• Category Archives BoltEV

  • 1 inch makes a big difference.

    Posted on by beno Comment

    Might be hard to tell, but I lowered the BoltEV by one inch all over.
    Put shorter and stiffer springs on front and back.
    To be more precise. I put progressive springs on.
    This means that the more they compress, the firmer they become, they do not have a linear compression like the stock springs did.

    Night and day difference. I am now happy to sell Marty.
    The car just corners so much better. Its mostly flat and controlled all the way through the corner, rather than the point and hope approach, all 4 tires now stay planted and you can smoothly apply power from the apex of the corner and the car will just pull right through and accelerate cleanly out of the corner. Its gone from meh to thrilling to drive.


    BoltEV

  • Chrome be gone

    Posted on by beno 1 Comment

    Dont get me wrong. I love the new car, I really do.
    Driving it is great… Its just the look of it I cant stand.
    For the most part, its all the chrome.

    Duno exactly what about the chrome, it just triggers a shudder in me when I see it.

    So, paint or wrap?
    I wanted to be able to undo it for any reason (not that I would not like it, but just wanted it reversible).
    So wrap it was.
    Got a quote of 800 bucks. Yes, eight hundred dollars to do it.
    Yeah. Nah.
    Ordered some vinyl off Amazon for 8 bucks. Just a small sheet to start.
    Spent about an hour doing one side.

    Better, Much better.
    Ok, so ordered about 30 bucks of vinyl this time and spent another hour or so doing the other side.
    Then did the front and back chrome bits, bumper and emblems and number plate surrounds.
    That leaves the wheels. What to do about the wheels…. I was not confident about wrapping them and not scratching them up, so plastidip to the rescue.

    Better. Much better.

    Should I also the roof racks?


    BoltEV

  • No Plink Plink

    Posted on by beno Comment

    Freddy and I drove to Palm Springs the other day (last Sunday).
    It was about 120 miles (193 kms) round trip. We did a big circle, went the scenic route there and the freeway grind back.
    That’s only just over 1/2 the range BB can knock out, so we took the electric. Enjoyed every minute of the drive. Very quiet, very smooth.

    What struck me however was in the garage straight after the drive, I had a moment to be in there looking for my tape measure and it struck me that normally after a long run (or any run that has fully warmed the car up) you hear a soft plink plink sound as the metal engine and exhaust cools and contracts…. Not so with BB. She gets warm, of course, but not that warm and it’s a totally different setup with a lot of aluminum housings rather than metal stuff.
    Anyway, I just found it interesting.


    BoltEV

  • Rearview camera

    Posted on by beno Comment

    One other unusual feature on the BoltEV is the fact that the rearview mirror can be either a mirror or a video monitor for a rear facing camera.

    A photo is worth a lot of my words.

    You can see how it can also be a mirror, you just flip the lever under the middle to toggle modes. I don’t get any glare at night, so just leave it in camera mode. Why? Because it’s much wider and there are no rear headrests or other blind spots in the video mode.
    Yes, you have to focus on the video, not at infinity, but my eyes are used to that now and I don’t even notice it.

    Love it.


    BoltEV 📎and tagged

  • Auto High Beam

    Posted on by beno 1 Comment

    Found another interesting feature on the car……
    It has automatic high beam.

    Hit the little ‘A’ button on the stalk and it will look for oncoming cars (if it’s dark enough to require headlights – which it automatically turns on if need be), if there is on, it will dip the lights, if there is nothing for a few seconds, then it turns on the high beam.
    Soon as a car shows up, and I do mean as soon as, it dips.
    My one and only complaint is that I wish it would flip back on as soon as the car goes past, but it takes about 5 seconds to see if there is another car behind it first.
    It gets a little confused in towns, so I just turn it off then, but in all other driving that I have done with it so far (about 2 hours) its been fantastic.

    It is really surprising just how less ‘stress’ there is when driving at night in the country when you don’t have to be flicking the high beam stalk back and forth all the time.
    You can just keep your hands on the wheel and focus on the road…. Keep in mind this is a guy that loves driving and loves driving at night. I would have thought that having less to do would be annoying or somehow taking pleasure away from me, but its not, its just the opposite, I found I was enjoying and more involved in the road without having to keep flipping the stalk. Surprising. In a nice way.


    BoltEV 📎and tagged