Which options are worth having others not worth it.

Since I declined my Bolt lease of $561, I have decided to buy. I would like to hear others opinions of the options. After three test drives, cloth seats appear to be more comfortable than leather, rear view camera is distracting and hard to focus on. Comments are obviously going to be very subjective, but I think they will help in making a more informed buying decision.

leodoggie said:

Since I declined my Bolt lease of $561, I have decided to buy. I would like to hear others opinions of the options. After three test drives, cloth seats appear to be more comfortable than leather, rear view camera is distracting and hard to focus on. Comments are obviously going to be very subjective, but I think they will help in making a more informed buying decision.

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The most popular option for the LT model would be DCFC and Drivers Confidence Package, bring the total to 39,295.00. I would negotiate the price down to 37,295.00. Penske Chevy was showing that price before they jacked it up back to $39,295.00.

Jychevyvolt said:

The most popular option for the LT model would be DCFC and Drivers Confidence Package, bring the total to 39,295.00. I would negotiate the price down to 37,295.00.

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FWIW, costcoauto.com is showing the "invoice" price for that configuration as $37,668.

Cheers, Wayne

I think the DCFC is not worth it. DCFC availability is very sketchy, and even when you can get it without going too far out of your way, it's painfully slow on the Bolt. Better to stay within range and rent a gas car if you want to drive long distance. Saves you $750, and a lot of potential aggravation!

phil0909 said:

I think the DCFC is not worth it. DCFC availability is very sketchy, and even when you can get it without going too far out of your way, it's painfully slow on the Bolt. Better to stay within range and rent a gas car if you want to drive long distance. Saves you $750, and a lot of potential aggravation!

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DCFC is not only about long distance travel. Sometimes you need a little extra range during the day to account for weather and driving speed.

If you insist on getting an LT because of the cloth seats, I'd make sure you get the Comfort and Convenience package, and the Driver Confidence I package. Heated seats & steering wheel are a must to have to reduce the use of the cabin heater in cold weather. The Side blind zone and rear cross traffic alert, plus the parking sensors are a big help. We have all of that in our Highlander and can't imagine buying a car nowadays without those features (seat & steering wheel heaters, too).

DC Fast charging is questionable depending upon what you intend to use the car for. For $750 it might be worth getting in order to future-proof the car when there are more DC fast charging stations out there that can do 80 kW or better. Could improve resale value, if that is something important to you.

That's funny, I think DCFC is a necessity. You may not use it much but it sure is extremely useful when you do need it.

Jychevyvolt said:

DCFC is not only about long distance travel. Sometimes you need a little extra range during the day to account for weather and driving speed

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I never drive more than 200 miles in a day, and rarely over 120, except on a road trip. If I ever needed to drive 200 miles locally, I would still avoid the DCFC hassle, and just borrow my wife's car or get a rental. For a short-range electric car like an i3, local DCFC might be helpful, but for the Bolt? Seems like a very remote possibility. YMMV.

CGameProgrammer said:

That's funny, I think DCFC is a necessity. You may not use it much but it sure is extremely useful when you do need it.

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I am determined to never need it!
:twisted:

CGameProgrammer said:

That's funny, I think DCFC is a necessity. You may not use it much but it sure is extremely useful when you do need it.

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I haven't needed it in the two years I've owned my i3.

It doesn't help that there aren't any near me.

phil0909 said:

I think the DCFC is not worth it.

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To each his own, I guess. I view a DCFC port as an essential feature and would never buy an EV without one. I do DC charging about a dozen times a year on my current car (RAV4 EV) on road trips within CA and occasionally for a quick battery boost when an unexpected local trip comes up. There are numerous DCFC options in metro areas, but I agree that the California DCFC network is rudimentary along transportation corridors (I5, 101, etc.). This should change substantially within a year due to the CEC's investing over $20M in DCFCs located near highways with a greater amount contributed by charging network companies. Oregon and Washington already have deployed their West Coast Electric Highway DCFCs along 101 and I5. Colorado, Utah, and Nevada are building out their network, and I see there are DCFCs along the East Coast.

Regardless of my own needs, I think that not having DCFC capability would really tank the resale value of an EV in several years.

"Don't GIMP the Bolt, add the DCFC."

I will probably include DCFC since I expect it to increase the lease price by only about $10/month. However, I think there is every chance of never once using it over the course of my lease. Perhaps once or twice I would regret lacking it...is that worth $360? Probably not, but I'll probably do it anyway.

