Chevy Bolt EV

[Isgrimnur]

So how long before I stop staring at the speedometer because I can't tell how fast I'm going just by engine vibration?

The better question is how long until you just don't care?

[coopasonic]

So how long before I stop staring at the speedometer because I can't tell how fast I'm going just by engine vibration?

At some point I assume you learn how to operate cruise control.

[stessier]

I'm glad I'm getting the EVSE installed tomorrow - living on 110V in a new car that everyone wants a ride in is for the birds.

I'm able to charge for about 12 hours a day but only at 8A (I'm on a 15A breaker and sharing it with a fridge, so I didn't want to try bumping it up to 12A). With the lunch time drive crowd, I'm losing about 5% of my battery per day (that I can't recharge). I can get it all back over the weekend as long as I don't drive it (which is no problem given the current forecast in my area), but I couldn't imagine doing this long term.

[Zaxxon]

Yeah, L1 is not a great long-term plan if you actually want to, you know, go places. I'm glad to hear that people are interested in the car, though. First-hand time with an EV is the best way to realize you want an EV!

[stessier]

I have power!!!! Mwahahahahahahahaha!!

(Note to Florence: please do not take this as mocking you - merely a normal evil laugh.)

[Zaxxon]

Sweet!

[stessier]

Zaxxon, you have a JuiceBox, right?

My car said I used 42.5 kWh. I recharged last night and it took 50.21 kWh to fill up. That's an efficiency of 84.6%. Is that about what you've been getting? Online it suggests 90% is the target and that deviates enough to concern me a bit.

[Zaxxon]

TeslaFi tells me that my home charges average 94% and all my L2 charges average 92%. But my understanding is efficiency rises with current, so the fact that I charge at 40A and you (I think) get 25ish would probably lead me to expect yours to be a little lower.

Also, the TeslaFi numbers are estimates and I don't have a full understanding of their methodology. It's entirely possible that they're optimistic.

[stessier]

I charge at 32A, but maybe that is the issue. Probably temperature also plays a roll and it's still in the mid 80s in my garage right now.

Looks like it's costing me $0.0298 /mile if I go with kWh delivered (vs. used) - $6.43 to go 215 miles. Pretty nice!

Edit: Also, I'm getting about 5.0 mi / kWh. Yay warm weather and stop and go traffic!

[Zaxxon]

Yeah, temp definitely has an effect, although I haven't tried to track it specifically. The Juicebox will show you its own estimate of used vs delivered (via the web interface), but only for the current charge. Tesla also doesn't show how much energy it's received--only power. So I have to go off of the JuiceBox or TeslaFi estimates.

Also, since you're comparing to the vehicle's count of energy added, that's likely after the AC-->DC conversion internal to the vehicle. So that should be the 'bottom-line' number, vs the JuiceBox which is only counting losses from wall to charge port, not all the way to the battery.

[stessier]

Also, since you're comparing to the vehicle's count of energy added, that's likely after the AC-->DC conversion internal to the vehicle. So that should be the 'bottom-line' number, vs the JuiceBox which is only counting losses from wall to charge port, not all the way to the battery.

That's not quite what I'm doing.

The Bolt keeps track of kWh used. It said I used 42.5 kWh since my last charge. The JuiceBox tells me that I received 50.21 kWh. I'm charging to the same level, so that 50.21 was needed to replace the 42.5. Or at least that is how I think it should work.

I'm able to adjust the level I charge to and this is the first time I've left it alone between charges, so it's the first time I've tried the calculation. I think this is where I'm going to leave it (barring a planned long road trip), so I'll also be starting a spreadsheet to track everything.

I don't have the Pro version, so I've only been using the JuiceBox app - should probably see what is available online. The app, though, says I've received 234 kWh to go 1242 miles - which isn't perfect because I did get a public charge one day (replaced only 40 miles of usage) just to see what it was like (awesome!), as well as going a week before the charger was installed.

[Zaxxon]

234 for 1242 is 5.3 mi/kWh, so even after allowing for your public charge and L1 initial time, you're still probably around 5.0 mi/kWh all-in, which is... really good. Better than me in my 3, which is around 5.0 mi/kWh (200 Wh/mi in Tesla terms) counting actual amount used. Add in the charging and vampire losses and I'm probably more like 4.5 mi/kWh.

[stessier]

I go about 250 miles in a week, so that week of L1 charging and the one L3 charge probably means I should be looking at 960 miles in 234 kWh - which is 4.1 mi/kWh after vampire losses. Which is more reasonable.

[Zaxxon]

I go about 250 miles in a week, so that week of L1 charging and the one L3 charge probably means I should be looking at 960 miles in 234 kWh - which is 4.1 mi/kWh after vampire losses. Which is more reasonable.

