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That's insane. For (probably) a majority of owners it makes the car unusable if you adhere to that restriction. If I had one then I would have nowhere to park

That's insane. For (probably) a majority of owners it makes the car unusable if you adhere to that restriction. If I had one then I would have nowhere to park it. Certainly not at work. And at home with once car in the driveway and another in front of the house they couldn't be 50 feet apart. In tightly packed houses even one driveway to the next isn't 50 feet apart. If you went shopping and we're lucky enough to manage to find a space 50 feet away, there's no guarantee someone wouldn't park closer, though I can't even think of a place I go where finding such a spot in the first place is at all likely.

willcipriano 5y ago
The idea isn't getting you to adhere to it, the idea is when inevitably one of these ends up incinerating a national forest or a home for orphans, GM can say "We told you to park 50 feet away, if only you hadn't been negligent and followed our simple directions!" rather than "So sorry about that"
- ineedasername 5y ago
  Ah, yes that makes sense. The "thoughts & prayers" approach.
- jerome-jh 5y ago
  Yeh that's completely insane and irresponsible, but we're getting kind of used to that sort of thing.
hn_throwaway_99 5y ago
I mean, that's just the tip of the iceberg: > The Bolt normally can go 259 miles on a charge, but that has been limited by GM’s guidance to avoid a fire. The automaker told Bolt owners to limit the charge to 90 percent, plug in more frequently and avoid depleting the battery to below about 70 miles of remaining range. They’re also advised to park their vehicles outside immediately after charging and not leave them charging indoors overnight. So instead of 259 miles of charge, it's about 163 miles of charge. Oh, and don't leave your car in your own garage after charging. Tough pill to swallow, I'm a Volt owner and I love that car, but couldn't blame anyone for them being soured on GM after that.
- oceanplexian 5y ago
  I’m a (former) Bolt owner and you are vastly overestimating the available range. The Bolt is lucky to crack 180 in regular freeway driving at 75-80MPH. In the winter in freezing temps the range dips as low as 140. The loss of range from the new charging limitations make the car practically unusable for anything but city driving.
pavon 5y ago
Yep. I have a Bolt. We are fortunate that the previous owner of our house put in RV hookups so during the recall we have been able to charge while parked in the driveway rather than charging in the garage and then moving to the driveway each night. But there is no way we can follow this latest guidance. The farthest we could park is on the street evenly spaced between our driveway and our neighbor's driveway. This will end up being about 20 feet from the entries to our respective driveways and 35 feet diagonal from our respective garages. And I don't live in a dense area at all. My biggest concern in all of this has been that there is a large pine tree in our front yard and there is literally no place in the driveway or street that isn't at least partially under the canopy of this tree. If the car catches fire, so will the tree, with pretty good odds of falling on the house. We love the car, and don't really want to go through the hassle of shopping and buying another car to replace it right now. So it is really tempting to look at 10 fires out of 140,000 cars and say those are reasonable odds, but I don't know if that's the smart thing to do.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- fy20 5y ago
  Have you spoken to your insurance? If there is a fire would they cover it, or would they reject the claim as you "aren't following the manufacturers guidelines" (as impractical as they are).

willcipriano 5y ago

The idea isn't getting you to adhere to it, the idea is when inevitably one of these ends up incinerating a national forest or a home for orphans, GM can say "We told you to park 50 feet away, if only you hadn't been negligent and followed our simple directions!" rather than "So sorry about that"

ineedasername 5y ago
Ah, yes that makes sense. The "thoughts & prayers" approach.
jerome-jh 5y ago
Yeh that's completely insane and irresponsible, but we're getting kind of used to that sort of thing.

hn_throwaway_99 5y ago

I mean, that's just the tip of the iceberg: > The Bolt normally can go 259 miles on a charge, but that has been limited by GM’s guidance to avoid a fire. The automaker told Bolt owners to limit the charge to 90 percent, plug in more frequently and avoid depleting the battery to below about 70 miles of remaining range. They’re also advised to park their vehicles outside immediately after charging and not leave them charging indoors overnight. So instead of 259 miles of charge, it's about 163 miles of charge. Oh, and don't leave your car in your own garage after charging. Tough pill to swallow, I'm a Volt owner and I love that car, but couldn't blame anyone for them being soured on GM after that.

oceanplexian 5y ago
I’m a (former) Bolt owner and you are vastly overestimating the available range. The Bolt is lucky to crack 180 in regular freeway driving at 75-80MPH. In the winter in freezing temps the range dips as low as 140. The loss of range from the new charging limitations make the car practically unusable for anything but city driving.

pavon 5y ago

Yep. I have a Bolt. We are fortunate that the previous owner of our house put in RV hookups so during the recall we have been able to charge while parked in the driveway rather than charging in the garage and then moving to the driveway each night. But there is no way we can follow this latest guidance. The farthest we could park is on the street evenly spaced between our driveway and our neighbor's driveway. This will end up being about 20 feet from the entries to our respective driveways and 35 feet diagonal from our respective garages. And I don't live in a dense area at all. My biggest concern in all of this has been that there is a large pine tree in our front yard and there is literally no place in the driveway or street that isn't at least partially under the canopy of this tree. If the car catches fire, so will the tree, with pretty good odds of falling on the house. We love the car, and don't really want to go through the hassle of shopping and buying another car to replace it right now. So it is really tempting to look at 10 fires out of 140,000 cars and say those are reasonable odds, but I don't know if that's the smart thing to do.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
fy20 5y ago
Have you spoken to your insurance? If there is a fire would they cover it, or would they reject the claim as you "aren't following the manufacturers guidelines" (as impractical as they are).