Chevy Bolts Suck

[JRT]

Serious in middle of our road trip sount and so far 1st stop was clogged with 4 Bolts, 2 on 350 charges unattended. Now at 3rd and a bolt on 350 at 48 charging rate. These drivers are clueless when they could be on a slower rate.

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[jerock]

I experienced the same a couple months back in KC. I had time to talk to a couple of them & they obviously had no clue on charging. I politely tried to educate them. They received the information well.
This will be a learning process with lots of frustration. Then you’ll have the jerks that will never care.

 

[AZT9]

Etiquette is gone. Everyone is entitled and feels that they owe nothing and expect everything. Interestingly they are usually the loudest complainers. Makes me sad

*steps off soapbox.

 

[Kev12345]

why are the stalls at a single station different speeds anyway?

 

[Snakebitten]

I thought the title was about the vehicle. Instead, it's the vehicle owner.
I wish Ford offered a vehicle that is the equivalent of the Bolt.

 

[Pioneer74]

why are the stalls at a single station different speeds anyway?

Not all are. The EA in Hudsonville, MI has 6 brand new 350kW units. Best charging experience I've ever had. They work, they are fast, and you don't have to figure out which one to use.

 

[TaxmanHog]

why are the stalls at a single station different speeds anyway?

EA has been upgrading their equipment, where there are four controllers, they swap out 3 with the newer 350KW units with CCS1 and leave the older 150/50 KW which has a CCS1/CHAdeMO for those type vehicles

 

[Grease Lightning]

Serious in middle of our road trip sount and so far 1st stop was clogged with 4 Bolts, 2 on 350 charges unattended. Now at 3rd and a bolt on 350 at 48 charging rate. These drivers are clueless when they could be on a slower rate.

Do keep in mind people say the same thing about our Lightnings too. We use the 350 kw equipment and our charge curve only gives us 20 ish kW more rate for minutes. So I am sure someone that can take 200 kW plus rate say the exact same thing to us. Sadly it is human nature to judge.

like even your post, how do you know they didn’t roll in and the 350 kW equipment was the only one available. Are we so righteous to think they can’t charge and have to wait for a 150 kW or less charger to open?

 

[Howard_Scott_Warshaw]

It's like getting ICE'd but by another EV. There's one particular EA station I've stopped at on occasion that only has 2/4 cabinets working at full capacity. The third is nerf'd to 50kW and the fourth has been down for years. The one that's capable of 350 kW is also the only one with a CHAeMO connector so it's routinely taken up by the Leaf or a Mini. Then you usually get a Bolt that's plugged into the 150 kW stall, leaving Rivians/Lightnings to use the crippled 50 kW stall.

 

[tgphoto]

Do keep in mind people say the same thing about our Lightnings too. We use the 350 kw equipment and our charge curve only gives us 20 ish kW more rate for minutes. So I am sure someone that can take 200 kW plus rate say the exact same thing to us. Sadly it is human nature to judge.

like even your post, how do you know they didn’t roll in and the 350 kW equipment was the only one available. Are we so righteous to think they can’t charge and have to wait for a 150 kW or less charger to open?

Grease Lightning has it right. It makes sense for people to pull into the next available charger. Personally, I think it is unfair to scapegoat a particular type of driver when the real issue is not enough working chargers. I have both a Lightning and a Bolt. With the Bolt, I pull into the slowest AVAILABLE charger -- but there are plenty of times I've come open an empty station and I find the first charger I pull into doesn't work, the second I move it to won't start and I end up at a higher speed charger.

And, on another note, in my experience, a majority of the time that I DCFC the Lightning, I only get 62kW on a 350kW charger. Is it the equipment, my truck, karma? Should I therefore only use slower chargers to keep them free for the Rivians?

The Bolt has such a small battery as compared to our trucks, I don't personally find their time on the charger that big of a deal.

In my experience, most people now driving EV's don't have much of an understanding of how they work or any of the technical aspects of charging. Imho, it's just a mild ignorance and not being inconsiderate. So, I'll save my gross generalizations to the coal rollers!

 

[TaxmanHog]

I had the experience of needing to take the last available charger [#01] at an EA station that had the CCS1/chademo cable, charger [#02] was disabled/out of service.

A Leaf rolled into the spot and had the frustrated / animated behaviour that I was impeded her day by taking the one and only available charger that her car could use, another 10 minutes passed and she asked how long I would be, told her I was just a few percentage points away from my goal [80%] and would be on my way shortly, once she knew that, all was good.

We just need to have some patience, use the resources that are available, if by chance I can avoid the chademo terminal, then I do so, but if it's the last resort, first come / first served.

 

[queuewho]

Never fails that if you take the chademo a leaf shows up. I will take a 350 before I take the chademo stall. I don't care what anyone thinks about me.

 

[JRT]

I get it, this was our first family road trip across multiple states and traveling 12 hrs away. The first stop went well, the 2nd was literally clogged with 5 Bolts, 2 unattended and all pulling 48. We left, found a pay station at Costco, it was only 80, so not great. Then 3rd EA was half broken, but got a spot right away. 4th was fully operational and open, 5th was 2 of 4 working, with you guessed another bolt at 48. I was in and out in the time it took them to go up 5%.

Planning some changes for return home on Thursday to avoid Atlanta Bolt owners...

 

[TheWoo]

I keep reminding myself that the etiquette (and even the knowledge to understand why the etiquette exists) is very much still being learned. Lots of new EV owners out there.

Vehicles taking a charger that they can't come close to utilizing are frustrating, but there could be many reasons as cited earlier.

What's more frustrating to me are those who got the lifetime free charging at EA and take a stall during a busy time and want to charge all the way to 100% to drive around town...not cool!

I've tried engaging with folks a few times when something like this happens. What I've found is that people have no idea they've done anything "wrong" because they don't have enough knowledge. Every time I've been able to have a discussion people have been grateful and appreciate having the additional knowledge.

Finally, I'll take a 350 kW stall when available. But I offer to move if someone shows up who can maximize it and a 150 is available.

 

[hturnerfamily]

I've had TWO Nissan Leafs, and now my college sons both have CHEVY BOLTS, and LOVE THEM...

as for Bolts, or Leafs, or anyone else 'bricking' your charging unit, remember that you DON'T know what the situation was BEFORE you arrived - it's quite possible any vehicle you don't appreciate 'where they parked to charge' had NO OTHER options BUT to use that charger unit.

Don't always ASSUME you know best. Charge units are for EVERYONE. We don't own 350kw units 'just for ourselves', nor does anyone else. We don't own 150kw units, either. I'm sure there are plenty of times any of us have used a unit that has the CHdeMO cable, only to find that right behind us was an aggravated LEAF owner. None of us own anything. Tesla owners don't OWN Tesla Superchargers, either... but don't go and ask them that : /

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