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The 2017 Chevy Bolt claims a 238 mile range. The Honda Fit get s 32 city mpg and has a 10.6 gallon tank, for 339 miles of range. So EV's are not that far behin

The 2017 Chevy Bolt claims a 238 mile range. The Honda Fit get s 32 city mpg and has a 10.6 gallon tank, for 339 miles of range. So EV's are not that far behind conventional cars, so the higher energy density of gasoline makes less and less of a difference... especially for commuters since they can refuel at home instead of seeking out a gas station, so they only need enough range to get to work and back (plus a cushion for detours and errands). Our commuter car hasn't made it more than 100 miles from home in its 5 year lifetime.

Hydraulix989 10y ago
The 2017 Bolt claims a 238 mile range a lot like Lenovo claims my laptop has 10 hour battery life. I'm lucky to get 4 hours with normal use, but if I turn off my music, disable wifi, turn the screen brightness all the way down, don't use Chrome, etc. I'll probably get at least double.
- Johnny555 10y ago
  Granted, your mileage will vary depending on your actual driving patterns and weather, but the LA Times got 240 miles on a single charge, and could have driven farther: http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-hy-bolt-ev-drive-20160912-snap-story.html http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-hy-bolt-ev-drive... Car and Driver got 238 miles with range to spare: http://blog.caranddriver.com/how-i-drove-238-miles-in-the-chevy-bolt-ev-and-still-had-range-to-spare/ http://blog.caranddriver.com/how-i-drove-238-miles-in-the-ch...
  - kagamine 10y ago
    > Monterrey was cool and foggy... Leading image from the article article taken in Monterrey neither foggy nor cool looking, instead appears as what would pass for summer in many parts of Europe and Canada.
    - Johnny555 10y ago
      While foggy Monterey weather may pass for summer in many parts of Europe and Canada, they weren't in Europe or Canada, they were in Monterey. Though I'm not sure what "cool looking" weather looks like in a photo of an automobile with no living creature around. If you don't believe they saw fog, the video included with the article shows the fog when he's crossing Bixby Bridge, about 30 minutes south of Monterey - skip to the 30 second mark.
      - kagamine 10y ago
        Just saying that the mileage is not going to be close to what they are advertising in a cold climate.
        Johnny555 10y ago
        Tesla owners report about a 20% drop in range in cold weather. The Detroit Free Press got about half way through a test in freezing (11F/-11C) temperatures with the Bolt before getting rear ended, but they were on track to go 200 miles. Whether the mileage is 240, 200, or 180, that's still more than enough for most people to commute multiple days. Around 70% of US drivers have a one way commute of 15 miles or less. http://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/mark-phelan/2016/12/17/chevrolet-bolt-fender-bender-accident/95481484/ http://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/mark-phelan/2016/12/17...
        Hydraulix989 10y ago
        Why aren't Bolt batteries nearly as affected as Tesla batteries? It seems like they would be bound by the same physics laws?
        Johnny555 10y ago
        I think they are equally affected -- 200 miles is about 20% less than the good weather range of 238 miles.
  - Hydraulix989 10y ago
    A friend who owns a Volt can get from SF to only Mountain View, and then it switches over to using gasoline.
    - Johnny555 10y ago
      Other than the fact that "Volt" rhymes with "Bolt", why is the all electric range of a Chevy Volt relevant to the Bolt?
    - cobookman 10y ago
      Volts electric range isn't for long road trips. That's why it has an ice as a backup generator. It's an electric car for today. Great car btw. After all incentives and dealer rebates you can get one for ~21k. Has 50 miles of electric range and it's backup generator gets 42 mpg. And unlike the i3 rex it can travel at full speed on gas.
      - LoSboccacc 10y ago
        yeah it was the first sensible electric car that wasn't built for wealthy people or green idealists and I seriously considered getting one, but in the end they never reached Italy
- bonzini 10y ago
