Episode 91 - 2020 Chevrolet Bolt EV Review

May 13, 2020

My take after spending some quality time with a beautiful Oasis Blue MY2020 (slightly refreshed) GM Bolt EV! I’ll provide some stats, driving impressions and thoughts about this all-electric hatchback!

Thanks to GM Canada and Boyer Chevrolet in Pickering, ON for the vehicle!

As always, I welcome any feedback and questions! Thanks for Watching!

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[petertomich]

One of the most useful Bolt reviews I've seen so far. Down to earth, good production quality, straight talker. Thanks for making this available.

[mosfet]

2017 was 60 kWh: 2020 is 66.You forgot the regen paddle on the steering wheel. Good overall review - balanced.

[annamariebohus]

Thanks for another interesting, informative episode! Love the colour of the Bolt Oasis Blue MY2020 . Nice car! Enjoyed your unbiased, well explained review, commentary, and watching your drive. Nice donuts, lol!! . . Btw, I saw your short vid about the snow in your area. Almost the middle of May! Our global climate is in dire crisis. Wish you well. Take care and stay safe.

[RobertArrowsmith]

Lovely blue color. I wish they made right hand steering for Australia. With a Holden badge....

[barney]

Thanks Ken. A well balanced review. We have a 2017 Bolt and like it. Our friends Leaf is a more comfortable car, no question. But we were and still are put off with the lack of water cooling for the Leaf battery. As well, even the new 62 kWh Leaf doesn't have the range of our current Bolt. So when we bought, the Bolt was head and shoulders above the competition. The $14, 000 Ontario rebate sure helped too. It is very disappointing that GM has coasted with this car. The biggest improvements in 3 years is a little more range and a better backup camera. Wow. At this point if we were in the market I would be looking at Kia and Hyundai. The Bolt seats are not comfortable for us but we bought the car as a second car. I have fast charged just once, at about 40 kW. Our lifestyle means this is a home and cottage charged vehicle so I can put up with the seats. Something you didn't cover is this is a torque monster. No problem spinning tires at 60 kph. The acceleration doesn't die like the Leaf at highway speed either. So good for passing as we live in 2 lane country. Would I buy it again? Probably not because others have caught up. Will we keep ours? Definitely, it was a good purchase, and we have a good dealer.

[jimlambrick]

Here on Vancouver Island I didn't see any Bolts until about two years ago. Now see them everyday... along with lots of Kona's. So good to see something other than Model 3's and Leafs of which there are plenty. Even seeing EV's getting advertised, I suspect because that is the only car's that are selling right now.

[tjs]

I think the reason companies are using standard bulbs for turn signals is because of the additional switch/resister pack needed for making LEDs flash slow and long. It's an additional cost and there is still a lot of reliability issues with LEDs when they are turned on and off a lot.

[erikstephens]

Good fair review Ken. Your DC charge rate was slow because the battery was just a bit on the cooler side. The battery likes to be above 30C to hit maximum rate. The 2020 Bolt EV also has a new BMS that smooths out the charge curve on the high end which also improves DC charging a bit. As you probably know we own a 2018 Bolt EV. We drove it to Florida and back last March with no major issues. The seats are narrow and firm but personally I don't have an issue with them either. Some people may just prefer a more cushy seat. The suspension is also on the firm side. This is a tradeoff for better handling. The Bolt EV suspension was actually tuned by the Corvette team and apparently handles quite well despite it's rear torsion beam setup. Personally I don't like in car navigations because they mostly suck. Hard to beat google maps these days. GM's my chevrolet app also now has route planning through android auto but it still isn't a very smooth experience and needs some polishing to make it really useful. Of note GM has two Bolt's coming. A fully refreshed Bolt EV (same size) that was supposed to launch early this fall but because of Covid has been delayed to early 2021 (and will now be a 2022MY car). And in addition there will be a larger Bolt EUV which will have more features like a sunroof and the first GM non Cadillac to have a Supercruise option. This vehicle too will launch in early 2021 as a 2022 MY vehicle. Both of these vehicles were shown at GM's EV day in early march to the attendees. Rumour has it the refreshed Bolt EV will see a substantial price cut as well but continue with the same 66KWh battery.

[toljubojevic]

Great video, nice to see you in the review mode again!

[dr-k]

I hope people will buy it, the new color is very attractive and I think it will help introduce people to the wonderful world of EV driving.

[phileasler]

Currently lease a 2019 Leaf e+ in the states. Test drive a Bolt about 2 years ago. Good drivetrain and range....horrible seats. Even with my Leafs lack of internal BMS, it’s still soooo much nicer then the Bolt. Love the Propilot and on interstates and large two lane roads I use a wrist weight on the bottom of the steering wheel for FSD with my supervising of the vehicle. Love the seats, heat pump, and space in leaf as well. I’ll take a look at the Airya and E when they come out too. Good videos keep up the good work!!!

