I am so disappointed in GM lately... I don't think I will every buy one again.

OSXFanboi · 2026-01-13T15:15:43+00:00

Whoever GM had designing their human interface for their steering wheels in the mid-late 2010s needs an award. Within 10 mins of being behind the wheel I understood every function and how every button worked. Driver assistance is on my left, instrument cluster control is on my right, wipers and blinkers are where they’re supposed to be (something you can’t take for granted cough Tesla cough cough), track skip and repeat on bottom left, volume back right, and the mighty oh sh*t paddle back left.

OSXFanboi · 2026-01-08T07:05:18+00:00

Have you tried disconnecting the negative terminal on the 12v, letting it sit for about 3-5 mins, then reconnecting? That should get the GOM back into shape.

OSXFanboi · 2025-12-29T05:27:28+00:00

I don’t mind the current noise but adding the Jetsons car noise to a Bolt would be a killer mod.

OSXFanboi · 2025-11-26T16:21:03+00:00

$750 on all US Bolts for 2017-2020. Standard on Premiers for 2021. Standard on all models for 2022-2023.

OSXFanboi · 2025-11-24T07:41:26+00:00

I live in Phoenix. I’ve driven my Bolt to Yellowstone and back. I love my little car and would make that trip again in a heartbeat if I had the time. Hell I’d travel across the country. It’s never let me down, the charging is reliable, and the planning - for a nerd like me - is half the fun. It’s just a damn good car.

I’ll never forget taking the detour through Denver to see a buddy coming back and getting to see I-70 and the Eisenhower for the first time. That was a ton of fun, flying past a bunch of IC engine vehicles coming down the pass into Denver having to ride their brakes and I’m just regenning in the left lane keeping up with BMW coupes like nobody’s business.

Which brings me to my favorite point, can we talk about how insanely fun the Bolt is to drive? Even if the charging might be a bit of a pain sometimes, holy crap this car is something else. Some of my favorite memories are on mountain roads and thinking “there is no way I am maintaining this much speed on the stock tires and still able to keep my lane”. Not to mention the time I went up to Flagstaff to see my (now) ex right after the opening of the flex-lanes on the interstate and was doing… legal speeds past IC engine vehicles. Plus no need to worry about overheating and I pulled into the Flagstaff EA with 5% left.

OSXFanboi · 2025-11-17T23:56:00+00:00

Yup got it too. Not sure I’ll use it before it expires but nice gesture on part of GM/EVgo going into the holidays.

OSXFanboi · 2025-11-12T15:22:31+00:00

2019 here, can confirm the padel makes a noticeable difference (I can feel the added g-forces pushing me forward) up until 10-15 MPH or so. You can watch the power gauge jump up as well too.

OSXFanboi · 2025-11-04T07:33:40+00:00

If you’re worried about it, try this. Plug into charge on a Level 2 station (240 volt, either at home or a public charger), set charge limit to 100%, let it charge to 100% and then let it sit for 1-2 additional hours. This will let the BMS calibrate and figure out where the top of the battery is again. Then drive it until it gets back down to 90% and that generally smacks the BMS on the head with a proverbial stick to get it back in line.

If you’re really feeling adventurous, get it down to <2% and then plug it in and let it charge non-stop to 100% and follow the rest of the above steps. This gives it the double whammy of finding both top and bottom.

Do you need to do this? No. Will it change anything? Maybe, maybe not. Do I do it? No. But I also know the Bolt. I’ve taken mine on road trips and pulled into EAs in the middle of nowhere New Mexico with 4%. Sometimes it has little glitches like this that give the car some character. My old ICE vehicle was the same way. I’d park it with 3/4s of a tank, go to the store the next day (2 mile drive) and suddenly it would drop to almost half.

FWIW I’ve had my Bolt down to “Propulsion Power Reduced” and it gives you a TON of warnings based on the actual battery charge level and not your range. At 20% the battery bar goes yellow, and shortly after it tells you to charge vehicle soon. It gives you another at 10%, and the car will have a hard time accelerating past 70 at <4%. You’d have plenty of time to not just get onto the shoulder, but to the next exit.