Whew. I don't feel as bad.

[stessier]

A little update since I hit 3000 miles. I only started tracking my charging at 1000 miles, so this is actually 1000 - 3000 mile data.

Code: Select all

Number of charges: 11
Number of days: 37

Category.      Mean    Median     StDev

Miles/Charge    175      178      37
Battery SoC     29%      29%      13%
kWh used       38.4     37.9      6.9
mi / kWh       4.66     4.65      0.41
kWh Charged    42.0     42.2      8.8
Charger Eff   0.909    0.901      0.04

[coopasonic]

A little update since I hit 3000 miles. I only started tracking my charging at 1000 miles, so this is actually 1000 - 3000 mile data.

Code: Select all

Number of charges: 11
Number of days: 37

Category.      Mean    Median     StDev

Miles/Charge    175      178      37
Battery SoC     29%      29%      13%
kWh used       38.4     37.9      6.9
mi / kWh       4.66     4.65      0.41
kWh Charged    42.0     42.2      8.8
Charger Eff   0.909    0.901      0.04

I might hit 3k miles this year... possible, but highly unlikely.

[Zaxxon]

Just passed 11k since May on my 3.

[coopasonic]

I'm closing in on 1700 since mid-August. Yeah, I don't drive much. I'll drive to the airport 4 times next week, that will bump me up a little bit.

[Isgrimnur]

I drive 3k miles in two months. I bought my car in mid-May. I passed 10k by Halloween.

[DD*]

Popping in just to thank you EV owners for your continued support of the hydrocarbon industry. Since roughly 60% of electricity in the US is generated from natural gas and coal, we need big users like EVs to keep the demand up.

[Zaxxon]

Har har har.

[stessier]

Popping in just to thank you EV owners for your continued support of the hydrocarbon industry. Since roughly 60% of electricity in the US is generated from natural gas and coal, we need big users like EVs to keep the demand up.

I'm not sure if you're trolling or ignorant. I'll assume the best and that this is a cry for help.

I replaced a car that with a 40 mpg efficiency for a car with 100+ mpge. Even if every electron was made with natural gas or coal, this would have a positive carbon benefit over time. Fortunately, I live in a state that produces 60% of it's electricity using nuclear power. This mean my car produces 80% less carbon than an ICE vehicle. Additionally, I'm part of an electric co-op that provides community solar. It is fully subscribed at the moment, but they are planning an expansion which will give me the ability go almost entirely renewable - an option an ICE car will never have. Finally, the grid as a whole is moving toward more renewable sources with some nice gains in solar, further cementing these cars as the correct choice for the future.

You can learn more in the video below. To see how electricity is currently produced in each state, you can check out this link from the Department of Energy. (Spoiler: West Virigina doesn't see much benefit from electric vehicles.)

[Zaxxon]

Thanks, stess. I just didn't have the energy this am. For completeness, I'll note that I've got panels on my roof that provide about half of my household's electricity use, and I subscribe to a program through my utility that charges me extra for the rest. Those funds go directly toward new wind installations on my local grid.

[DD*]

Popping in just to thank you EV owners for your continued support of the hydrocarbon industry. Since roughly 60% of electricity in the US is generated from natural gas and coal, we need big users like EVs to keep the demand up.

I'm not sure if you're trolling or ignorant. I'll assume the best and that this is a cry for help.

I replaced a car that with a 40 mpg efficiency for a car with 100+ mpge. Even if every electron was made with natural gas or coal, this would have a positive carbon benefit over time. Fortunately, I live in a state that produces 60% of it's electricity using nuclear power. This mean my car produces 80% less carbon than an ICE vehicle. Additionally, I'm part of an electric co-op that provides community solar. It is fully subscribed at the moment, but they are planning an expansion which will give me the ability go almost entirely renewable - an option an ICE car will never have. Finally, the grid as a whole is moving toward more renewable sources with some nice gains in solar, further cementing these cars as the correct choice for the future.

You can learn more in the video below. To see how electricity is currently produced in each state, you can check out this link from the Department of Energy. (Spoiler: West Virigina doesn't see much benefit from electric vehicles.)

The name calling is particularly persuasive. Heading to trade in my Mazda this morning thanks to this educational post!

[stessier]

The name calling is particularly persuasive. Heading to trade in my Mazda this morning thanks to this educational post!

It wasn't name calling - ignorance is a state of being and one entirely within your power to change.

[TheMix]

The name calling is particularly persuasive.

What name calling?

Also, not sure why you felt the need to make that post... Seems like it was clearly meant to provoke.

