth, with a very firm-feel to it….no sloppiness or overly-light numbness. I was very impressed with this car on the road….arguably the best small crossover of this size I’ve sampled….although I am also a big fan of the Encore GX’s road manners except for the turbo-three’s unrefinement at low speed.
MINUSES
No vehicle is perfect, and this car is no exception. There were a few things I disliked, or felt that could have been done better. The first is the shifter on the console…an absolutely awful fore/aft row of small push-buttons for Park/Neutral combined with pull-up tabs on the edge for Drive and Reverse. The cargo-cover for the rather small rear hatch area was a thin, flimsy, and cheap-feeling…especially compared to the much nicer one in my Encore GX. The seat-padding is a little firmer than I’d like…somewhat along the lines of that found in many Subarus and Kia/Hyundais, but, then again, of course, I am used to (and generally prefer) the somewhat softer Buick seats. And some of the lower-dash controls for the climate system and seat/steering wheel heaters/coolers were difficult to figure out…they operate somewhat like piano-keys, but don’t always respond in the way one would expect, or respond at all.
THE VERDICT
But, all in all, this car is an honest effort by GM at a small useful BEV, and, based on my experience today, even with the less-than-ideal seat padding and the idiotic shifter buttons, I could easily see myself owning one, IF we are ever forced by our own Government (as we may well be) into electric vehicles, IF my dealership sells it at a reasonable price, and IF my dealership keeps the free-charging policy for its BEV customers. Otherwise……Encore GX, here I stay. In fact, for me, perhaps THE perfect vehicle would be an Encore GX with this Bolt’s drivetrain. Buick has hinted that there may (?) be an electric Encore GX in the future, but the GX is being redesigned in another year or two with what IMO is a much-less-attractive interior and exterior, so I may or may not pass on it.
And, as Always, Happy-Vehicle-Shopping.🙂
MM
__________________
DRIVING IS BELIEVING
https://www.chevrolet.com/electric/bolt-euv
I was at my Chevy/Buick/GMC dealership today (one of the largest on the East Coast), getting a 4-wheel-alignment for my 2021 Encore GX It’s about two years old now…and I will shortly be doing a two-year-ownership-report. I figured, after two years, the wheels could use some alignment with some of the crap-roads in this area, but it wasn’t bad at all..…off-specs, but not very far. And I got a good price with VIP service-discount coupon from the dealership.
While I was there, I thought, since I had never test-driven an all-electric Chevy Bolt before, I’d go ahead and check one out today while I had the time, and a couple of them were in stock (they are “currently” rather hard to get…no pun intended). So, after a nice chat with the sales-rep about the latest GM vehicles and the auto market in general (he had sold me all three of my Buicks), he went and got me the key-fob to a new 2023 Chevy Bolt EUV…a somewhat larger version of the regular Chevy Bolt that is much like a electric version of my own Buick Encore GX, except with a somewhat lower roofline and slightly smaller cargo area. It was regular appliance-(Summit) White, with chrome trim and a black leather interior. A Bolt EUV Premier trim-version, it factory-listed for about 38K, but the dealership had an Adjusted-Market-Value sticker on it with 43K….5K over list. When I noted that, he told me that, only just recently, as slightly more Bolts have become available, did they mark them at 5K over list……before, they were 10K over list. (Not with my money, they aren’t…LOL). To be fair, though, electric-car-buyers sometimes get Federal or State tax-credits, HOV highway-lane-privilidges, and at my dealership, free recharges on request…..for me, the free recharging would eliminate one big possible headache to BEV ownership, as my own condo-townhouse is simply not feasible for an outdoor recharging-plug. That dealership has the latest 400-volt Super-Chargers that will go from a 0-100% charge in about an hour…less than that, of course, if the battery is not down low. There are also a number of Tesla-grade charging stations at local businesses near my house, but they may (?) need an adapter to fit the GM charge-plugs.
Anyhow, to the test-drive. My left leg has not been in the best of condition lately (In fact, I’m going to miss the January D.C. Auto Show this year because of it)…so I didn’t do one of my former and usual MM-grade reviews, but I did give it about a 10-mile test drive on a few different kinds of roads and checked out the interior, cargo area, and road-manners.