  Are you sure? A typical phone battery is 5Wh. Let's say it is 5V times 1A times 1h (most of the time the phone does not drain 1A), that's a generous 5W of consumption for a phone. A Volt's battery is less than 20 kWh, and it has to last several hours, so it probably consumes around 5 kW. Now take the phone's 5W a base; Even adding 10W to charge two devices, 10W for the bigger display, and 20W for the speakers, I doubt that electronics and in-car entertainment consumes more than 2-3% (150W) of the overall energy needed by the car. Air conditioning is much more expensive, and the effect on ICE fuel usage is there but practically impossible to measure.
  - Hydraulix989 10y ago
    To be clear, I wasn't talking about music, wifi, brightness on the car, I was talking about it on my Thinkpad. I'd only use units of time (hours) to measure a laptop's battery life, I wouldn't use time as a unit for measuring a car's battery capacity. Taking car rides in my buddy's Volt will only get us from SF to Mountain View, and then it will switch to using gasoline. How you accelerate/brake/etc, city vs. highway driving, and following distance from other cars ("drafting") can really affect the range...
  - cobookman 10y ago
    I think you meant bolt not volt.
    - bonzini 10y ago
      I reported numbers for the Volt, but the Volt's battery definitely doesn't last several hours, so the effect is even more negligible.
  - cobookman 10y ago
    I think you meant bolt not volt.
luca_ing 10y ago
> The 2017 Chevy Bolt claims a 238 mile range. The Honda Fit get s 32 city mpg and has a 10.6 gallon tank, for 339 miles of range. One charges in 5 minutes, the other in a night or so. > So EV's are not that far behind conventional cars, so the higher energy density of gasoline makes less and less of a difference... I've been told that filling a petrol tank means transferring energy at a rate of about 20MW. This is where it makes a huge difference. > especially for commuters since they can refuel at home This may be true for US suburbia. In Europe a lot more people live in flats and park somewhere in the street. Unless we install power sockets in every streetlight, charging remains an unsolved problem for considerable swaths of the population (driving to a charging station is prohibitive -- I don't want to spend an hour+ just passing time).
- jdietrich 10y ago
  >One charges in 5 minutes, the other in a night or so. EV owners often report that charging is more convenient, because you wake up with a full charge every morning. Plugging in to a charging point takes just a few seconds. A rapid charge will get you to 80% capacity in 30 minutes with most cars, but overnight charging allows you to take advantage of cheaper off-peak electricity. >Unless we install power sockets in every streetlight Lamp posts with built-in EV charge points are commercially available. A stand-alone charging point takes up no more space than a parking meter. If there's space to park a car, there's space to fit a charge point. Charging is a solved problem, it just requires investment. https://www.zap-map.com/lamp-post-ev-charge-points-launched-by-rolec/ https://www.zap-map.com/lamp-post-ev-charge-points-launched-...
  - luca_ing 10y ago
    > EV owners often report that charging is more convenient, because you wake up with a full charge every morning. Plugging in to a charging point takes just a few seconds. Well, this plug-in hybrid owner disagrees. I find it very tedious to have to fiddle with the cable twice on every drive. >> Unless we install power sockets in every streetlight > Lamp posts with built-in EV charge points are commercially available. A stand-alone charging point takes up no more space than a parking meter. If there's space to park a car, there's space to fit a charge point. Charging is a solved problem, it just requires investment. True, which is why I mentioned lampposts. But they need to be absolutely ubiquitous. "Some" lampposts don't cut it -- charging needs to be possible literally everywhere, or there will be perpetual fights over the coveted charging parking spots. In my city the curbs are completely full of parked cars at night -- if they all are electric, there'll be a spider web of charging cables. (Also, the charging port on my car is actually on the street side of the car :'-( ).

