Dolly towing a Chevy Bolt

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iwatson said:
SeanNelson said:
GM - Chevrolet..... If you are reading this....The Bolt makes a great Toad for RV use. You can exploit this by creating an "RV Mode" and adding this feature through an OTA update. The "RV mode" would prevent the car's automatic parking brake from engaging and prevent automatic power down unless the pack was depleted less than 6%. A warning screen to pop-up when engaging which would cite the systems to be turned of and ask the user if he/she wanted to continue?

That is a GREAT idea! I don't see why they couldn't implement this through an OTA like you said.

As far as towing, I assume your process is this?

Get in the car, drive it up on the dolly, put it in P, strap it all down, then raise the hood and disconnect the negative (while in P)?
 
ghoticov said:
Quick question... where do you buy a negative cut-off switch? Is there a certain kind that I would need? I like this idea way better than having to unhook the negative cable every time.

Auto parts store, Auto Zone....O'Reillys....NAPA.....Carquest. Or order on-line from Amazon.

I must literally have a 1001 projects going on at the moment, so I'm not sure when I'll get to this, but I'll post some pics when I get it done! :x
 
iwatson said:
ghoticov said:
Quick question... where do you buy a negative cut-off switch? Is there a certain kind that I would need? I like this idea way better than having to unhook the negative cable every time.

Auto parts store, Auto Zone....O'Reillys....NAPA.....Carquest. Or order on-line from Amazon.

I must literally have a 1001 projects going on at the moment, so I'm not sure when I'll get to this, but I'll post some pics when I get it done! :x

How long would it take to install? 10 min? Lol I’m going to look into buying one, makes way more sense!
 
ghoticov said:
That is a GREAT idea! I don't see why they couldn't implement this through an OTA like you said.

As far as towing, I assume your process is this?

Get in the car, drive it up on the dolly, put it in P, strap it all down, then raise the hood and disconnect the negative (while in P)?

You described my procedure perfectly. Cutting power is the last step.

Everyone seems to be goo-goo, gah-gah over the Tesla, and I'll admit they're beautiful cars. Poor little Bolt doesn't get any love :roll:
Personally I have no desire to travel in my Bolt, but I bought the thing specifically because it can do something a Tesla can't. Tesla's are all-wheel drive, or rear-wheel drive so they can not be towed behind a motorhome on a dolly. Plus they are heavier larger cars which also impacts towing. The Tesla supercharging network is great for traveling but still not as convenient as traveling in a gas-powered vehicle. But my toad vehicle (Bolt) will provide me plenty of range to roam about after I reach my destination, and I can charge it up at my campsite.

I know Chevy doesn't seem to really care whether they sell any or not, but at least make the most of what you have! I'm a little disappointed in all the work-arounds necessary to make my Bolt a Toad. :ugeek:
 
iwatson said:
ghoticov said:
That is a GREAT idea! I don't see why they couldn't implement this through an OTA like you said.

As far as towing, I assume your process is this?

Get in the car, drive it up on the dolly, put it in P, strap it all down, then raise the hood and disconnect the negative (while in P)?

You described my procedure perfectly. Cutting power is the last step.

Everyone seems to be goo-goo, gah-gah over the Tesla, and I'll admit they're beautiful cars. Poor little Bolt doesn't get any love :roll:
Personally I have no desire to travel in my Bolt, but I bought the thing specifically because it can do something a Tesla can't. Tesla's are all-wheel drive, or rear-wheel drive so they can not be towed behind a motorhome on a dolly. Plus they are heavier larger cars which also impacts towing. The Tesla supercharging network is great for traveling but still not as convenient as traveling in a gas-powered vehicle. But my toad vehicle (Bolt) will provide me plenty of range to roam about after I reach my destination, and I can charge it up at my campsite.

I know Chevy doesn't seem to really care whether they sell any or not, but at least make the most of what you have! I'm a little disappointed in all the work-arounds necessary to make my Bolt a Toad. :ugeek:

Well, I can’t poopoo Tesla because I own a Model 3 and it’s an incredible car. I like driving it WAY more than the Bolt, it’s a nicer overall car. BUT, you are correct....you can’t tow it. I had a Jeep Wrangler that we used to tow but we sold it because it sat when it wasn’t being used as a TOAD... too much money for too little use. I sold it once I saw that we could tow the Bolt. It just makes sense. The Jeep is a great TOAD but we never used the Jeep for what they are meant for (off road and so forth) so the Bolt is a perfect tow vehicle for us.

