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I'm actually happy to delay my battery replacement - I believe the probabilities & statistics are on my side as far as the chances of my car going up in flames

I'm actually happy to delay my battery replacement - I believe the probabilities & statistics are on my side as far as the chances of my car going up in flames before I decide to actually move forward with my battery replacement. Probably going to do it this year, but I'm not at all in a rush. I also have only really followed GM's recommendation to keep state of charge under 90%; I have happily driven my battery as low as needed, but have always worked to plug the car in and raise the state of charge within 24 hours back to the "appropriate" range. Agreed with you about some folks not wanting to put up with it - there's plenty of stories on the Bolt EV Facebook group about folks going through the buy-back process. But I wouldn't sell my Bolt for even its original MSRP.

ineedasername 5y ago
>statistics are on my side as far as the chances of my car going up in flames Sure they are. If statistics weren't at least slightly on your side that would mean that roughly half (or more) of these were catching fire. In most equipment safety issues I can think of the statistics of something going wrong are always on your side. A more comprehensive approach is probably risk/reward. How much will it cost to get rid of the car early? What is my liability if the car catches fire and data logs show I drove the car down to a 65 mile range a few times? Would Chevy still replace it? Am I liable if such a fire caused damage to someone else's property? What if the parking deck where I work doesn't have an open-air top floor to park on? What if I don't have anywhere near my house where I can park 50 feet away from other vehicles? For the same reason, if I owned a Tesla I'd probably turn off all self-driving options except maybe lane assist. Though I wouldn't buy a Tesla or other EV quite yet either-- I'd like things like battery safety to get more mature. It's not even just manufacturing, but also car accidents: EV battery fires can ramp up faster than those from an ICE. On the other hand, there's promising tech on the horizon that works around some of these things: https://www.forbes.com/wheels/news/ev-battery-fires/ https://www.forbes.com/wheels/news/ev-battery-fires/. When I had to buy a new car recently I ultimately decided against an EV [1] but I expect that may change by the time I buy my next car. [1] Not just tech maturity, but for a variety of reasons. Not least of which is that where I live electricity is almost exclusively generated by fossil fuels anyway, including coal, with an overall efficiency that isn't much different than a new car w/ average gas mileage. Add to that the efficiency loss of translating grid power into EV motive power...
- neon_electro 5y ago
  When I say "statistics are on my side", I don't just mean that the odds are in my favor on a 50/50 basis; I simply mean that I don't feel I have to be as aggressive in my behavior modification to make sure my car doesn't go in flames. The questions you ask about what would be the case IF the car actually went up in flames are extremely valid, and underpin why I probably won't be waiting longer than the end of this calendar year to get the battery swapped.
absolutelynobo 5y ago
There’s always a genius in the comments who’s convinced they’re getting some “alpha” by indefinitely postponing battery replacement. You’re ignoring the fact that your insurance will account for willful negligence of recalls, you’re missing out on 8% more range now, you you’re missing out on a slightly faster charging curve, you’re holding up the replacement process for other Bolt owners… just stop lying to yourself.
- neon_electro 5y ago
  I didn't say I was going to delay it forever - especially because I am not putting enough miles on the car during the pandemic and no regular car commute to achieve the "alpha" you describe. I'll probably take care of it before the end of the calendar year - and I think I've benefited from learning from the early adopters of the battery swap; especially around some reported instances of coolant not being adequately taken care of after the swap and even more issues resulting from it. I at least know of one thing to keep an eye out for after the swap happens.

ineedasername 5y ago

>statistics are on my side as far as the chances of my car going up in flames Sure they are. If statistics weren't at least slightly on your side that would mean that roughly half (or more) of these were catching fire. In most equipment safety issues I can think of the statistics of something going wrong are always on your side. A more comprehensive approach is probably risk/reward. How much will it cost to get rid of the car early? What is my liability if the car catches fire and data logs show I drove the car down to a 65 mile range a few times? Would Chevy still replace it? Am I liable if such a fire caused damage to someone else's property? What if the parking deck where I work doesn't have an open-air top floor to park on? What if I don't have anywhere near my house where I can park 50 feet away from other vehicles? For the same reason, if I owned a Tesla I'd probably turn off all self-driving options except maybe lane assist. Though I wouldn't buy a Tesla or other EV quite yet either-- I'd like things like battery safety to get more mature. It's not even just manufacturing, but also car accidents: EV battery fires can ramp up faster than those from an ICE. On the other hand, there's promising tech on the horizon that works around some of these things: https://www.forbes.com/wheels/news/ev-battery-fires/ https://www.forbes.com/wheels/news/ev-battery-fires/. When I had to buy a new car recently I ultimately decided against an EV [1] but I expect that may change by the time I buy my next car. [1] Not just tech maturity, but for a variety of reasons. Not least of which is that where I live electricity is almost exclusively generated by fossil fuels anyway, including coal, with an overall efficiency that isn't much different than a new car w/ average gas mileage. Add to that the efficiency loss of translating grid power into EV motive power...

neon_electro 5y ago
When I say "statistics are on my side", I don't just mean that the odds are in my favor on a 50/50 basis; I simply mean that I don't feel I have to be as aggressive in my behavior modification to make sure my car doesn't go in flames. The questions you ask about what would be the case IF the car actually went up in flames are extremely valid, and underpin why I probably won't be waiting longer than the end of this calendar year to get the battery swapped.

absolutelynobo 5y ago

There’s always a genius in the comments who’s convinced they’re getting some “alpha” by indefinitely postponing battery replacement. You’re ignoring the fact that your insurance will account for willful negligence of recalls, you’re missing out on 8% more range now, you you’re missing out on a slightly faster charging curve, you’re holding up the replacement process for other Bolt owners… just stop lying to yourself.

neon_electro 5y ago
I didn't say I was going to delay it forever - especially because I am not putting enough miles on the car during the pandemic and no regular car commute to achieve the "alpha" you describe. I'll probably take care of it before the end of the calendar year - and I think I've benefited from learning from the early adopters of the battery swap; especially around some reported instances of coolant not being adequately taken care of after the swap and even more issues resulting from it. I at least know of one thing to keep an eye out for after the swap happens.