By Eric J. Savitz, editor-in-chief, GM News
By Eric J. Savitz, editor-in-chief, GM News
In October 2018, I did something immensely stupid. I was driving home from work in my trusty Toyota Prius, a car I had used almost every day for a decade. I was almost home, cruising down my street, thinking deep thoughts about how to prepare the chicken breasts I was planning to make for dinner. Right about the point where I was mulling marinades, I made a left turn towards my driveway, and to my horror, plowed into the side of a passing car — another Prius! — which I entirely should have seen coming. I was fine, and the people in the other car were fine (they were rightly exceedingly angry, but no one was hurt). But my beloved Prius — which had more than 100,000 miles on the odometer — was not so fine. After it was towed away that afternoon, I never saw it again. May its memory be a blessing.
Finding myself in desperate need of a new ride, I impulsively decided to buy electric. The options for EVs at that point were fairly limited. Tesla was the obvious choice – my neighborhood in Palo Alto was and remains overrun with them. Beyond that there was the Nissan Leaf – one of my closest pals had just bought one – and the Chevrolet Bolt. I couldn’t bring myself to even test drive a Tesla. I tried the other two, and chose the Bolt, mostly for its longer range than the Leaf. And by the time I rolled out of the lot, my mourning period for my Prius immediately ended. I had a new favorite car.
Happy Bolt-day
As my Bolt approaches its 7th birthday, the car continues to serve me well, with a host of characteristics that my old Prius couldn’t possibly match.
For starters, the Bolt is simply a hoot to drive. As anyone who has ever driven an electric car can tell you, they are zippy. The electric motor provides plenty of torque, so when you hit the accelerator, there’s no gradual build like a gas-powered car. Drop the pedal and go, go, go, like Aretha once sang. Great for heading onto a highway ramp, or changing lanes, or just cruising around. It’s just freaking fun.
You know what else is fun? Never buying gasoline. Honestly, I’m not sure I could tell you within $1 what the going rate is right now for a gallon of gas. Like many other EV drivers I know, more than 95% of the time I charge the Bolt at home, with the Level 2 charger I had installed in my garage when I bought the car.
And speaking of not buying things, an EV doesn’t require oil changes the way a gasoline-powered car would. There are still maintenance tasks to do – replace the cabin air filter, fill the washer fluid reservoir, rotate the tires – but the bottom line is that my Bolt is just easier to maintain.
I also love both regenerative braking and its cousin, one-pedal driving.1 One pedal-driving feels weird for the first 5 minutes that you try it, but it becomes easy and intuitive almost immediately. It makes for a smoother drive. And regenerative braking feels almost miraculous. I especially like watching how my expected range can increase when traveling downhill – like a self-refilling gas tank.
The car’s small size makes it a breeze to park almost anywhere. But when I put the rear seats down, there is plenty of storage space – I can easily fit my road bike in the back without removing the front wheel, a must for a frequent cyclist like me.
Are there drawbacks? Maybe some small ones. Range anxiety is still real for many drivers, but the density of public fast-chargers is now high enough in California and many other places that it simply isn’t that much of a concern for me anymore. It’s also true that EVs lose charge a little faster in cold weather. (In Palo Alto, the last significant snowfall was in 1962, so I don’t worry about it all that much.) But the list of drawbacks is short.
My dilemma
Next year I’m going to face a decision about my beloved Bolt – do I give it up for a new one?
The upcoming 2027 Bolt will get a moderate exterior facelift, but big changes are coming on the inside. My 2018 Bolt has a fairly small display screen – the 2027 model will have a larger screen more akin to recent GM electric vehicles. My Bolt has no onboard navigation, so to use maps I need to plug in my phone – that’s not going to be required with the new version. The new Bolt will also charge faster – and it will use the NACS charging standard, which means you can charge new Bolts at NACS-compatible chargers, not an option for my ’18 Bolt without an adapter.
My family had a big Bolt moment over the summer, when my daughter (finally) passed her driver’s license test. She was, of course, driving the Bolt. And while she doesn’t need it right now, she might want it eventually. So maybe I’ll just keep it. And buy my Bolt a baby sister.
“Love My Chevy Bolt” is a GM News series highlighting General Motors employees and their connection to Chevrolet’s iconic EV. As we get closer to the unveiling of the 2027 Chevy Bolt, we’ll be featuring employee stories from people who have a personal Bolt story to tell.
Eric J. Savitz, a former reporter and columnist with Barron’s, Forbes, and other publications, is editor-in-chief at GM News. Reach him at news@gm.com.
1Feature may be limited when the battery temperatures are extremely cold or hot or when battery is near full charge. Always use the brake pedal when you need to stop immediately. See Owner’s Manual for details.
