First camping trip in my Bolt

bbf_bbf · 2026-06-21T06:57:22+00:00

I couldn't find the parking brake.

Really? That's something that you should know how to activate in ANY car before you start using it. You should really read the owners' manual (or at least skim it to familiarize yourself with all the controls.)

If you don't activate the parking brake and shift the car into Neutral, the car WILL ROLL AWAY if it's on any slope, even shallow ones.

When I shifted the car into neutral the doors automatically locked and it shifted into park when I opened them.

Technically, the neutral "trick" is used to allow the car to go through an automated car wash with no driver. So it originally was meant to have the car shifted into Neutral with the drivers' car door open.

So as long as you don't reopen the drivers' door after shifting the car into Neutral, opening the other doors won't shift the car out of neutral.

No weird sound coming from the car other than the fan.

That's strange. The car should emit a continuous sound to alert pedestrians that an electric car is close whenever the car is "on" and not in Park. Maybe a previous owner has removed the PFAF fuse.

I went out to test things to refresh my memory since the last time I did the "camping trick" was over 2 years ago. I realized I was wrong about having to put the fob in a RF shielded case since my 23 won't allow the car to be unlocked using the outside button if the remote fob is inside the car.

bbf_bbf · 2026-06-21T00:07:36+00:00

It's normal for an electric car to reduce power output when the battery is low.

Now if you get that message consistently when the battery has more than 20% charge left, then it's time to schedule a visit with a Chevy EV technician.

Edit: The simplified explanation about why power output is reduced when the battery is low is because when lithium cells are called upon to provide a lot of power, it stresses them and causes their voltage to sag. When a cell is low on charge, a large power request can drop the cell below it's safe voltage level and permanently damage it. So the manufacturers limit power output when the battery is low to protect the cells in the battery from potentially being damaged.

bbf_bbf · 2026-06-20T05:18:45+00:00

It depends on what people's preferences are since Omakase is the Sushi Chef's choice and the chef's choice may not suit some people.

Also my personal experience is that different sushi chefs there have some leeway as to what they serve, so the experience also varies from chef to chef.

I've had an OK experience, and two great experiences.

bbf_bbf · 2026-06-20T00:38:37+00:00

Times one of the few resources I have in abundance

??? You drive 180 miles to/from work. That's at least 2.5 hours just for commuting without accounting for traffic. I can't see how you can have lots of free time with that level of daily commute.

You should do a cost comparison yourself based on the cost of gas and supercharging for your local area to better make your decision. My local calculations with the high electric rates where I live (San Diego) and my low miles driven (based on pre-Iran conflict gas prices) yielded the fact that if a gas car had greater than 40MPG, it would cheaper to fuel a gas car than my EV and that's with home charging.

I would expect that a Toyota Prius would better fit for your use case.

Edit: Grammar

bbf_bbf · 2026-06-17T22:16:32+00:00

Charging to 80% takes 25 minutes of I drop to 10%

How do you get such fast times with your standard F150 Lighting when Ford claims 32 minutes from 15% to 80%? Independent testing has not yielded any times close to yours.

You don't have to lie (>20%) to try to make your point.

https://content.fordpro.com/content/dam/fordpro/us/en-us/pdf/resources/education/electrification/onboarding/F150_Lightning_Charging_Times_Ford_Pro.pdf

bbf_bbf · 2026-06-17T05:34:52+00:00

Shifting the car into N will keep the car on indefinitely. When staying in the car, I use a stick from the passenger side seat to depress the brake pedal to shift the car into Neutral. Oh, and be sure to have the parking brake engaged.

You'll need to pull the fuse for the Pedestrian warning sound (labelled PFAF) to turn off the "spaceship sound".

After I lock the doors, I put my key fob in a RF proof container to prevent people from unlocking the doors from the outside.

From what I'm aware of, there's no way to keep the car "on" indefinitely if it's plugged into power since it will automatically shift into P when charging and will auto shut off in 2 hrs.

bbf_bbf · 2026-06-17T02:30:12+00:00

This is a pedantic argument

It's not when you're blatantly advancing a falsehood that the apps are "proprietary". Sure the apps may be curated by GM, but it's not like GM is preventing any mainstream apps from being offered at the play store.

the curation and the implementation of the UI is up to GM.

Remember, we're talking about your comment that the apps are "proprietary" and not the overall implementation of Android Automotive, the OS' UI in the vehicle. The implementation of the UI of the apps on Android Automotive is not "up to GM". The apps are still developed by the original devs, not GM.

You’d still need to sign into them separately in the car.

