Featured Very few EVs qualify for the federal tax credit as of 2024

The $27790 MSRP including destination fee is almost a bare bone 1LT Bolt EV. Only option added is $295 charge cord. This maybe the last 1LT available. If I am buying a commuter, I really don't need all the additional options and features, but base 1LT does not come with heated seats and steering wheel. Just for that feature alone, I am willing to pay a few thousand $ for an upgraded 2LT.

 

the heated steering wheel is fantastic. when i saw it, i knew i wanted one. haven't need the cooled seats yet, but i'm hopeful

 

Is your EUV Premium trim? I don't think base LT model EUV came with vented seat? What type of heater? Not having a combustion engine, it has to be electric, but is it a heat pump or PTC?

 

My level of comfort needed is it needs to get me from point A to point B and I can see through the glass. I wouldn't care if the seats were solid, hard and cold.

Heated seats are nice, but not worth even $50 to upgrade even here where it gets down to -40 °F.

 

For me it is not so much about comfort. The heated seats and steering wheel are necessity to keep the use of HVAC heating minimum during winter. With PHEV, often gas engine needs to come on to heat the cabin. But if I keep the cabin heating off, I can keep the ICE off and just use heated seat and steering wheel which use very little battery power compared to heating the entire cabin.

For a BEV without an engine, entire heating energy is sourced from the battery, if I don't have heated seat and have to use cabin heater, it will cost more for electricity making operation cost higher than gasser car easily. Here EV operation is not cheaper than gas engine operation.

 

I've also driven plenty of vehicles without a heater, another unnecessary feature. If it's cold, then dress for the cold.

With the exception of windshield fog clearing. Of course you used to just need some wing windows to keep the windshield clear, but not too many new vehicles have that.

Besides, what's the point if modern vehicles can't be warmed up because A) it's illegal and B) you can't lock the doors and let the car warm up at the same time. At least you can't in my Avalon.

 

It worked for old school cars. Today, almost any new cars requires some touch panel operation. It is very difficult to do with gloved hand, even just opening door and starting the car. Heated steering wheel makes ungloved hand very warm and dextrous.

Keeping windshield free of fog requires some HVAC. But I have avoided using HVAC on my PHEV by keeping window cracked open a little. In those days heated seats are very welcomed features.

I never felt need for them until I started driving my Prius Prime PHEV in winter.

 

We did very much enjoy the heated seats and steering wheel in the Leaf. The Avalon has heated seats, but only the front two ones, which is a bit unfair for those that have to sit in the back seat.

I'm not saying that heated seats and cabin heater and such aren't nice features. I'm just not the type of person who would pay more to have them. I've completely given up on buying a car that I like and that has features I want. First of all they no longer make the kind of car and kinds of accesories that I like. And the ones they do make would make the car more expensive. And I don't make a lot of money. So as long as it provides the basic necessity of transportation, that's all that matters. If those extra things mattered to me then I'd get the radio fixed in the Avalon.

When the Avalon needs replacing my main requirement will be that it isn't more than 1/4 or so of my income, which isn't going to let my buy very much car. I'm even considering a scooter as a future car replacement.

 

Electric scooter would be what I will buy as main mode of transportation if I lived in a city in warmer climate. But driving a scooter, just like riding bicycles, is very impractical on rural roads in cold climate.

But at present, I have very little need for a car. I will likely to continue a single car household for a while.

 

Yes, a scooter for a family of 4 in an isolated, snowy, mountainous town in Colorado would be very impractical. But I got to keep my wants low, otherwise I might end up buying something too expensive.

 

There is no premium trim, but there was a premier.
Unfortunately, they weren’t building them when I ordered, so I got the LT2 with driver convenience, comfort and safety packages.
One of those included the perforated leather seats with heating and cooling, and the steering wheel.
Msrp including red paint and delivery was $33,500. Less $11,000. In tax credits plus tl.
They gave me 7k for my 2012 pip with busted head gasket

 

Since Bolt production has ended, what's already built are the only available ones. Obviously, GM did not built many (or any?) stripped down bare bone base trims. All I see in current inventory seems to have some options added. I just found one EUV in my local Chevy dealer lot as being available now. It is a bit more than I need for strictly as an around town errands only 2nd car at $32k price tag.