In short, with a couple of exceptions, this is one Honey of a little car….although it actually functions more like a crossover. GM put a lot of time and effort into all of the different versions of this Bolt, and, particularly with this larger/roomer EUV version, it shows. Unfortunately, I couldn’t even get it completely out of the dealer-lot before some clown in a big white Ford F-150 truck comes around a narrow entrance-curve, right at me on my side of the ramp, and, just as I went to hit the horn and the car’s automatic-regenerating braking system activated to avoid a collision, he saw me and swerved just enough to avoid hitting me. I’ve been test-driving cars for more than 50 years, and this is only the third close-call I’ve had…the other two were in a first-generation Porsche Panamera and a Nineties-vintage Pontiac Firebird Formula.
On the road (and even while sitting still) I liked this car MUCH more than the Tesla Model 3…the last full-electric car I sampled. Not only was this car more solidly-built, it had (mostly) a sensibly-designed interior/dash, a logical control-layout, and was far more user-friendly inside than a Tesla. There were no squeaks/rattles, everything fit tightly, and fit/finish was excellent. A number of the controls/switches inside (not everything) were from the standard GM-parts-bin-grade, but, IMO, that simply makes them easy to find and get used to….particularly for those like me who are already used to newer GM products. I am generally not as much of a Chevy fan as I am of Buick, my favorite nameplate, but, this, IMO, is probably the best Chevy product I have sampled in recent years.
PLUSSES
The full-electric drive-train on this car is absolutely first-rate…IMO close to what I’d call perfection. Even though it doesn’t have the dragster-level-torque of the Tesla Model 3 that lunges you forward like a slingshot, it has enough power to get out of its own way, and enough for most normal driving. The road-manners are fit for a king. The electric motor is magic-carpet invisible/silent in its operation (especially compared to the 1500-2000 rpm-range vibrations of the turbo-three in my GX), the single-range transmission has no shifting at all, and the car just glides down the road in utter refinement. The ride comfort is generally good, and bumps/road imperfections are well-absorbed. There is little if any wind noise at most suburban-driving speeds, mostly due to the well-sealed doors and tightness of construction. The doors, unlike some other recent GM products, shut with a reasonably solid thunk. The steering, though not particularly quick, was reasonably responsive, and, like the drivetrain, was absolutely butter-smooth, with a very firm-feel to it….no sloppiness or overly-light numbness. I was very impressed with this car on the road….arguably the best small crossover of this size I’ve sampled….although I am also a big fan of the Encore GX’s road manners except for the turbo-three’s unrefinement at low speed.
MINUSES
No vehicle is perfect, and this car is no exception. There were a few things I disliked, or felt that could have been done better. The first is the shifter on the console…an absolutely awful fore/aft row of small push-buttons for Park/Neutral combined with pull-up tabs on the edge for Drive and Reverse. The cargo-cover for the rather small rear hatch area was a thin, flimsy, and cheap-feeling…especially compared to the much nicer one in my Encore GX. The seat-padding is a little firmer than I’d like…somewhat along the lines of that found in many Subarus and Kia/Hyundais, but, then again, of course, I am used to (and generally prefer) the somewhat softer Buick seats. And some of the lower-dash controls for the climate system and seat/steering wheel heaters/coolers were difficult to figure out…they operate somewhat like piano-keys, but don’t always respond in the way one would expect, or respond at all.
THE VERDICT
But, all in all, this car is an honest effort by GM at a small useful BEV, and, based on my experience today, even with the less-than-ideal seat padding and the idiotic shifter buttons, I could easily see myself owning one, IF we are ever forced by our own Government (as we may well be) into electric vehicles, IF my dealership sells it at a reasonable price, and IF my dealership keeps the free-charging policy for its BEV customers. Otherwise……Encore GX, here I stay. In fact, for me, perhaps THE perfect vehicle would be an Encore GX with this Bolt’s drivetrain. Buick has hinted that there may (?) be an electric Encore GX in the future, but the GX is being redesigned in another year or two with what IMO is a much-less-attractive interior and exterior, so I may or may not pass on it.
And, as Always, Happy-Vehicle-Shopping.🙂
MM
__________________
DRIVING IS BELIEVING
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