The Model 3 gets the garage and the poor Bolt goes outside. Lol And traveling with the Model 3 is a WAY better experience than trying to do it with the Bolt.
 
iwatson said:
ghoticov said:
How long would it take to install? 10 min? Lol I’m going to look into buying one, makes way more sense!

One like this one.....
>


Would likely take 10 minutes.

I would like something that looks a little more pro, like this....

>

Links didn’t work

EDIT: links worked now that I look at it on my laptop. :)

I am hoping these come with directions because I have no idea how to install something like this. lol
 
GetOffYourGas said:
iwatson said:
So when I park for the night, the Bolt would still be strapped to the dolly so It can't roll, and I would reconnect the battery for the night, jumper the batteries, start the car and leave it running all night. Even if the parking brake comes on automatically it's no deal because I'm not moving. The trick is that the Bolt wants to power itself down after an hour of unattended use. I must find a way around this. If that were to happen, then the furnace blowers would pull both 12V batteries down to fully discharged.

I suspect I may be able to use neutral to prevent the car from powering down. However the book says that it should not be left in neutral for an extended period, and if it is the car will put itself in park. There is a mode called "car wash" mode that may hold it in neutral indefinitely. I need to experiment to find out.

I'm also interested in this, so please share what you find!

So my first test was a success! I arrived home at midnight, placed the car in neutral, using "car wash mode" and the parking brake on, left the key fob in the car and the door unlocked. When I returned to the car at 6:20 am it was as I left it, still running. For my first test I wanted to give it the most likely set of circumstances to achieve my desired result.

Next I want to chock the tires, so it won't roll, leave the parking brake off, remove the key fob and lock the doors. This will simulate how I would leave it, if it were strapped to a tow dolly behind the motorhome.
 
So this afternoon I completed my second test, and it too was successful :D

We arrived home just after 3 pm after visiting with my wife's Father (and Mother) for Father's day. After pulling into the garage and chocking the tires I then put the car in neutral using "car wash mode"**. I left the parking brake off, turned off the A/C, turned off the display screen, and set the auto headlights to the "auto off" setting. Then I exited the car with the key fob and locked the doors using the key fob. The car ran all afternoon in this condition until I ended the test at 11:30 pm (elapsed time of 8 hrs, 17 min). Upon ending my test I unlocked the door and as soon as I opened the driver's door the car immediately put itself in park and applied the parking brake.

So for owners who wish to use the car in an emergency to supply power, this is your procedure. In this second test I opted to leave the parking brake off, but in the first test the car operated all night with the parking brake applied. Having tried it both ways, I see no reason to leave it off since the vehicle will immediately apply the parking brake when I return to the car and open the door. Leaving the brake on avoids having to chock the wheels.

For my purpose the car would be strapped to the tow dolly all night to supply 12V DC power to the motorhome, so I assumed that I could leave the parking brake off since the next morning It would need it to be off to continue my trip. Since it re-engages anyway, I'll just have to remember to release it before I hit the road again. (And, of course, disconnect the 12V battery again so that it does not re-apply the parking brake as it's being towed).

**For those who don't read the manual...Car wash mode is engaged when the operator shifts to neutral WHILE the driver's door is open. This is an important step, since the book says if left unattended in neutral the vehicle will automatically shift to park. Once it's in park, the vehicle counts down an hour if the key fob is removed from the vehicle or two hours if the key fob is left in the vehicle, and then automatically powers down. So to keep the power on, the key is to keep it in neutral in car wash mode.

+++++CAUTION+++++ Any Bolt owners who intend to use this procedure for auxiliary power should monitor their power consumption to ensure that the Lithium ion HV pack is never fully depleted. A full depletion could cause serious damage to the HV pack. Any safeguards that GM may have written into their software regarding this type of use is unknown and untested. It is likely that the vehicle would power itself down, as it does if you are driving the vehicle and it reaches a SOC level which the designers consider to be below the operating threshold. But it is possible that all safeguards have been defeated by using neutral and car wash mode. I personally plan to monitor the power consumption in such a way that would never allow the battery to be depleted anywhere near an extremely low SOC and would personally cease this type of operation long before the HV pack reached an unhealthy SOC. As such I have no plans to test what would happen if the vehicle reached an extremely low SOC% using this operation. If anyone wants to risk further testing feel free to share your findings. :oops:
 
Almost certainly the car will power down if the battery SOC gets too low. Even in neutral.

Someone should test this while watching.
(You sound like a good candidate.). :D

Watch the car and turn it off 15 minutes after your last battery bar goes dark if the car does not shut itself off.

Pretty sure it will protect the HV battery.
(It may not protect the 12 volt battery, but there is a very good chance everything shuts off.)
 
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