Hydraulix989 10y ago

The 2017 Bolt claims a 238 mile range a lot like Lenovo claims my laptop has 10 hour battery life. I'm lucky to get 4 hours with normal use, but if I turn off my music, disable wifi, turn the screen brightness all the way down, don't use Chrome, etc. I'll probably get at least double.

Johnny555 10y ago
Granted, your mileage will vary depending on your actual driving patterns and weather, but the LA Times got 240 miles on a single charge, and could have driven farther: http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-hy-bolt-ev-drive-20160912-snap-story.html http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-hy-bolt-ev-drive... Car and Driver got 238 miles with range to spare: http://blog.caranddriver.com/how-i-drove-238-miles-in-the-chevy-bolt-ev-and-still-had-range-to-spare/ http://blog.caranddriver.com/how-i-drove-238-miles-in-the-ch...
- kagamine 10y ago
  > Monterrey was cool and foggy... Leading image from the article article taken in Monterrey neither foggy nor cool looking, instead appears as what would pass for summer in many parts of Europe and Canada.
  - Johnny555 10y ago
    While foggy Monterey weather may pass for summer in many parts of Europe and Canada, they weren't in Europe or Canada, they were in Monterey. Though I'm not sure what "cool looking" weather looks like in a photo of an automobile with no living creature around. If you don't believe they saw fog, the video included with the article shows the fog when he's crossing Bixby Bridge, about 30 minutes south of Monterey - skip to the 30 second mark.
    - kagamine 10y ago
      Just saying that the mileage is not going to be close to what they are advertising in a cold climate.
      - Johnny555 10y ago
        Tesla owners report about a 20% drop in range in cold weather. The Detroit Free Press got about half way through a test in freezing (11F/-11C) temperatures with the Bolt before getting rear ended, but they were on track to go 200 miles. Whether the mileage is 240, 200, or 180, that's still more than enough for most people to commute multiple days. Around 70% of US drivers have a one way commute of 15 miles or less. http://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/mark-phelan/2016/12/17/chevrolet-bolt-fender-bender-accident/95481484/ http://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/mark-phelan/2016/12/17...
        Hydraulix989 10y ago
        Why aren't Bolt batteries nearly as affected as Tesla batteries? It seems like they would be bound by the same physics laws?
        Johnny555 10y ago
        I think they are equally affected -- 200 miles is about 20% less than the good weather range of 238 miles.
- Hydraulix989 10y ago
  A friend who owns a Volt can get from SF to only Mountain View, and then it switches over to using gasoline.
  - Johnny555 10y ago
    Other than the fact that "Volt" rhymes with "Bolt", why is the all electric range of a Chevy Volt relevant to the Bolt?
  - cobookman 10y ago
    Volts electric range isn't for long road trips. That's why it has an ice as a backup generator. It's an electric car for today. Great car btw. After all incentives and dealer rebates you can get one for ~21k. Has 50 miles of electric range and it's backup generator gets 42 mpg. And unlike the i3 rex it can travel at full speed on gas.
    - LoSboccacc 10y ago
      yeah it was the first sensible electric car that wasn't built for wealthy people or green idealists and I seriously considered getting one, but in the end they never reached Italy
bonzini 10y ago
Are you sure? A typical phone battery is 5Wh. Let's say it is 5V times 1A times 1h (most of the time the phone does not drain 1A), that's a generous 5W of consumption for a phone. A Volt's battery is less than 20 kWh, and it has to last several hours, so it probably consumes around 5 kW. Now take the phone's 5W a base; Even adding 10W to charge two devices, 10W for the bigger display, and 20W for the speakers, I doubt that electronics and in-car entertainment consumes more than 2-3% (150W) of the overall energy needed by the car. Air conditioning is much more expensive, and the effect on ICE fuel usage is there but practically impossible to measure.
- Hydraulix989 10y ago
  To be clear, I wasn't talking about music, wifi, brightness on the car, I was talking about it on my Thinkpad. I'd only use units of time (hours) to measure a laptop's battery life, I wouldn't use time as a unit for measuring a car's battery capacity. Taking car rides in my buddy's Volt will only get us from SF to Mountain View, and then it will switch to using gasoline. How you accelerate/brake/etc, city vs. highway driving, and following distance from other cars ("drafting") can really affect the range...
- cobookman 10y ago
  I think you meant bolt not volt.
  - bonzini 10y ago
    I reported numbers for the Volt, but the Volt's battery definitely doesn't last several hours, so the effect is even more negligible.
- cobookman 10y ago
  I think you meant bolt not volt.

luca_ing 10y ago

> The 2017 Chevy Bolt claims a 238 mile range. The Honda Fit get s 32 city mpg and has a 10.6 gallon tank, for 339 miles of range. One charges in 5 minutes, the other in a night or so. > So EV's are not that far behind conventional cars, so the higher energy density of gasoline makes less and less of a difference... I've been told that filling a petrol tank means transferring energy at a rate of about 20MW. This is where it makes a huge difference. > especially for commuters since they can refuel at home This may be true for US suburbia. In Europe a lot more people live in flats and park somewhere in the street. Unless we install power sockets in every streetlight, charging remains an unsolved problem for considerable swaths of the population (driving to a charging station is prohibitive -- I don't want to spend an hour+ just passing time).

jdietrich 10y ago
>One charges in 5 minutes, the other in a night or so. EV owners often report that charging is more convenient, because you wake up with a full charge every morning. Plugging in to a charging point takes just a few seconds. A rapid charge will get you to 80% capacity in 30 minutes with most cars, but overnight charging allows you to take advantage of cheaper off-peak electricity. >Unless we install power sockets in every streetlight Lamp posts with built-in EV charge points are commercially available. A stand-alone charging point takes up no more space than a parking meter. If there's space to park a car, there's space to fit a charge point. Charging is a solved problem, it just requires investment. https://www.zap-map.com/lamp-post-ev-charge-points-launched-by-rolec/ https://www.zap-map.com/lamp-post-ev-charge-points-launched-...
- luca_ing 10y ago
  > EV owners often report that charging is more convenient, because you wake up with a full charge every morning. Plugging in to a charging point takes just a few seconds. Well, this plug-in hybrid owner disagrees. I find it very tedious to have to fiddle with the cable twice on every drive. >> Unless we install power sockets in every streetlight > Lamp posts with built-in EV charge points are commercially available. A stand-alone charging point takes up no more space than a parking meter. If there's space to park a car, there's space to fit a charge point. Charging is a solved problem, it just requires investment. True, which is why I mentioned lampposts. But they need to be absolutely ubiquitous. "Some" lampposts don't cut it -- charging needs to be possible literally everywhere, or there will be perpetual fights over the coveted charging parking spots. In my city the curbs are completely full of parked cars at night -- if they all are electric, there'll be a spider web of charging cables. (Also, the charging port on my car is actually on the street side of the car :'-( ).