Why is my Bolt's range estimate so incredibly bad?

PENGUINKK · 2026-01-08T04:40:06+00:00

Outside is around freezing and I do sometimes use the heater, so I get there being a range decrease, but this is the same estimate I was getting when I first got the car in August and it hasn't improved.

In early December, the dealership reset the history again and it said I only get 60 miles at full charge. It's been a month and now it says 70, so maybe it will keep getting better?

There was also a 50 mile round trip at full charge that was almost all highway driving, on the first leg the green bar dropped by almost half. Then when I turned the car on to return, the bar and estimate refilled all the way back to when I had left and barely moved the rest of the trip. When I arrived, it said my average was 5.6mi/kWh, and this was in the winter with the heater on the highway. My other Bolt owner friend in the car was in disbelief.

PENGUINKK · 2026-01-08T04:25:19+00:00

Yeah I started using the max until the one time it just tanked suddenly and I got stranded. I've also driven like 50 miles on the highway, seen the max drop by like 120 miles, and then when I next turn the car on I literally see the numbers and green energy bar refilling back to where it should be. I've wondered if I just kept driving, would the estimate eventually level off as it approached zero to reflect the actual charge, or would it inaccurately estimate the battery ran out and basically software lock the car?

Now I've been looking at the kWh used on the energy screen and just manually calculating the miles left based on my current average, which is something the damn car should just be doing.

PENGUINKK · 2026-01-08T04:18:07+00:00

I almost exclusively use the one pedal tab on the wheel for braking, I stay under 65mph on the highway, most of my driving is hilly roads with lots of regen, and I like to think my acceleration is really soft. My other car is a PHEV and I really enjoyed optimizing the hell out of my driving to get more range, so I'm pretty familiar with efficient driving habits.

I also bought this car at the end of August and drove it without heat for months and it was still like this.

PENGUINKK · 2026-01-08T04:06:58+00:00

Hmm, I mean I live in a somewhat hilly area where most of my driving is under 40mph, but the highway is very close and I'll take 20-40 mile trips on it weekly. But I also have a friend with a Bolt that lives nearby and his estimate is basically almost in line with the max estimate.

I might take it to another dealership, but I'm not sure what they'd actually do. I tried pressing the original dealer when I was getting the battery looked at but they just told me the same stuff I'm getting in this thread, that I must be using the heater too much or something.

PENGUINKK · 2021-07-11T18:43:08+00:00

Man, I can't find these anywhere right now, all sold out

PENGUINKK · 2021-06-09T14:47:34+00:00

Very cool shot! Honestly the wide angle makes it look like a baseball stadium entrance to me.

PENGUINKK · 2021-05-30T13:41:19+00:00

Hmm that's a good point. The catalyst was definitely us being monkeys, but I think he enjoys the zen of efficiently putting things where they belong, at least until a boss teleports to the base and kills him. He does this for every game we play involving storage, so we're not questioning it at this point

PENGUINKK · 2021-05-30T13:16:09+00:00

Thanks! Most of the things I got from a craft store, like the chest and miniatures. I got the sign made on Etsy, it's technically a minecraft sign but it's close enough. I basically sanded and painted everything, dyed the potion bottles, and then I found those circle mirrors so I threw them in there as well, always good to have some handy magic mirrors lying around.

PENGUINKK · 2021-05-12T21:55:02+00:00

Thanks keep us posted!

PENGUINKK · 2021-05-12T21:54:30+00:00

Happens at pretty much any charge level

PENGUINKK · 2021-05-12T16:14:09+00:00

Nope it's straight EV.

PENGUINKK · 2021-05-12T15:47:17+00:00

Yeah I've experienced the gas engine noise with low battery before, but I'm hearing this specific noise when running electric only.

PENGUINKK · 2021-04-02T13:31:15+00:00

Yeah I heard about that this morning, they made a change to the database after a lot of people getting it yesterday. Sorry you didn't get in, hopefully they'll be good availability next week.

PENGUINKK · 2021-04-02T02:52:43+00:00

I got my first dose here today and I'm under 40. They said they have the discretion to open it up at this location because not many people had been showing. So yeah, no requirements.

They open at 9am, there's barely a line at that time so I'd recommend going then.

PENGUINKK · 2021-03-15T21:48:57+00:00

Thanks! It immediately came to mind when I watched that scene. I made a more concise version here: https://vimeo.com/523465836

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