[Zaxxon]

I know we've discussed it here before, but just to fully debunk DD*, here are the data. Clicking through to the full report includes a cradle-to-grave analysis, including not just energy to power the vehicles, but energy to build and dispose of them and their battery packs. (And note that that last full report was in 2015. Manufacturing emissions from EVs have also improved since then for the same reasons that fueling emissions have improved.)

In short, DD* is either ignorant or malicious in this particular scaremongering.

[TheMix]

Thanks for the info. Though I suspect that your latter guess as to motivation is probably more likely. It was a really odd thing to post out-of-the-blue at, what, 5 am on a Sunday...?

[DD*]

Thanks for the info. Though I suspect that your latter guess as to motivation is probably more likely. It was a really odd thing to post out-of-the-blue at, what, 5 am on a Sunday...?

Sorry - cranky. Things are not particularly well at the moment and I took it out on you guys. My apologies...

[Zaxxon]

No worries.

[stessier]

Thanks for the info. Though I suspect that your latter guess as to motivation is probably more likely. It was a really odd thing to post out-of-the-blue at, what, 5 am on a Sunday...?

Sorry - cranky. Things are not particularly well at the moment and I took it out on you guys. My apologies...

No worries. If you can't take it out on family, who can you take it out on? Hope things are going better.

[Isgrimnur]

WaPo

Amid global restructuring, General Motors announced Monday it would reduce its North American production and salaried and executive workforce.

The Detroit-based automaker said it would not be allocating any production to Oshawa Assembly in Ontario, Lordstown Assembly in Ohio and Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly in Michigan after December 2019. It will also stop allocating production at propulsion plants in White Marsh, Md., and Warren, Mich., after December 2019.

These changes are part of GM’s efforts to focus its resources on self-driving and electric vehicles, as well as more efficient trucks, crossovers and SUVs, the company said in a statement.

The company also said it will cut 15 percent of its salaried workforce, laying off 25 percent of its executives to “streamline decision-making.” GM also said it will close two plants outside North America by the end of 2019. Those locations have yet to be announced.

[Zaxxon]

Unavoidable changes toward EVs are unavoidable. Bummer for those workers impacted by this, though.

[Isgrimnur]

My office is 4 miles from the Arlington Assembly Plant. As it's a truck plant, I imagine changes are coming on their lines as well.

[Isgrimnur]

Volt is dead

General Motors is killing several passenger cars, including the Chevrolet Volt and Chevrolet Cruze, two compact vehicles that were held up as examples of the automaker's post-bankruptcy revival.
...
The automaker will no longer make the Volt semi-electric car and the Cruze compact sedan for sale in North America beginning in March, Chevy spokesman Kevin Kelly confirmed.

GM will also discontinue the Chevrolet Impala full-size car, the company confirmed. It will end U.S. production in March and Canadian production in the fourth quarter of 2019.
...
The company will also end U.S. sales of the Cadillac XTS and Buick LaCrosse luxury cars after production ends in March. And the Cadillac CT6 will be killed off in the U.S. after mid-2019, though it will continue to be sold in China.

[stessier]

Another area where Tesla gets it right over Chevy (I'm pretty sure) - Chevy charges $15/month for their phone app. There is a special where I can get it for $10/month. I agreed to that for 6 months and then we'll see. This lets me precondition the car, lock the doors, and get state of battery on my phone. Without that, the rep said I get nothing. I'm not quite sure that is true as there is something provided free - I think battery/range information - but I'm not positive.

Oh, and that is the cheapest option. There is also a $25 & $35 tier that include OnStar. Geesh.

[Zaxxon]

Damn. Yeah, the Tesla app is always free. They are getting ready to charge for 'premium internet'. That covers stuff like in-car streaming audio, traffic data, etc. It's always been free but supposedly cars ordered after 7/1/18 will have to pay $100/year after their first year in order to keep it.

[stessier]

I got a bolt (ironically) in my tire necessitating a trip to the dealer to get a new tire. (I only realized I had a problem because we had a warm day and I drove with my windows down and heard the thump-thump-thump. With the windows up, I heard nothing and the tire wasn't losing any pressure. Also found out the car comes standard with run flats, which are expensive to replace but performed well when I needed it to.) They had to order the tire and gave me a loaner for the weekend - an Equinox. I don't know if that car is particularly underpowered or I'm just so used to electric now, but it was a horrible weekend. And going to the gas station to fill it up - first time in nearly 6 months I've had to do that and I don't miss it. I'm soooooo happy to have my car back.

TL;DR - once you go electric, you'll never go back!

[Zaxxon]

Def. My wife's car is by ICE standards very nice. It makes me sad every time I have to drive it.

[El Guapo]

Def. My wife's car is by ICE standards very nice. It makes me sad every time I have to drive it.

It's weird to see ICE as an acronym for anything other than Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Unless your wife is an ICE agent.