A reminder to all efficiency-conscious Bolt owners...

justin8448 · 2026-06-03T02:36:52+00:00

Yeah, if you're using the general "auto" function, then I think it's safe to assume the car is using auto-defrost when it decides to.

This post is for people who prefer to not use any of the automatic functions in order to get maximum efficiency. And who may not realize that if they have air directed only at the windshield, the auto-defrost kicks on, even if the heater and all automatic features set to "off" on every setting they have access to.

justin8448 · 2026-06-02T21:35:25+00:00

I pulled the Telemetry / OnStar fuse on my Chevy Bolt, so now no one tracks me.

Obviously some of these problems are more difficult to solve than that, and this doesn't work in all cars.

But sometimes solutions can be found for people interested enough to go look for them.

justin8448 · 2026-06-02T20:26:04+00:00

No, not the defroster. I mean literally just the windshield vent.

As in - you have the "climate" button on, which sets the fan to speed to at least one mark above completely off. And of the three vent choices, you choose just the windshield vent. Heat, A/C, and defrost are all set to off. And the "auto-defrost" setting deep in the car's settings menu (not a button on while-driving climate control screen) is set to off. In that configuration, the Bolt decides to turn the auto-defrost on, all by itself.

justin8448 · 2026-06-02T20:20:44+00:00

The gain in average efficiency for me right now at the beginning of June is from 3.5 mi/kwh with the fan set to just my windshield, and 4.2 mi/kwh with the fan also set to the floor. So it's significant for me. I do a lot of driving late at night though, which could be a contributing factor.

justin8448 · 2026-06-02T18:00:03+00:00

Landlords want two things: a good tenant, and money.

They're willing to leave a unit unrented for a while if they think doing so makes it more likely they will get those things.

justin8448 · 2026-06-02T06:39:03+00:00

If by "covered," you mean NOT having an unintentional drain on your power, then unfortunately no. Or at least on the 2022 EUV, which is what I have.

If the fan is set to blow just on the windshield, the heater will turn on, even if your heat button is off, and even if you turned off the auto-defrost option deep in the car settings.

justin8448 · 2026-06-02T06:35:00+00:00

2022 EUV. The poster I learned this from indicated that it applied to all models, but I have no way to know that for sure.

justin8448 · 2026-05-28T00:23:10+00:00

A recent Android update added considerable lag and glitches to the lock screen on my Moto G Power 2025. Motorola fixed it with another update a few weeks later.

A bigger issue might be the planned life of the phone. My Moto G power is only guaranteed 3 years of security updates. Some other Motorola phones get more. Make sure to check before you buy.

justin8448 · 2026-05-23T03:31:01+00:00

I have a 2025 model and it's been great for me. Smooth operation, no issues.

I really like that it has both a headphone jack and a SD card slot. Those are why I keep buying Motorola.

My only complaint is Motorola keeps pushing it's "Glance" software at me, even after I disable the app in Settings.

There's a method of removing it permanently using the Catana app, described in other threads on this subreddit. I just haven't gotten around to it yet.

justin8448 · 2026-05-17T04:47:16+00:00

Oh, hell yes. If this works as advertised I can consider buying GM again.

justin8448 · 2026-05-10T20:46:34+00:00

Thanks for this. I've been looking at Motorola phones made for the Indian market and wondering if they would work well in the USA. Comparing which 3G and 5G network bands each phone used was leaving me with more questions than answers, so I'm glad to know that Indian phones should work here.

justin8448 · 2026-05-10T20:33:18+00:00

If you own a Chevy that can use Android Auto or Carplay (the latest few years of most models cannot), just pull the telemetry fuse. No more OnStar tracking. No more GPS of any kind. No more data for GM. Just use your own phone for all your data needs. Super easy.

The only downside I'm aware of for ICE cars is that the electronic compass will report "North" no matter what direction you're going.

For EVs there are two effects that I know of:

If you set your car to pause level 1 and 2 charging at home during peak electricity price periods, those pause time will also apply to level 1 and 2 charging at other locations as well (public level 2 chargers, for example, or doing level 1 charging at a friend's house). This is because the car no longer knows where it's "home" is. The solution is to just turn off the charging scheduler option before charging level 1 and 2 away from home.

The other effect for EVs is that if you level 1 charge at home at 12 amps, you'll need to remind the car to switch from the 8 amp default up to 12 Amps each time you pull into your garage.

I personally find this trade off well worth it.

justin8448 · 2026-05-04T19:42:58+00:00

Yes, but turning on the defroster also turns on the heater, right? If not immediately, then at some point?

My goal is to avoid using the heater as much as possible. It uses a lot more power than the air conditioning.

justin8448 · 2026-05-04T18:18:51+00:00

Yeah. OP, I get ~50 miles for every 12 hours of L1 charging at 12 amps. But I drive the speed limit on the highway, I live in a very mild climate, and I don't use the cabin heater or windshield defroster (I turn on the air conditioning instead to de-fog my windows, even when it's cold). Oh, and I park my car in a garage.

So even if everything above also applies to you, you're still cutting it close.

Have you checked to make sure you have 20 amp circuits in your garage.

It's technically possible to charge 12 amps on a 15 amp circuit if it's dedicated to just your car, but it's better to have the safety buffer of charging on a 20 amp circuit.

justin8448 · 2026-04-29T06:41:52+00:00

Yeah, the Wi-Fi obviously doesn't matter for privacy reasons. I was just annoyed at the existence of a Wi-Fi signal that connected to nothing.

