NeilBlanchard
Well-known member
I test drove a Bolt EV Premier at the Framingham MA Chevy dealer, with my brother Nathan and my son Nick yesterday. I am 6'-4" and ~225, Nick is 6'-6" and ~245, and Nathan is 6'-7" and ~265.
Some impressions from seeing and sitting in the Bolt EV Premier, and brief test drive:
The seats are upright and comfortable, and firm. The Premier has leather seats, and the LT (which we didn't see) has cloth, that are apparently slightly softer. The seat base is narrower than typical, but they still support all three of us.
The rear seat is also upright, and only Nathan's head touched the roof if he tilted it back. We had to duck a bit getting in the back seat. The floor is flat all the way across, so the middle seat would be better than most.
Nathan fit in the backseat behind Nick in the driver's seat - this is most impressive, indeed!
The front door openings are great - there is NO rise at the door sill for your feet, so the floor is essentially level. There is a shallow storage bin on the floor between the front seats; otherwise the floor would be flat.
The vision out of the car for the driver is excellent, with even the windshield continuing up high enough to see traffic lights when you are at the stop line (which is much better than many cars for us tall folks). The side window sills are nice and low, making it feel quite open and airy.
Shifting is very similar to the Leaf, but regenerative braking in L (which is called B in the Leaf) is MUCH stronger, and it offers true "one pedal" driving. You can drive normally using only the accelerator pedal. If you use D, there is a regen switch on the back of the left side of the steering wheel. And regen is integrated onto the brake pedal, as well.
Acceleration is strong - even for a seasoned EV driver. My extended family already has SEVEN EV's. We are familiar with the Nissan Leaf, Mitsubishi i MiEV, VW e-Golf, and BMW i3.
The Bolt EV apparently has a "safety" noise maker, so that people outside the car get a subtle warning. The good news is this is not noticeable to the people inside; as it is on the Leaf and the e-Golf.
The lack of easy coasting (by default) is less than ideal. I tested while we were sitting still, and holding it in N does put it into "neutral", so it can coast if you use the "shifter". I didn't do this on the test drive, though.
They DO have a variable regen paddle on the back of the left spoke of the steering wheel. This is only needed in D; because L already has full regen. I found that coasting in L was not really feasible - you can get close, but it easily "slips" to either accelerating or regen. The i3 has a noticeable "detent" when you can feel it coasting - the Bolt EV does not do this.
We did see how the Projection works: if you plug in your Android or Apple smart phone with a USB cord, the phone screen goes black, and some of the apps then show on the car's 10" screen, including the map program - this is how you do sat nav in the Bolt EV.
Some impressions from seeing and sitting in the Bolt EV Premier, and brief test drive:
The seats are upright and comfortable, and firm. The Premier has leather seats, and the LT (which we didn't see) has cloth, that are apparently slightly softer. The seat base is narrower than typical, but they still support all three of us.
The rear seat is also upright, and only Nathan's head touched the roof if he tilted it back. We had to duck a bit getting in the back seat. The floor is flat all the way across, so the middle seat would be better than most.
Nathan fit in the backseat behind Nick in the driver's seat - this is most impressive, indeed!
The front door openings are great - there is NO rise at the door sill for your feet, so the floor is essentially level. There is a shallow storage bin on the floor between the front seats; otherwise the floor would be flat.
The vision out of the car for the driver is excellent, with even the windshield continuing up high enough to see traffic lights when you are at the stop line (which is much better than many cars for us tall folks). The side window sills are nice and low, making it feel quite open and airy.
Shifting is very similar to the Leaf, but regenerative braking in L (which is called B in the Leaf) is MUCH stronger, and it offers true "one pedal" driving. You can drive normally using only the accelerator pedal. If you use D, there is a regen switch on the back of the left side of the steering wheel. And regen is integrated onto the brake pedal, as well.
Acceleration is strong - even for a seasoned EV driver. My extended family already has SEVEN EV's. We are familiar with the Nissan Leaf, Mitsubishi i MiEV, VW e-Golf, and BMW i3.
The Bolt EV apparently has a "safety" noise maker, so that people outside the car get a subtle warning. The good news is this is not noticeable to the people inside; as it is on the Leaf and the e-Golf.
The lack of easy coasting (by default) is less than ideal. I tested while we were sitting still, and holding it in N does put it into "neutral", so it can coast if you use the "shifter". I didn't do this on the test drive, though.
They DO have a variable regen paddle on the back of the left spoke of the steering wheel. This is only needed in D; because L already has full regen. I found that coasting in L was not really feasible - you can get close, but it easily "slips" to either accelerating or regen. The i3 has a noticeable "detent" when you can feel it coasting - the Bolt EV does not do this.
We did see how the Projection works: if you plug in your Android or Apple smart phone with a USB cord, the phone screen goes black, and some of the apps then show on the car's 10" screen, including the map program - this is how you do sat nav in the Bolt EV.