I drive from SF to LA a few times a year so the DCFC is a must, not so sure about the comfort and confidence package though.

leodoggie said:

I drive from SF to LA a few times a year so the DCFC is a must, not so sure about the comfort and confidence package though.

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For the relatively cheap price of those two packages, the money is well worth spending. I have really liked having the seat heaters in my Prius for the last month or so here in the Bay Area, especially when it's been in the 40's and the car is like a meat locker. And having the blind-zone monitoring would've been really helpful to have when driving in the rain last night (or the night before, or the week before, or the month before, etc). If you live on a street where you can't clearly see in either direction while backing out of your driveway, the rear cross traffic alert is very useful as well.

devbolt said:

leodoggie said:

I drive from SF to LA a few times a year so the DCFC is a must, not so sure about the comfort and confidence package though.

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For the relatively cheap price of those two packages, the money is well worth spending. I have really liked having the seat heaters in my Prius for the last month or so here in the Bay Area, especially when it's been in the 40's and the car is like a meat locker. And having the blind-zone monitoring would've been really helpful to have when driving in the rain last night (or the night before, or the week before, or the month before, etc). If you live on a street where you can't clearly see in either direction while backing out of your driveway, the rear cross traffic alert is very useful as well.

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All excellent points worthy of consideration, thanks.

leodoggie said:

devbolt said:

leodoggie said:

I drive from SF to LA a few times a year so the DCFC is a must, not so sure about the comfort and confidence package though.

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For the relatively cheap price of those two packages, the money is well worth spending. I have really liked having the seat heaters in my Prius for the last month or so here in the Bay Area, especially when it's been in the 40's and the car is like a meat locker. And having the blind-zone monitoring would've been really helpful to have when driving in the rain last night (or the night before, or the week before, or the month before, etc). If you live on a street where you can't clearly see in either direction while backing out of your driveway, the rear cross traffic alert is very useful as well.

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All excellent points worthy of consideration, thanks.

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We aims to please!

I have had a chance to use every one of the four features the Comfort & Convenience gives you.

Leather steering wheel: nice thick feel. Actually I have never seen a Bolt with a stock wheel so don't even know what the non-leather one is like.

Heated steering wheel: uses little power (no change in the kW display) but heats up very quickly on the left and right sides of the steering wheel.

Heated seats: heat up pretty quickly and use little power (again, no change in the kW display even with heated steering wheel also on), heat isn't quite evenly distributed as it seemed a bit more on the left side than the right, but it's both the seat bottom and seat back that are heated and it feels very nice.

Auto-dimming mirror: a nice luxury to have, lots of cars have them so you're probably familiar with the idea.

When you use heated air, even just a little bit heated, the power drain is about 7 kW compared to less than 1 kW otherwise. That's pretty substantial; it's 12% of total capacity drained per hour, just for heated air. So I use heated air when getting into a cold car but I turn it off a minute later and rely on heated seats/wheel if necessary. Luckily the car seems well insulated.

tgreene said:

phil0909 said:

I think the DCFC is not worth it.

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To each his own, I guess. I view a DCFC port as an essential feature and would never buy an EV without one. I do DC charging about a dozen times a year on my current car (RAV4 EV) on road trips within CA and occasionally for a quick battery boost when an unexpected local trip comes up. There are numerous DCFC options in metro areas, but I agree that the California DCFC network is rudimentary along transportation corridors (I5, 101, etc.). This should change substantially within a year due to the CEC's investing over $20M in DCFCs located near highways with a greater amount contributed by charging network companies. Oregon and Washington already have deployed their West Coast Electric Highway DCFCs along 101 and I5. Colorado, Utah, and Nevada are building out their network, and I see there are DCFCs along the East Coast.

Regardless of my own needs, I think that not having DCFC capability would really tank the resale value of an EV in several years.

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Those of use who bought that option are banking on the DCFC network expanding substantially over the coming years.

The All Around View feature found in Nissan and other cars with that option is great. If you have to park in Handicapped spaces, or in tight spaces in general, it's a must-have. Unfortunately, GM has decided to try to force people to pay $4300 for their version, because it's only found in the Premiere. I had a go-round with their PR reps about that, but it isn't going to change - at least not until Bolt sales start to tank.

I've now read one Bolt review in which the reviewer found the cloth seats terrible because of the lack of padding, but the leather-trimmed seats better, because the leather trim better covers the hard plastic seat frame. I don't want leather, but I'm now wondering if the terrible seats are a way to force typically plumper Americans to have to opt for the Premiere, or at least the leather trim...