Used Car of the Day: 2020 Chevrolet Bolt

Real world Chevy Bolt owner here. Bought a new one in September of 2020 and have put almost 30k miles on it, have yet to take it in for the battery recall swap, but I am on the schedule for later this month.

I have to say, in defense of the Bolt, it is an excellent car for the money (paid just under 22k OTD after tax credits). Interior fit and finish has held up extremely well after 2+ years shuttling kids of various ages (3, 3, 6, and 11) around town (obviously never more than 2 at a time, not much room for more than that). It has been used primarily as my commuter to and from my work at a fire station 40 miles or so from my house.

I bought it as a trial balloon into the EV foray, and it has exceeded my expectations. It is not a road trip car, I would not take it more than 100 miles away if I expected to get back on the same charge. Using the A/C or the heater, or driving over 72 really saps the range. Have not paid a cent for maintenance thus far. You just get in and go, and when the battery gets below half or so, I plug in at home on a level 2 charger overnight and it's ready to go when I leave the house the next morning for work at 430.

If you were a 1-car family, it would take some imagination to make an EV work for you, but if you can have 2, an EV (and a dirt cheap one at that) is a great commuter.

Another real world Bolt owner here, picked the wife up a 2020 Premiere with 11k on it at CarMax for $29,000 this past February. Got $20,000 in trade for the wife's 2020 Nissan Kicks with 17k on it. Adding this to my 17 Premiere, and finally having installed the second charger in the garage (first one is outside), we're set for the foreseeable future.

Totally happy with the Bolts. The slow rate of Level 3 charging is their only weak point, and we're not using either of the cars (currently) for 600 mile trips. Right now long distance for the cars is the 140 mile round trip commute to Jamestown Settlement (I'm part of the crew), and we'll do one day 300-400 mile trips with one planned recharge at the midway point while we have lunch/dinner.

Yes, we still have one gas car: Our Kida Sedona beater with 150k on the clock but still running fine. Long distance travel for use usually means one of two things: A reenactment rather far away which means carrying a lot of camping gear and kit, so the van is an absolute necessity, no matter what the propulsion source. Or a trip to some motorcycle rally, which means the Electra Glide hits the road.

At present, the van is used seldom enough that it sits under a car cover with a battery tender hooked up 24/7/365, and I'll make a point of pulling the cover once a month and at least starting it up, if not deliberately using it for errands that day, just to run the van.

EV's definitely work here, and with no adjustment whatsoever to our daily routine. Next couple of years, the 17 will get traded, probably on a used Tesla, although that's going to depend on what's out there in the next two years time. And the van goes EV once somebody brings one out at a price we can afford.