In October 2018, I did something immensely stupid. I was driving home from work in my trusty Toyota Prius, a car I had used almost every day for a decade. I was almost home, cruising down my street, thinking deep thoughts about how to prepare the chicken breasts I was planning to make for dinner. Right about the point where I was mulling marinades, I made a left turn towards my driveway, and to my horror, plowed into the side of a passing car — another Prius! — which I entirely should have seen coming. I was fine, and the people in the other car were fine (they were rightly exceedingly angry, but no one was hurt). But my beloved Prius — which had more than 100,000 miles on the odometer — was not so fine. After it was towed away that afternoon, I never saw it again. May its memory be a blessing.
Finding myself in desperate need of a new ride, I impulsively decided to buy electric. The options for EVs at that point were fairly limited. Tesla was the obvious choice – my neighborhood in Palo Alto was and remains overrun with them. Beyond that there was the Nissan Leaf – one of my closest pals had just bought one – and the Chevrolet Bolt. I couldn’t bring myself to even test drive a Tesla. I tried the other two, and chose the Bolt, mostly for its longer range than the Leaf. And by the time I rolled out of the lot, my mourning period for my Prius immediately ended. I had a new favorite car.
Happy Bolt-day
As my Bolt approaches its 7th birthday, the car continues to serve me well, with a host of characteristics that my old Prius couldn’t possibly match.
- For starters, the Bolt is simply a hoot to drive. As anyone who has ever driven an electric car can tell you, they are zippy. The electric motor provides plenty of torque, so when you hit the accelerator, there’s no gradual build like a gas-powered car. Drop the pedal and go, go, go, like Aretha once sang. Great for heading onto a highway ramp, or changing lanes, or just cruising around. It’s just freaking fun.
- You know what else is fun? Never buying gasoline. Honestly, I’m not sure I could tell you within $1 what the going rate is right now for a gallon of gas. Like many other EV drivers I know, more than 95% of the time I charge the Bolt at home, with the Level 2 charger I had installed in my garage when I bought the car.
- And speaking of not buying things, an EV doesn’t require oil changes the way a gasoline-powered car would. There are still maintenance tasks to do – replace the cabin air filter, fill the washer fluid reservoir, rotate the tires – but the bottom line is that my Bolt is just easier to maintain.
- I also love both regenerative braking and its cousin, one-pedal driving.1 One pedal-driving feels weird for the first 5 minutes that you try it, but it becomes easy and intuitive almost immediately. It makes for a smoother drive. And regenerative braking feels almost miraculous. I especially like watching how my expected range can increase when traveling downhill – like a self-refilling gas tank.
- The car’s small size makes it a breeze to park almost anywhere. But when I put the rear seats down, there is plenty of storage space – I can easily fit my road bike in the back without removing the front wheel, a must for a frequent cyclist like me.
Are there drawbacks? Maybe some small ones. Range anxiety is still real for many drivers, but the density of public fast-chargers is now high enough in California and many other places that it simply isn’t that much of a concern for me anymore. It’s also true that EVs lose charge a little faster in cold weather. (In Palo Alto, the last significant snowfall was in 1962, so I don’t worry about it all that much.) But the list of drawbacks is short.
My dilemma
Next year I’m going to face a decision about my beloved Bolt – do I give it up for a new one?
The upcoming 2027 Bolt will get a moderate exterior facelift, but big changes are coming on the inside. My 2018 Bolt has a fairly small display screen – the 2027 model will have a larger screen more akin to recent GM electric vehicles. My Bolt has no onboard navigation, so to use maps I need to plug in my phone – that’s not going to be required with the new version. The new Bolt will also charge faster – and it will use the NACS charging standard, which means you can charge new Bolts at NACS-compatible chargers, not an option for my ’18 Bolt without an adapter.
My family had a big Bolt moment over the summer, when my daughter (finally) passed her driver’s license test. She was, of course, driving the Bolt. And while she doesn’t need it right now, she might want it eventually. So maybe I’ll just keep it. And buy my Bolt a baby sister.
“Love My Chevy Bolt” is a GM News series highlighting General Motors employees and their connection to Chevrolet’s iconic EV. As we get closer to the unveiling of the 2027 Chevy Bolt, we’ll be featuring employee stories from people who have a personal Bolt story to tell.
Eric J. Savitz, a former reporter and columnist with Barron’s, Forbes, and other publications, is editor-in-chief at GM News. Reach him at news@gm.com.
1Feature may be limited when the battery temperatures are extremely cold or hot or when battery is near full charge. Always use the brake pedal when you need to stop immediately. See Owner’s Manual for details.