How is your EUV doing in cold days? I checked and looks like all Bolts are with resistive heater only, no heat pump option. How low does the efficiency drops in winter in Boston climate? Our Escape PHEV driven as pure EV (no ICE), with the PTC heater running from the traction battery, the EV efficiency drops down below 2mi/kWh. In summer time I can get close to 5mi/kWh. That is a huge efficiency hit.

The dealer with EUV listed is the closest car dealer for me, and this is the first and likely to be the last time I see a Bolt at this dealer. They mostly sell trucks and commercial vehicles. I may contact them to see if it is still available for a test drive.

 

I watched many a person whose car was parked outside when the weather dip blows 0° f. They'd leave their house with gloves on because setting your hands on a steering wheel that's < 0° f can get quite painful in short order.
I suppose some don't mind - but that's definitely a minority.
In an ev, a warm seat and steering wheel means you don't have to use several miles of potential driving range just to heat up a bunch of air to a much more tolerable temperature.
.

 

the weather has been pretty mild around boston so far, generally in the mid 30's or higher when i'm out. my car is in an attached unheated garage which stays above freezing most of the time.
since the bolt is just for local use, i don't use the heat unless mrs b is with me.
i've been getting around 5 miles/kwh, and when i do need heat, setting it to 72 drops it to around 4 miles/kwh.
i believe the bolt heating system is electrically heated coolant instead of heating the air. not sure why, more efficient or not so dry?
definitely no heat pump, although i think the next iteration is supposed to have one if it ever comes out.

it's amazing how few bolts there are around here, but in some parts of the country, the lots are littered with them, and prices are dropping.
and gm is slowly releasing all the bolts they bought back when the lg batteries were defective. they are completely redone with new battery and software and full warranty. some have gotten good deals on them, but i thing there may be a flaw in the titles.

 

Yes, I know what you're saying. The Leaf had heated seats and steering wheel and is probably why my wife says it was her favorite car. There were many a time I'd turn on just the seat heater and not use the cabin heater in order to get more range.

On the other hand, the time the Leaf died at 30 miles away from 100% I was doing just that, using the heated seat and not the cabin heater. It still ran out of juice at less than half the range it was supposed to have.

But if there's one thing I've learned, is that I shouldn't buy a car because I like it or it's comfortable. I should buy a car because I need it, and as a person who's worked outside in temperatures down to -52 °F I don't really need any sort of heating. Yes, my next car will probably have a heater because heaters are standard, but right now it looks like the LT2 Bolts are around $10,000 more than the LT1's. An LT1 is in my price range, an LT2 isn't. Will it be a pain to drive in the winter and be less efficient? Yes. But that's the way it is. If you can afford heated seats then by all means consider them.

The early Nissan Leafs had resistance to water heating and it was pittifully inefficient. One of the main reasons was the time it took to heat up the water. Another was that the tubing went into the motor compartment (under the hood) without any insulation.

In 2013 Nissan changed to a resistance air heater (also heat pump option on some vehicles), which was much more efficient in that it only had to heat a little bit of metal in order to heat the air. And it heated it directly in the cabin, not out in the motor compartment.

But a heat pump is a nice addition for those who can afford one.

 

In the Bolt's case, they could be using a coolant loop off the battery. Mainly, they likely do it that way so the fire risk of a high power heater can be kept outside the cabin.

 

It seems like I read somewhere that the Bolt has 3 coolant loops and 3 coolant reservoirs, one for the battery, another for the inverter and another for the cabin heater.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

Sounds right. While typing the above, I realized that cabin heating might require hotter coolant than what is good for the battery. Still possible to collect some heat from those loops for the cabin though. I think Hyundai does that.

 

What have you tested either by design or ad hoc of the safety package?

My 2014 BMW i3-REx had the "MagicEye" system but lacked lane keeping. Perhaps you might describe the features and which one's you've gotten some 'hands on' time with?

AutoPilot was the major reasons I bought my 2019 Tesla Model 3 even though it was an extra cost option back then.

Thanks,
Bob Wilson

 

supercruise is gm's big system, but it's subscription only, after a trial period. i've read good and bad, depending on location i think.
for mine, it's just the mild stuff like lane keep assist which nudges the steering wheel if you get near a line you can see.
it has front, side and rear warnings if you get to close to another vehicle, which works pretty well.
and following distance, which shows the car ahead, and how much time between you and them.
and lastly, pedestrian warning, which alerts you after you have already hit them.
it does not have radar cruise, but that may come on the premiere model, idk.

i would say it's fairly comparable to our 2024 hycam with 2.5 safety sense, except that has radar cruise.