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oilerlord said:
I see...only semantics. So if your dad buys it for you, the car didn't cost anything.

This forum is like herding cats.

If my dad is Uncle Sam and he is buying free Bolt's for anyone then I am certain you would be running to the front of the herd of cats to get a Bolt. Whether or not you would be still insisting they cost $40k is debatable.
 
sparkyps said:
Discounts change the price of the car.

Dude. A tax rebate is not a discount. You pay the $40K and receive tax rebates later. GM / factory discounts may come down the road, but for now, GM is selling the car for $40K. "Uncle Sam" is only helping you pay for it.
 
oilerlord said:
sparkyps said:
Discounts change the price of the car.

Dude. A tax rebate is not a discount. You pay the $40K and receive tax rebates later. GM / factory discounts may come down the road, but for now, GM is selling the car for $40K. "Uncle Sam" is only helping you pay for it.

Dealers are providing discounts, GM is currently providing lease incentives.
Uncle Sam is providing a tax credit which allows you to reduce withholding immediately, you don't have to wait till you file to get the benefit.

I understand that you don't care what the bottom line is, I do.
 
BTW, I leased and I didn't lease a $40k Bolt. There were $7000 worth of dealer discounts and GM incentives, others have done better.

That made it less than $33k and the leasing company generously gave a $24k residual on the vehicle, inflated due to the $7500 tax credit they are going to get (and like me they look at their bottom line so they considered that tax credit as additional revenue they are going to get). Nobody thinks a 3 year old Chevy Bolt LT will be worth $24k in 3 years with 45,000 miles on it.

So other than financing that $7500 tax credit for 3 years I really leased a $25k car. And that's the bottom line.
 
State is California gives $2500 cash for buying a EV. Los Angeles Department of Water and Power pays for the level 2 or 3 charger. Solar and Electric Rates at 12 cents per KW. Make it all worth while and the $7500 rebate is icing on the cake.
 
I got the dealer down to $34,000 and financed $25,000 at 2.5% interest. I got 3% interest at the same financial institution on the savings account with direct deposit to pay the car payment.
 
Tip of the day number 7

I live in Los Angeles and never use a heater and everything I have that requires air conditioning is set to 85 F.

That said it seems that the heater uses the most energy. And the aid conditioner less but most of my passengers know I try not to use the climate control system.

So to get the maximum kw/m do not use the climate control system.
 
polbear said:
Tip of the day number 7

I live in Los Angeles and never use a heater and everything I have that requires air conditioning is set to 85 F.

That said it seems that the heater uses the most energy. And the aid conditioner less but most of my passengers know I try not to use the climate control system.

So to get the maximum kw/m do not use the climate control system.

I'd rather be comfortable than worry about eking out an additional 7% of range. I don't blast the A/C, but set it to a comfortable temp/fan speed. I had a co-worker who had a Plug-in Prius (PiP) and he never ran the climate control system, not even just the fan, because it reduced his predicted range by a couple of miles. Needless to say, I insisted we take my PiP to lunch instead of his because I hate being in a stuffy car with no air flow at all.

You can put the car on "vent" mode by turning off Heat & AC and then it will just run the fan and attempt to blend outside air with inside air to achieve your desired temp.
 
I can certainly understand avoiding the use of A/C and especially heater if there is risk of not making it to your destination, but I don't see the logic of being uncomfortable just to save energy. Any EV is so efficient compared to any ICE car that you can reasonably feel you've done your fair share for energy efficiency without being uncomfortable (and deterring your passengers from getting an EV because they find them uncomfortable)
 
These tips were just in response to someone on this blog asking what I do to get 330 miles on average per charge. I am a California American Indian and do not get to worked up over the heat. That is why I set my temp controls in my car and house to 85 degrees. That is not to say I do not run the A.C. when others request it.
 
Well those are the things I do to get an average of 330 miles to a charge. I agree with the people who say what I do is extreme but that is me. I do it to save the world for future generations!
 
polbear said:
Well those are the things I do to get an average of 330 miles to a charge. I agree with the people who say what I do is extreme but that is me. I do it to save the world for future generations!

michael said:
I can certainly understand avoiding the use of A/C and especially heater if there is risk of not making it to your destination, but I don't see the logic of being uncomfortable just to save energy. Any EV is so efficient compared to any ICE car that you can reasonably feel you've done your fair share for energy efficiency without being uncomfortable (and deterring your passengers from getting an EV because they find them uncomfortable)

I'm with Michael on this one. You've already done a lot by switching to an EV. Turning off the HVAC is only a tiny incremental improvement. If instead, you manage to convince one other person to switch to EV, then you've done a whole lot more than you can by turning down the HVAC.

So do whatever you like when commuting alone. But if you are driving a group of friends to lunch (for example), do your best to show them all that an E has to offer - including staying at a comfortable temperature.
 
I would never make my passengers suffer. As i said this is what I do for my self, so I do run the air conditioner for others. However, they do not like me going the posted speed limit since most of them are always in a hurry.
 
Here is a question
What kind of mileage are Bolt drivers getting going 65 mph with the air conditioner or heater going? I know that the 2014 Rav4 A.C. lost 15% of miles during a trip.
 
polbear said:
Here is a question. What kind of mileage are Bolt drivers getting going 65 mph with the air conditioner or heater going? I know that the 2014 Rav4 A.C. lost 15% of miles during a trip.

When I drive it on the hwy/fwy, I usually drive my Bolt at a min of 70 to a max of 93/94 mph when the speed limiter kicks in. When the AC's on, which is on almost always now, only 1% (based on the info screen) of the power consumed to used by the AC.

Yesterday, I drove 130 miles and used 157 of 222 of the estimated available miles from start to finish driving the way I do at a rate of about 3.2 m/kwh, which means I used about 40 of 60 kwh to travel that distance in that way while also using the AC. Max mileage at that rate was theoretically 192.

BTW, I did not have to top off the battery when I drove the initial 60 miles because I got caught in a couple of traffic jams what regen'd the battery enough that I still had 162 miles of range left after driving those 60 miles.

Normally, I'd have used up 80-90 miles of the range and would have only been left w/130 miles, which would be enough to get but low enough that I'd top it off w/a DC fast charge just for peace of mind. No need to do that yesterday because of the traffic jams. LOL!!!

PS: Using the heater would be another matter. The heater draws power like crazy. Don't recall the exact numbers when I used it in Feb/Mar when it was cold but I stopped doing that quick. That's what the heated steering wheel and seats are for. Using them uses very little power. Dress warmly and use them and there's no need to turn the engine heater on.
 
Can you tell me what part of the country you are from? Thanks for the information that is a little faster than I would ever go but it is all relative.
 
polbear said:
Can you tell me what part of the country you are from? Thanks for the information that is a little faster than I would ever go but it is all relative.

I live in the SF Bay Area.

Typical cruising speed in the fast lane on multi-lane hwys/fwys, when the lanes are open, is 80-85 mph. Go any slower you would have someone on you behind in a flash. I always drive in the fast lane.
 
I am always in the slow lanes! It must be outside of San Francisco proper, I have never seen anyone going over 60 on the interstates in town. Thanks for the information :D
 
You guys should change this to the Bolt argument thread!

Geeze, does anyone in the world get along anymore?
 
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