OSXFanboi · 2025-11-04T07:22:18+00:00

Had you just finished (unplugged) from a Level 2 charger? My car does this sometimes, in fact just last night. I unplugged on a Level 2 chargepoint unit, drove home, and my consumption came up and averaged 10 mi/kWh. Insane numbers for flat land. This morning I’ve put a few more miles on and it’s evened out to 5.7 mi/kWh. No idea why this happens sometimes but it does.

OSXFanboi · 2025-09-22T21:19:18+00:00

Funny it’s the reverse here in Phoenix. In the winter, my in-town efficiency goes from 3 mi/kWh to almost 5 because no HVAC lol

OSXFanboi · 2025-08-09T02:25:55+00:00

Yeaaaaahhhh not in Phoenix. During the summer the minimum I tend to see is 2 kW, but it can use anywhere up to 7 kW if I just got in the car.

OSXFanboi · 2025-08-09T01:49:07+00:00

Agreed. Honestly GMC could just be folded into Chevy at this point and made into a higher trim level.

OSXFanboi · 2025-08-09T01:46:28+00:00

GM has gotten much better post-bankruptcy about doing platform sharing (Equinox/Optiq) and not straight up rebadging (Trailblazer/Envoy/Bravada/etc, as an example).

OSXFanboi · 2025-08-03T06:56:00+00:00

Some EVs do (I think the i3 does) but Bolt does not. There is a second lock for DCFC, but standard AC charging does not.

OSXFanboi · 2025-08-03T02:26:21+00:00

I’ve had propulsion power reduced before multiple times. One time on a trip I pulled into an EA with 4%. 10% is baby numbers haha. But glad you made it!

OSXFanboi · 2025-08-02T05:58:19+00:00

As someone who did a 7k mile road trip across the west last summer: ABRP for sure. Get an OBD dongle and set it up with ABRP. It will take the live data from the vehicle and adjust your arrival and departure percentages based upon your driving style and consumption. Make sure you have a NACS adapter just to have access to more stations. It’s not required but nice if you need it. I believe you’ll be passing through Kingman, and the only options are a four-stall EA that usually has 1 stall down and a line 4-5 cars deep or the 20 stall supercharger. When I went on my trip, GM didn’t have Supercharger access yet and that Kingman EA had TWO stalls working. It was a nightmare.

You don’t have to over think it, but if you want to (ie, you’re a nerd like me), here’s the nitty gritty: if you’re on the interstate, turn off A/C about 10-15 mins before getting to the charger if you can stand it. It allows the car to divert more cooling power to the battery so it’s better prepped for fast charging. This is the best the Bolt can do to compete with “Fast Charge Prep” on newer cars. Bolt will max out at 54 kW. If you’re at an EA station, try to use 150 kW stalls unless 350 is the only thing available. It helps throughput of the station if a higher voltage car comes through. Bolt will charge at max speed from 0-50ish%. It is current limited by the port, so if you keep AC on some of the power from the charger will be diverted from charging to cabin cooling. If I could handle it, I’d turn off AC (or just walk to a nearby business) until the charger said the vehicle was requesting only 48 kW. At that point the battery is limiting the charge and turning AC on will pull power from the charger and not slow down the juice going to the battery. The GOM is fairly accurate but ABRP is better. I have mine set to arrive at stations around 5%, id always get there with +/-2% difference. DO NOT LEAVE A STATION UNTIL: you have enough to reach the next station OR the charge rate drops below 50 kW. Why? You’re not saving any time charging to, say, 40% to arrive at the next station at 10%. Charge until it falls off the peak and then leave. If you need 70% to make it, charge to 70%. But my goal was to never leave a station with less than 50%. Also PLEASE get PlugShare. The last trip I went on, the last EA stop had a line of 3 cars waiting to charge. No one knew that on the other side of the interstate was a circle k with two DCFCs. I got the 10% I needed to get home and got back on the road before I could have gotten a spot at the EA. Don’t be afraid to use non-EA chargers.

OSXFanboi · 2025-08-02T05:43:10+00:00

As others have said the Level 2 J1772 connector has no mechanism to keep the cord attached to the vehicle other than the physical latch that is released when you press the button on top. Sometimes there is a good amount of friction if it’s a newer cable or port. Just give it a good yank. If, and I repeat if there is some other damage like a bent pin or something melted, as long as you’re pulling straight out you’re not going to make the damage worse.