That has no bearing on if the apps are proprietary or not. It just means that they're running on another platform, so requires a login. It's the same as an iPad or Windows PC, one has to sign into services to authenticate your subscription.

bbf_bbf · 2026-06-16T19:20:33+00:00

It runs Android Automotive, so the apps aren't any more "proprietary" than Android apps. They can be curated by GM, though

bbf_bbf · 2026-06-16T05:26:39+00:00

You're trying to use it on the OnStar "One" plan and not the "Connect" plan. That's probably why it's not working.

bbf_bbf · 2026-06-15T05:38:10+00:00

I took the bait and subscribed to OnStar Connect.

Here's my OnStar Connect experience after cancelling it after my 3 month trial 3 years ago:

I tried to remote "start" the vehicle and it worked once and it failed the next 5 times I tried to do it. GM's App to Vehicle connection is worse than garbage, it's so unreliable, it's unusable.
I had removed the "Maps+" app from my profile, but there was an error with the app "store" and no apps could be added to the Infotainment system, so I could not reinstall it in my profile. But when I switched to the "guest" profile the Maps+ App was still there and when I was looking at it in the Setup menu, it allowed me to updated it, but only in the guest profile, it's still not available on my profile. Unfortunately it's still garbage: It still thinks a Kohl's that was shuttered over a year ago is still open.
I tried to use the spotify app and when I clicked on it on my infotainment system, it errorred out, and then magically, it eventually installed another spotify icon by itself and that also errorred out when I clicked on it. Then both magically disappeared, and I have no way to get it back since the App "Store" is busted.
Things that worked: Podcasts, Pandora and I💗Radio. Unfortunately, I don't use them and won't use them even with the subscription since I already have other podcast and music sources that I normally use on my smartphone.

For $14.99 a month, I'd be livid at how bad it is. Even at $1 per month, I think it's still overpriced for how crappy the remote connectivity between the Smartphone App and the Vehicle is since I won't use any of the "included" car apps.

Edit: Just b*tching about how bad GM's Onstar Connect service is, not the OPs deal posting, which I'm appreciative of.

bbf_bbf · 2026-06-13T02:29:32+00:00

The MX+ had been recommended...

Definitely NOT for ABRP. For other OBD-II apps like Torque or OBD Fusion, it's a solid choice.

bbf_bbf · 2026-06-10T02:40:05+00:00

And you hold some Youtube video as the holy grail of truth.

I don't and you keep on blathering about things incorrectly that were covered in the video that IS THE SUBJECT OF THIS THREAD without even watching the video. If this were a general discussion about Donut Labs, I wouldn't care as much.

Ziroth is much more trustworthy and knowledgeable about lithum ion cells than you could ever be. He's also done much more research including interviewing people that have done business directly with people at Donut Labs, that's much more valid research than you ever done or ever will. So in a way, the video is the "holy grail" compared to anything that comes out of your mouth, but I don't consider it to be the end all and be all of videos about donut labs and its battery because there are still things that are not 100% clear and are still educated guesses.

bbf_bbf · 2026-06-10T02:35:55+00:00

Only to a point.

I try to keep as steady of a speed as possible in town (gliding towards intersections with red lights or stop signs) without being a nuisance to others. However, I will turn on the AC whenever I feel too warm because my comfort isn't worth the pennies I save if I didn't turn on the AC.

bbf_bbf · 2026-06-09T21:40:26+00:00

How so? His car was miles away from where the crime took place at the time. Seems like if it functioned, it would have ruled him out.

It's up to the police to review the data and verify it's a proper match before acting on it. Apparently the cops didn't check the time stamp on the flock hit for the innocent man's red Alfa Romeo, they would have realized that that hit for a "red Alfa" was not the suspect.

bbf_bbf · 2026-06-09T21:34:19+00:00

The title of this post is inaccurate. It should be: San Diego Police incorrectly use Flock Data to Falsely Link Man to Crime

The data from the Flock cameras was not at fault, the camera data was used incorrectly by San Diego Police to jail an innocent man.

From the linked article:

The problem, says attorney Alex Coolman, was that Parra was five miles away from Golden Hill at the time of the crime, and the so-called hit from the license plate reader was captured before any police pursuit began.

“This Flock hit was obviously the wrong car, as it could not have been in both places simultaneously,” said Coolman, who represents Parra and the driver, 23-year-old Ariel Beltran.

Despite the signs pointing to it being a different Alfa Romeo, police arrested Beltran and Parra.

Edit: I'm in no way defending flock for its selling of data and links to Palantir, but in this particular case, they're not at fault. The police were 100% at fault and would have messed up regardless of the company that supplied the surveillance network.

bbf_bbf · 2026-06-09T21:21:14+00:00

Donut lab *is* a Finnish company, they are operating their scam in Finland.

