Living with a car from the present - 2019 Bolt EV

Keith Tanner said:

It may be a different vendor on Amazon. It's also probably just plain easier for them to take it back than to do price verification. Looking at pure efficiency can lead to decisions that look weird when taken in isolation.

It's a policy change they made a few years ago; they used to do after the fact price corrections but with the proliferation of automated price tracking tools people utilized it more than Amazon liked. So they did away with it, and the only way to do a manual price match is what Tuna's doing.

@Tuna: There are wire nuts for 6awg wire but it can be a bear to get them tight enough. I did find this in some quick searching:

https://www.amazon.com/Polaris-Insulated-Multi-Cable-Connector-Height/dp/B008KNX45M?ref_=fsclp_pl_dp_10

In reply to dculberson :

I saw those Polaris connectors, but you buy one for each connection, so $45 to connect three wires to three wires.

Mcmaster has a touch safe terminal block for that gauge that runs around $4. It isn't technically weatherproof, but it will all be fluid tight to the inside of the garage, so I think that's okay.

Just got a text from Carvana RE scratches and broken pins:

Your repair is approved with $0 deductible, contact the body shop at [x] to schedule your apt.

That's pretty great. I am loving this Carvana thing.

tuna55 said:

In reply to dculberson :

I saw those Polaris connectors, but you buy one for each connection, so $45 to connect three wires to three wires.

 

Mcmaster has a touch safe terminal block for that gauge that runs around $4. It isn't technically weatherproof, but it will all be fluid tight to the inside of the garage, so I think that's okay.

Are you planning to pull the cabling back into the junction box on the interior of the garage and mount your terminal blocks there?

Also, you can get the Morris ones for a bit cheaper:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005FMQ5BQ

In reply to the_machina :

I don't think I actually care which box the junction is in. The inner one currently has a coil of wire for the fourth conductor that I don't need yet, so it's more crowded. 

Ran into a weird issue with a Bolt at work yesterday that had me scratching my head, so figured I would post it here in the event you have the same issue. Customer had a message stating Service Left Rear Parking Lamp on in the dashboard. Parking lamps are all operational, no codes set in any modules. The only real diagnostics GM has is if ALL the parking lamps are inoperative. Call GM TAC and talk to an engineer and he tells me that this is apparently a known issue that they aren't sure of the cause of, but the body control module gets in some sort of logic lockup and the fix is just to either unplug the BCM (up under the dash near the steering column on the lefthand side) or disconnect the 12V battery for 30 seconds or so and reinstall. Did that, the message went away and took the car for a spin and the message stayed off. Also, I forgot exactly how zippy these things are.

The Chevrolet Bolt.  For those times you wished your car could be as reliable as your iPhone.  

In reply to tuna55 :

Park is in the middle?

In reply to AngryCorvair :

Right. With the leaf there was a park button. I'm good with that. The button to hold while getting out of park is unnecessary. And annoying. 

In reply to AngryCorvair :

I questioned that, too.  Why isn't it at the 8 o'clock position, where Henry Ford II intended?

Park in the middle makes sense, really. Middle is no-go. One direction makes the car go one direction, the other direction makes the car go the other direction. Why should you have to go through R to get to D, anyhow? The Tesla is the same when I think about it - nudge the indicator one way to go backwards, nudge it the other to go the other way, push button to park.

The confused BCM isn't so much a Bolt type problem as a modern car type problem. And as the owner of a bunch of old cars, as reliable as my iPhone would be a nice step up 

Iirc, the Prius has a similar forward/ backward type shifter. The button thing is annoying, but probably some safety thing. I think you have to have your foot on the brake to shift into gear, too.

In reply to volvoclearinghouse :

I don't think it's a mandated safety feature because the Leaf had no button for park->gear

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyDJUwv8FFk

The hatch is big enough for the dump

So if you read both of these screens, the weather, through very limited climate control, and a very cold day by South Carolina standards was responsible for roughly a 13% reduction. That's not too bad although in reality I'd love to use the heat more. It was a long driving day, so I was very careful. I used the heated seats and wheel the entire time I was in the car. 

Not bad really. And I was able to make up for the loss with good driving through the one pedal strategy. I used the friction brakes only to hold the car still when stopped the entire day. 

One of the first things I took off my hatchback when I bought it was the floppy cardboard cargo privacy cover.  It's always in the way.  I honestly don't even know where it is anymore.  

In reply to volvoclearinghouse :

I like them really. I even still have the shelves for my Accord that interlock and hinge and all sorts of weird stuff. There are actually three panels!

The scorecard on how your driving affects range is a great way to modify driver behavior. I drove a Fusion Hybrid rental for a few days and it's very effective. Does it also give real-time feedback or just at the conclusion of the drive?

GM needs to up their interface game if they want their cars to come across as premium, though. That is cartoonish looking. Looks like some of the interface mockups we used to do for automotive use back in 2000.

Keith Tanner said:

The scorecard on how your driving affects range is a great way to modify driver behavior. I drove a Fusion Hybrid rental for a few days and it's very effective. Does it also give real-time feedback or just at the conclusion of the drive?

That is a great feature. My wife's diesel BMW has it and as it gives real time feedback it becomes a game of trying to beat the car's computer.  

Heck, BMW's had a real-time efficiency gauge since E30 days at least. I think it was just a vacuum gauge, but it was marked in consumption.

The Fusion I drove actually gave you a score when you finished a drive.

In reply to Keith Tanner :

You can access those screens at any time, and they updated as you drive. 

I'm not seeing anything there that looks cartoonish though. It looks great to me. No issue. 

Keith Tanner said:

Heck, BMW's had a real-time efficiency gauge since E30 days at least. I think it was just a vacuum gauge, but it was marked in consumption.

The Fusion I drove actually gave you a score when you finished a drive.

Lol, yes the e30 has that. Its electronic. My '87 GTI had a light, which was vacuum operated. 
My wife's car has that but also has another screen showing acceleration, top speed, hvac, etc. it gives you stars as you beat milestones. Pretty cool, although I do good for a bit and then throw it all away in a sec when I mash the throttle to feel the diesel's torque. 

tuna55 said:

In reply to Keith Tanner :

You can access those screens at any time, and they updated as you drive. 

 

I'm not seeing anything there that looks cartoonish though. It looks great to me. No issue. 

Interface looks fine to me too.  Maybe he means it isn't all black and white like a Tesla?