"The Bolt Adventure" - a true tale from the world of EVs

For those who are considering getting an EV (electric vehicle), we presents a report from one of Walt's assiduous readers north of the World's longest undefended border, who recounts his experiences driving a 2023 Chevrolet Bolt from (about) Toronto to Ottawa. Warning: The details may be disturbing to anyone on the green bandwagon. 

Notes from Ed.: We've deleted the name of the dealers and other information as to specific locations. For our US readers, "K" = kilometer. 100 km = about 62 miles. 

Picked up the 2023 Chevy Bolt EV from [a Toronto dealer], Tuesday afternoon October 31, 2023, at 3:15pm. Odometer showing 4 K’s, the indicated range was 413 K’s. Here's what the dashboard looks like. 

The picture on the right shows the actual size of the humungous battery that powers this little car.

Google indicates the distance to our destination in downtown Ottawa, as being 464K’s. On the road at 6:00am, November 1. Invited my buddy Bruce to accompany me. He has a curiosity about electric vehicles, and I thought he might be an asset if the vehicle needed to be pushed!

On Hwy 401 eastbound by 6:30am. Kept the speed at 100 K’s to conserve power. The Bolt is the only EV I've driven with a "power consumption gauge", measured in kilowatts. (And this is the third Bolt EV!)  

At 120 K’s consumption is around/over 24 kilowatts; at 100 K’s power drops down to 14 kilowatts; but at 60 K’s power is only 8 kilowatts. Anyway, the speed was kept at 100K’s on cruise control. 

The cabin area was kept at a comfortable 23 degrees C [73.4 F]. Was a strange sensation having everyone pass us, including trucks. The Bolt was very comfortable to drive, holds the road very well, and is extremely quiet! 

Had a ten-minute stop from 7:50am to 8:00am,at the first On-Route eastbound at Port Hope for washrooms, and grabbed a couple of Starbucks. (The line was too long at Tim’s!)  Arrived Trenton On-Route by 9:00am. Vehicle’s remaining range has dropped to 130K’s, from the initial range of 413 K’s even though we have travelled only 212 K’s. 

Connected to “IVY-0184 Charger,” the only one of four chargers that was working. Went through the hookup procedure using the IVY app on my phone. Unfortunately, the sole remaining IVY-0184 charger was also not working very well as it shut off after only eight minutes. Went through the hookup process again. This time it turned off, after only three minutes. 

Called the 800 number on the IVY machine to ask why? The young man answered promptly, but had no explanation. Blamed it possibly on the vehicle. Made one more connection which lasted seven minutes, and finally a fourth connection which lasted two minutes. The charge did give an additional 50K’s, for $7.22, bringing the vehicle’s range up to 187 K’s. 

In desperation phoned [a GM dealer] in Kingston to ask about charging a Bolt. They said no problem, bring it in and get it charged. Arrived there at 11:24am with 58 K’s remaining, having logged 318 K’s. Was expecting to charge for free at [the dealer], and could have, except the free charger was only a trickle charger…..would have taken hours. 

The fast charger turned out to be a “Flo Charger, AAL-00545.” This required another App to be installed on my phone. After downloading the App, phoned the 800 number on the FLO charger to find out what to do. A young lady with a soft voice, and a pretty French-Canadian accent walked me through the process! The gist of it was: “must transfer $25.00 from my Mastercard to the FLO account which was just created with the App.” These folks don’t take any chances regarding their payment. 

After this process, charging started at 12:25pm. The App on the phone controls everything. A button to start charging, and a big red bar to stop charging, located at the base of the program on the phone. Out of fear of accidentally turning the charger off, let the phone remain on the dash of the Bolt while we went for lunch at Tim Horton’s. Of course, this is the time everyone starts calling, wondering where I am. Since I didn’t answer, their assumption “missing in action!” 

Returned from lunch, charger still charging. However, it automatically shuts off within a few minutes when the charge reached 80% of capacity. This brought the vehicle’s range up to 289 K’s This charge cost $15.93, leaving a credit balance in my FLO account of $9.07, which will likely remain until another FLO charger is used. 

Google calculates the distance to our destination in Ottawa as being 201K’s. Back on Hwy 401 eastbound by 1:45pm; again, speed limited to 100 K’s. Change to Hwy 416 north. Around MP-57 started having remaining range reservations. Consequently, reduce the speed to 80k’s. Range immediately starts decreasing at a noticeably slower rate. Probably some formula where power consumption increases with the square of the speed. 

Arrive [at the dealership in Ottawa] at 3:55pm, having travelled 512 K’s, with 63 K’s remaining. By 4:30pm, started our return trip in a tired dog, a 2004 Toyota Yaris with 104,787 K’s. The Yaris had obvious battle scars; still, a calming tranquillity came over us being back in comfortable familiarity. Cruise control worked, the power mirrors worked, and the heater produced lots of heat. Range anxiety disappeared! 

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it! ... And this is Walt's comment.