Is the Bolt still worth it in 2019?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Thevenin
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A follow-up:

So I followed the advice I read here and got out to drive a 2019 Bolt.

I liked its responsiveness and poise, as well as its short nose -- I felt very confident parking it.
I liked the tech. The top-down mosaic camera is delightfully scifi.
I did not like the interior quality. My point of reference is a 16-year-old Pontiac, and this felt like a sidegrade. I'm the sort of guy who would drive a 16-year-old Pontiac, though, so that wasn't a big disappointment.
I greatly disliked the seats. I am about 5.5ft, 125lb, and the seats felt absurdly flat and hard. Restuffing the seats is a must.
Ultimately, I didn't really love it.

I re-ran the road trip charging calculations and realized the Bolt's <55kW charging would force me to drive our minivan on several of our annual road trips. Due to this, a plug-in hybrid would bring my carbon footprint lower overall.

With this in mind, I started over and drove the Honda Clarity. To make a long story short, loved it. After much negotiation, it's now in my driveway.

I really appreciate what you guys are doing here. Having an experienced community to turn to for common-sense advice and data is extremely valuable, and made it possible for me to make a large step towards decarbonization. Give yourselves a pat on the back for me.
 
Thevenin said:
A follow-up:

So I followed the advice I read here and got out to drive a 2019 Bolt.

I liked its responsiveness and poise, as well as its short nose -- I felt very confident parking it.
I liked the tech. The top-down mosaic camera is delightfully scifi.
I did not like the interior quality. My point of reference is a 16-year-old Pontiac, and this felt like a sidegrade. I'm the sort of guy who would drive a 16-year-old Pontiac, though, so that wasn't a big disappointment.
I greatly disliked the seats. I am about 5.5ft, 125lb, and the seats felt absurdly flat and hard. Restuffing the seats is a must.
Ultimately, I didn't really love it.

I re-ran the road trip charging calculations and realized the Bolt's <55kW charging would force me to drive our minivan on several of our annual road trips. Due to this, a plug-in hybrid would bring my carbon footprint lower overall.

With this in mind, I started over and drove the Honda Clarity. To make a long story short, loved it. After much negotiation, it's now in my driveway.

I really appreciate what you guys are doing here. Having an experienced community to turn to for common-sense advice and data is extremely valuable, and made it possible for me to make a large step towards decarbonization. Give yourselves a pat on the back for me.
Click to expand...

Congrats on your new car!

The Forum just happens to be the internet home of Clarity Plug-In Hybrid owners, so there is a ton of information here that may be helpful.
Here's a link to the FAQ for new owners.
 
bwilson4web said:
Originally from Oklahoma now living in Huntsville, AL, I had to make my choices in 2016. Given the crappy state of chargers, it was easy to go plug-in hybrid and we have two, an end-of-lease, 2014 BMW i3-REx and new 2017 Prius Prime. So our long distance history:
  • 463 mi - drive BMW i3-REx home from Charlotte NC over mountain pass
  • 700 mi each way - drive BMW 3-REx Huntsville AL to Stillwater OK
  • 1200 mi - drive Prius Prime home from Rhode Island
  • 212 mi each way - drive Prius Prime to Knoxville and back
  • 300 mi round trip - drive BMW i3-REx to Tennessee for eclipse
The ability to continue a trip on gasoline meant we were never constrained by chargers. But around town, ~72 mi BMW and ~25 mi Prius Prime, we got the cheaper EV miles, about half the cost of gas miles.

I would also caution that Electrify America, fast DC chargers are accumulating a lot of EV owner complaints. I tried the one at Manchester TN and only two of three attempts were successful after spending 20-30 minutes trying to find one of the four stations that worked. So far, I'm finding out-of-town, fast DC chargers are 3-4x more expensive than gas, $6 vs $24. Fortunately, long distance miles are about 10-15% of all of our miles so it is not a big budget impact.

Still, your choice and there are excellent ones out there.

Bob Wilson
Click to expand...
What is the end of lease like for the 2 cars? Do you have an option of buying cars? From what I have seen the I3 seems to be very cheap as buying a previously leased vehicle.
What option are not available on your I3 that you would get if you were leasing a new I3? What options do you like most?
 
JOHN PHILLIPS said:
What is the end of lease like for the 2 cars?
Click to expand...
I don't know as I've never leased a car. I bought it from an outfit that picked it up at auction. It was about two years old and the maintenance records showed it had a busted wheel that apparently also led to loss of the tire 'goop' kit. Otherwise, it was fully loaded (common with lease vehicles.) I picked it up for $29k but today it would go for ~$20k.

Do you have an option of buying cars?
I bought it via EBay and drove it home. That was the first time I'd ever driven one. I'd seen the Sandy Munro presentation on AutoLine TV and that was enough.

From what I have seen the I3 seems to be very cheap as buying a previously leased vehicle.
Three years later, you have more options. Apparently not everyone understands the car.

What option are not available on your I3 that you would get if you were leasing a new I3?
I bought a 2019 Standard Range Plus Model 3 trading in a 2017 Prius Prime for $18.3k. AutoPilot makes that a much better car than the BMW i3-REx which is our fall-back car.

What options do you like most?
  1. Range Extender - in 2016 there were few, CCS-1 fast DC chargers and certainly no wide spread network of chargers. So the 2 gal, 78 mi range, motorcycle engine driving a generator made it a go anywhere, hybrid. At ~40 MPG, not as efficient as our former Prius Prime, ~56 MPG, the BMW i3, 72 mi EV range, was significantly better than the 25 mi EV Prius Prime. I'd stopped driving the Prime because the BMW was more fun. It is also cheaper and faster outside of town
  2. Magiceye dynamic cruise control - handles following cars and trucks much safer. Optically based, it has trouble driving into the sun, occasional shadows over the road, and large signs over the road when there is a rise or overpass. It has no lane keeping which AutoPilot has. Nor does it have radar which means poor visibility like rain and fog defeat it. Still it is a head and shoulders above ordinary cruise control.
  3. BIMMERCODE - an aftermarket tuning tool, lets you set the default driving mode; increase the electronically limited tank size, and; early starting of the range extender engine. It also allows showing tire temperature as well as pressure.
  4. Short wheel base - a mixed blessing, it is very maneuverable in traffic but subject to a slight forward/backward rocking motion on some highways at speed.
This is what sold me on the BMW i3:


Bob Wilson
 
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JOHN PHILLIPS said:
What is the end of lease like for the 2 cars? Do you have an option of buying cars? From what I have seen the I3 seems to be very cheap as buying a previously leased vehicle.
What option are not available on your I3 that you would get if you were leasing a new I3? What options do you like most?
Click to expand...

On the 2014 i3 model year DC Fast Charging was optional, on subsequent years it was standard. Avoid a 2014 without DC Fast Charging.
 
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