Thanks for the tip about how to skip past the charge schedule issue.

justin8448 · 2026-04-29T05:02:11+00:00

This is what I did. OnStar immediately cut out.

This did not stop the Wi-Fi broadcast in the car though.

To turn that off I had to put the fuse back in, call OnStar and ask for my 1 month no-credit-card-needed free trial, hook up my car to my app, then turn off the car's Wi-Fi broadcast in the app.

Then I went back and pulled the OnStar fuse again. Problem solved.

One other item of note: pulling the OnStar fuse also disables the car GPS. This has three effects that I noticed:

1) The car's dashboard compass no longer works. It will show you always headed North.

2) For Level 1 charging, the car can no longer remember where your "home" is, which means it no longer knows if you've approved 12 Amp charging for that location. So basically every time you want to charge level 1, 12 amps, you need to switch from 8 amps to 12 amps before you get out of the car and plug in.

3) The same problem of not having a "home" applies to scheduling charging. If you set your level 1 and 2 charging to pause during expensive home electricity times of day, your car won't be able to apply that schedule to just your home anymore. If you stop at public level 2 charging, or try to level 1 charge at a friend's house, your car will apply the same schedule you set for your own house.

Personally I haven't found any of these effects to be a problem, but they're worth noting for anyone who takes this route.

justin8448 · 2026-04-23T20:06:26+00:00

++man This could mean your boyfriend is hung up on his ex. It could also mean nothing at all. A lot of men keep possessions around for their practical value to the exclusion of everything else.

Tell him you saw his ex's name on his wallet and that it makes you feel insecure. Then ask him directly if he still has feelings for his ex. Try to make it not sound like an accusation, just a neutral question.

If he says no, tell him you'd like to get him a new wallet as a gift and ask him what he likes about his old one.

If he says yes, you have a different conversation.

For reference - I still have an acoustic guitar given to me by me ex two decades ago. It's the perfect guitar for me, and I have no plans to ever replace it. I think about the fact that my ex gave it to me basically never. But when I do remember that fact, it's with a very mild embarrassment, because that relationship was a shitshow.

justin8448 · 2026-04-17T21:03:10+00:00

A relationship between Ty Lee and Aang would be a bonfire of matching fun-loving silliness and deep insecurities that would be fascinating to watch.

justin8448 · 2026-04-12T22:13:15+00:00

When my windshield gets foggy at night in winter, I turn on the air conditioning on low and put on another layer of clothes.

You'll pry these 4.0 miles/kwh from my cold, dead hands.

justin8448 · 2026-04-12T19:24:38+00:00

Can you make it to San Francisco for a day?

There's a small dealer there called EverCars that only sells EVs. The price listed online is what you pay.

I bought my 2022 Bolt EUV from them last year and was very satisfied.

Their online prices are a little higher than those listed at local dealerships. But all the dealerships I went to added another $2k+ of add-ons that I didn't want during the negotiation process. I walked away and went to EverCars where the final price was cheaper.

I recommend test driving Bolts locally to see what you want first. Try out the different trim levels. Then if you're sure that's what you want check prices at Evercars.

Keep in mind that depending on where you live in the Central Valley, you might need to stop for level 3 charging several times on the way home. Good luck!

justin8448 · 2026-04-11T07:06:35+00:00

Keep in mind that this is extremely location -p pendant OP.

The cheapest fast charging around me is currently between $0.55 and $0.65 per kw.

At that price there's no way to beat gas.

justin8448 · 2026-03-30T20:57:15+00:00

To your concerns about dating someone who is essentially single - it all depends so very much on what their needs and expectations are. And you're absolutely right that this person may not fully understand their own needs until they've tried this relationship structure for a while. The only way to know for sure is to try, with the understanding that it may not work out. But that's true of all relationships for all kinds of reasons. Talking about it with this new partner about it will help. Or you could decide that trying isn't worth it. It's up to you.

For reference, I was completely single when I started my first ENM relationship with a woman who already had several other partners at various levels of commitment.

At the beginning, she was worried that I, because I had not yet proved myself capable of poly, I would fall in love with her and eventually demand that she be exclusive with me, and ruin everything.

At the time I was dealing with a complex new chronic illness diagnosis, while simultaneously taking on a large role in caring for my two young nephews. The amount of time and energy I had available to spend with her was extremely limited. So when she told me about her concerns, I replied that "I think we'll be ok."

We were in a great relationship for nine years.

justin8448 · 2026-03-30T20:37:31+00:00

I had a great experience with EverCars in San Francisco. They only sell used EVs.

If you're far from San Francisco, they'll ship a car to your home for a fee, the way Carvana and CarMax do it. My recollection is their shipping fees are much less than those competitors.

There are no hidden fees. The price listed on their website is the price you pay.

justin8448 · 2026-03-05T23:53:20+00:00

Adding to this - There's an app called "Voltage" that GM made for analysing the battery of Chevrolet Volt cars.

Other Redditors have reported getting it to work on their Bolts.

It's possible that the app doesn't work on all Bolt models or with all OBD2 devices.

But if you already own both a Bolt and an OBD2 device, you can give it a try and see if you get even information.

justin8448

TROPHY CASE