[jamescorrigan]

Enjoyed the review. This is the car that I purchased at the end of March. I love the car, love the Oasis Blue color. I do think that the aluminum roof racks are unattractive and overkill.
I am a big guy, 6'3"( almost 2 meters in the rest of the world ) and well over 250 pounds. I find the front seats to be very comfortable, and I love the ride and handling. I was going to try to drive to Montreal in September ( from Philadelphia ) in September, but don't know if the border will be re-opened.

[Quickicecarreviews]

The lights should be able to be changed to LED cheaply. I changed all minibulbs on my 13 Camry for 12.99 used Chinese co on amazon with good reviews. Also LED front and fog lights can be bought cheaply with built in fans and heatsink. An easy and cheap way to upgrade.

[stansunderwirth]

Ken, you forgot to mention the regen paddle on the steering wheel. It can bring the car to a halt very quickly in either D or L mode. I have the 2018 Premier, which I love. The 2020 has some nice improvements including wider seats (from 2019) and the high-def cameras and views. The charging curve is slightly better than the 2018, although I understand you can get a software update to improve the 2018 curve. I drove a 1400-mile trip with the Bolt alongside a friend's Tesla Model X dual-motor long range and honestly, the difference in range and charging speed didn't make much practical difference between we both charged during meals and at night at the hotels. When the charging network in the western U.S. gets better, it will make even less difference.

[evtrekker]

The Bolts lane assist is not Lane keep. It is made to help you stay in the lane as you drive. Not like Nissan or Tesla. Bolt is supposed to be getting Super Cruise for next model year I've heard. though.

[iusedBAfireman]

Good, fair Review. Not much different than my 2017 Bolt Premiere. Some differences on the infotainment screens and the camera operation at rest. Did not note if the rear view mirror camera, is that still a feature? The lane assist is not very good as you note, looks like no improvement over 2017 model. Your DCFC experience mirrors mine. At best, mid 40s on the charge. Disappointed no upgrade in that capability. Seats are too thin although after 3 years I'm used to them. Don't notice so much. I have 60K miles (96, 560 Km) on my Bolt. I estimate my battery degradation about >8%. As far as navigation, I don't mind that I use iPhone with Waze, shows up on the screen as if it was built in, updates are more easily accomplished, the phone is usually plugged in anyway and the iPhone can multi-task. Bottom line with me. I save much ($200 US/month) EV vs ICE petrol fill-ups, oil changes, etc. But longer treks are problematic both because of the not so fast charging rate and the lingering scarcity of DCFC on the US side of the border here in WNY. A little less painful taking a trip in Southern Ontario due to the ever increasing charger network, but the charging rate makes each stop a test of patience. And the car is really fun to drive, especially in traffic (401!) with its quickness when you need it.

[michaelhogan]

Last June paid $27, 300 US in NJ, with no state sales tax.

[jeffh]

Thanks for the review. I agree the headlights should be LED as should both the front and rear turn lights. The front indicators should move to a combination LED DRL strip that changes to amber and the rear lights have GOT to move out of the bumper....I can’t stand that look (the Kona does it too). Leave the required reflectors in the bumper, change the reverse lights to white LED’s and move the turn lights up and incorporate them into the running/brake light LED’s. Did you happen to look behind the windshield rear view mirror? Are they including a USB slot behind the mirror? I’ve long wanted car makers to include that so drivers can mount a traffic camera and have a convenient spot to plug in for power. Better yet, makers should include (or make it an option) integrated forward, rear, right and left side cameras connected to a small (but easily accessible through an app?) 4 channel DVR...off topic I know. Thanks again from the states.

[tysonb]

Really great review. I had a bolt this past summer on a 24hr test drive and I experienced lots of the same observations you did. After I got over the amazing tech from my 2012 volt I found the ride was rough. The lane correction felt like I was a drunk driver with how hard it over corrected on the highway. I had a real bad pain in my right side after driving it because the seats were so hard. The range was incredible though it was like that battery range was never dropping. I can't believe gm wants 53k plus tax for this car it's just not worth it. Here in Manitoba we only get the 5k off so it doesn't really help much. I heard the 2020-21 model was supposed to get upgraded seat padding. Anyways great review

[catchgrappler]

If you would have let the charge session go all the way to 90 or 95%. You could have gotten an idea of the charging curve. It’s my understanding that it maintains a consistent charging speed for longer and thus you get a overall shorter charging speed. Some vehicles with higher charging rates throttle the charging speed early.