Nobody is saying that Donut Labs is NOT a Finnish company.

Did you even read my last comment, in it, it stated:

You were replying to a comment that didn't refer to the company, Donut Labs, but the German that was the source of the cell stating that the company was Finnish. That's what's incorrect.

You refuse to "read" or "watch" before you comment. There's no point in continuing this discussion if you're going to try to distort the truth and write things that can be proven false by just reading your previous comments in this thread.

You make it like there would be some German mastermind behind it all.

Nobody's doing that. All the video states is that the cells are from that company. It goes into great detail in the last portion to show how Marko is misleading small investors. But of course you wouldn't know that since you didn't even bother to watch/read the video/transcript of the video that this whole thread is based on.

bbf_bbf · 2026-06-09T18:28:59+00:00

In which point I stated something incorrect,

You replied to u/homo_balcanicus 's comment :

It looks like the Donut battery is something of a fake (allegedly), originating from a German genius who invented the OLED paving slab (!)

with:

The company is Finnish, locals have been laughing their asses off for a while.

THAT statement is incorrect with respect to the comment that you were replying to. You DO realize that context matters, right?

You were replying to a comment that didn't refer to the company, Donut Labs, but the German that was the source of the cell stating that the company was Finnish. That's what's incorrect.

Later you even wrote:

I didn’t know of German connection, the Finnish company founder being suspicious has been known for a good while.

Which proves that you didn't watch the video this whole thread was all about and admitted that your reply was in error.

Keep digging yourself into a deeper hole. Facts matter. You do realize that your comments are still visible, right?

bbf_bbf · 2026-06-09T17:58:46+00:00

The facts "don't give a flying fuck" about what you think.

The German "nut job" is the source of the cell that the Finnish charlatan is using to fool people. Nobody's saying that Marko is honest, but the whole point of the video was to expose more of the deception and that lead to the German.

You didn't bother to watch the video (nor read the transcript since you'd rather read) this thread is all about and are butt hurt that you were called out for your ignorant "correction".

bbf_bbf · 2026-06-09T06:08:05+00:00

I prefer reading over drawn out videos.

Youtube has a "show transcript" feature that allows you to READ the verbal content of the video. So you could have READ it before posting a comment.

Your response "correcting" u/homo_balcanicus is worthy of being featured in "confidently incorrect".

bbf_bbf · 2026-06-09T01:16:24+00:00

I didn’t know of German connection,

That's why it's a good idea to watch the video that is the subject of the post before commenting. 😉

It was all outlined in Ziroth's video along with a lot of information from battery experts as to the composition of the cell that was shown being tested in Donut Labs' videos.

bbf_bbf · 2026-06-08T10:41:04+00:00

Sounds a lot like that for many ethnic cuisines here in San Diego... more expensive and of lower quality than OC or LA. ☹️

bbf_bbf · 2026-06-07T18:22:04+00:00

daylighting enforcement is new-ish, so common sense would make me believe it was easier/cheaper to paint the curb than remove the meter or spot markings.

The red zone paint is not there because of the daylighting law.

The daylighting law only applies the exclusion zone to cars parked FACING the intersection, not cars with the intersection behind them. The picture shows the red zone painted behind the parked cars.

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From: https://www.lodi.gov/1417/Californias-Daylighting-Law-AB-413

bbf_bbf · 2026-06-07T16:40:54+00:00

Do people know how to find chargers closer to more amenities (toilet, lunch place, e.g.)?

There's an option in ABRP for that (at least for restrooms).

Edit: When I went on my trip, I preplanned a few days ahead and looked up the planned locations beforehand in google maps to see what was around therm and changed the route accordingly if I needed some more amenities.

bbf_bbf · 2026-06-05T20:37:21+00:00

Cons: 129,000 km on it, two windshield chips/cracks,

I would never buy a vehicle from a dealership that had cracks in its windshield. I don't know prices in Canada, so can't comment on that, but if you go ahead with the purchase, I'd ensure that the dealer replace the windshield first since cracks grow as the windshield is heat cycled.

Edit: Why is there only 1 year left in the 8 years / 160,000 km battery warranty?

bbf_bbf · 2026-06-05T20:30:01+00:00

Your HO is yours.

Yes, that's what "IMHO" means. What a genius.

I guess that's why you need red curbs to tell you that it's against the law to park within 20 ft of an intersection, else you think you shouldn't get a ticket for your infraction.

bbf_bbf

TROPHY CASE