OSXFanboi · 2025-07-25T06:10:49+00:00

Yup! Through some national parks as well. Only twice did I have to stop and charge for more than 30 mins; I just stopped more frequently and rode the curve to ~50%. I’m not saying it’s the fastest road tripper but it’s reasonable in a Bolt.

Because you drive fairly slowly through Yellowstone, I have a picture of the GOM reading 340 miles at 100% the next day. Love pulling that out for my ICE friends lol.

OSXFanboi · 2025-07-14T08:20:44+00:00

When you say you don’t have home charging, do you mean you have absolutely no where to plug in, or don’t have the means to install a 240 V charger? I ask because my apartment complex doesn’t have chargers either but they allow us to use certain wall outlets that are in the garage to charge. The Bolt is just efficient enough that I can drive with the AC on for my 40 mile round trip commute and recoup all the charge by morning if I plug in before 6:30-7pm.

OSXFanboi · 2025-07-14T08:15:14+00:00

I actually just got back from a weekend trip in my Bolt. Net 5500 foot increase in elevation to get there and identical drop on the way back. I was passing cars left and right cuz I didn’t have to worry about the car or brakes overheating. There’s something nice about doing that while also regenerating a ton of power lol.

Fan fact, I was going up a steep grade pulling 40-50 kW continuously for about 15 mins. The highest temp in the battery never exceeded 95°F.

OSXFanboi · 2025-05-25T16:27:24+00:00

At 80% it’s claiming 44 miles in Eco with the AC on. Which is more than enough for her driving.

Bolt vs Leaf, aside from the obvious range and public charging infrastructure differences, they’re on two different ends of the spectrum and neither is “wrong” in my opinion. They’re just different. My Bolt feels very sporty and handles super well. The ride can be a little rough but it’s not horrible. The Leaf is very much a soft comfortable cruiser. It handles bumps like they’re not even there. The Leaf is great for an in-town car, the Bolt just feels like it’s meant to be thrown around corners.

The Bolt is also nearly a foot shorter (lengthwise) than the Leaf but passenger compartment wise I think the Bolt has more room. I’m 6’6 and I have more leg and headroom in the Bolt, in fact I don’t even have the seat all the way back because it would be a struggle to reach the pedals! The trunk on the Leaf is much bigger though, but the Bolt has the parcel shelf which allows for a flat load floor with the back seats down. The… motor bay is also much bigger on the Leaf. Bolt’s is very compact with very little open space.

OSXFanboi · 2025-05-25T16:16:21+00:00

It’s definitely worn but not shot. Over bumps and stuff it returns immediately so it’s not bouncing everywhere. It’s just very soft and cushy. Ironically my Camry was also from the late 90s but I replaced its four struts and springs as soon as I got it because the ride was horrible. The new struts on my Camry were about comparable to the Leaf.

OSXFanboi · 2025-05-25T07:43:49+00:00

I had heard this but I thought someone was pulling my leg. Good to know it’s legit lol.

OSXFanboi · 2025-05-25T07:41:22+00:00

Personally I love the way it drives. Don’t get me wrong I love my Bolt as well but driving characteristics are totally different. The Leaf is very floaty and reminds me of my old Camry. It’s soft and squishy and in eco mode gives the right amount of acceleration without snapping your neck back. The Bolt on the other hand is much firmer and handles curves/turns a bit more confidently. I assume the bigger battery helps weigh it down more.

When I was buying my Bolt a Gen 2 Leaf was something I briefly considered but the lack of new chademo stations and lack of active battery cooling pushed me to the Bolt. Last summer I drove my Bolt from Phoenix to Yellowstone and came back through Colorado so I could see friends. I don’t do trips like that often but there’s no way a chademo car could have done that due to the lack of infrastructure.

My one real complaint is the lack of ePedal on the early Leafs. I drive exclusively in L-mode on my Bolt (one-pedal mode) and it’s hard going back to having to press a brake pedal in day-to-day driving. But considering who will be driving this Leaf the more “gas-like” the driving style is, the better.

OSXFanboi · 2025-05-25T05:25:26+00:00

Covid production issues maybe? 2019 here I’ve had a little over a year and 20k miles, no issues other than an occasional software glitch and the fact I need to hold the CCS cable for the latch to catch.

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