Chevrolet shocked the car-buying public when it clarified that it saw the future of automobiles as battery electric vehicles (BEVs). These replace the conventional internal combustion engine and its reliance on fossil fuels with a fully battery-powered electric motor. There is actually nothing new about electric vehicles. President William Howard Taft’s wife drove a 1908 Baker Electric. However, this early electric vehicle relied on six 12-volt batteries to power its 72-volt motor, a far cry from the power and efficiency of a 2023 Chevy Bolt EUV.
The evolution of the BEV has led us from these slow and bulky old vehicles to sleek modern ones like the Bolt EUV. The key has been the development of more efficient battery packs with more effective motors. The 2023 Chevy Bolt EUV actually demonstrates how far we have come in this regard, as well as the benefits you will find when you make a BEV the vehicle of choice for you and your family. It isn’t really a “bolt from the blue” but the application of scientific innovation that has led us to the electric future we are now living in. So, is choosing to live in the electric future with a 2023 Chevy Bolt EUV worth it?
Power to the People
If you think about it, it is only natural that we would be at a point where BEVs are taking over the roads. Conventional internal combustion engines rely on gas or diesel oil, a limited resource that is both expensive to produce and creates a great deal of pollution from production and consumption. You can clearly see this with the recent rise in gas prices fueling a spike in inflation that is the worst this country has experienced in over 40 years. It doesn’t help that many of the largest petroleum exporting nations are ones that have difficult relations with the United States. As for pollution, the production and consumption of fossil fuels are major components of the greenhouse gasses plaguing our environment.
A BEV avoids all of these problems. It runs on electricity, which can be produced in many different ways, many without any use of fossil fuels. Because they run on electricity, there is no pollution produced by their operation, something that cannot be said of vehicles that run on gasoline or diesel oil. Finally, they have fewer moving parts, which means that they should last longer than conventional engines. This is probably why Chevrolet has taken the bold step of offering an 8-year/100,000-mile warranty on the 2023 Bolt EUV’s battery and electric components. This is more than double the standard warranty Chevy includes on its new gas and diesel-powered cars, trucks, and SUVs.
The Bolt EUV Drives Me Crazy
BEVs like the 2023 Bolt EUV have an incredibly simple way of propelling the vehicle. It starts with a 65 kWh liquid-cooled lithium-ion battery pack. This is safely located in the undercarriage of the Bolt EUV, shielded from damage by the vehicle’s steel frame. The battery pack itself consists of 288 separate fuel cells that generate the power for the Bolt EUV’s motor.
Chevy has equipped the Bolt EUV with a single motor. This is a permanent magnetic AC electric motor located by the front axle. As a result, the Bolt EUV has front-wheel drive.
The electric motor is incredibly efficient. It can generate up to 200 horsepower and produces 266 lb-ft of instant torque. Unlike a conventional engine, the electric motor doesn’t need to get up to gear to provide its full complement of torque. The efficiency of this engine is also shown in the fact that you can drive up to 247 miles on a full charge of its battery pack. This is perfect for your daily commute and even works well on a road trip, allowing you to cover significant ground before you need to stop by a public recharging station to continue on your journey.
The 2023 Bolt EUV is also surprisingly fast. It can take you from 0 to 60 miles per hour in just 6.8 seconds with a top speed of 93 miles per hour. In addition, it only needs 186 feet to brake from 70 miles per hour, which will help keep you and your passengers safe.
Charge It!
One thing about BEVs that cannot be avoided is the need to recharge them. This is not unlike filling up the tank with gasoline on a conventional vehicle. The difference is that unless you live at a gas station, you can’t fill up your conventional engine vehicle at home.
Chevy provides you with two convenient ways to recharge the 65 kWh lithium-ion battery pack on your 2023 Bolt EUV. The first is a dual-level charge cord that comes standard with the Bolt EUV. This will allow you to charge your vehicle with either a 120-volt or 240-volt outlet using changeable plugs. If you hook it up to a 120-volt outlet, you can get 4 miles of charge in about an hour. Switching to a 240-volt outlet with 32 amps boosts the charging time to a rate of 25 miles per hour, allowing you to fully charge your Bolt EUV in just 10 hours. If you have access to a 240-volt outlet with 48 amps, this will allow you to cut the charging time to only 7 hours.
The 2023 Chevy Bolt EUV also comes with an 11.5 kW onboard charging module included. This will give you access to public charging stations, the fastest and most convenient way to recharge the battery on a BEV. For example, a DC Fast Charge station will provide you with up to 95 miles of battery range in a shockingly fast 30 minutes of charging time.
Regen on Demand to Recharge Your Battery
One thing that most BEVs have is the ability to recharge the battery using the recapture of kinetic energy released by the vehicle’s brakes. With the Chevy Bolt EUV, you can accomplish this with the push of a button. The Regen on Demand paddle located on the steering wheel allows you to utilize a portion of this energy to keep your 65 kWh lithium-ion battery charged on your Bolt EUV. Once you have turned the Regen on Demand feature on, you will be able to give the battery a little boost just by stepping on the brakes.
The Bolt EUV gets a pretty exceptional range. On a full charge, you can expect to go up to 247 miles. To get to this maximum estimate, especially if you deal with a lot of stop-and-go traffic, you’ll want to use Regen on Demand. City driving involves more use of the brakes, allowing you more opportunities to give the Bolt EUV’s battery a little more regenerative, kinetic energy charging with regenerative braking.
Regen on Demand will give you bursts of extra energy when you pull the paddle, but you capture that energy by using One Pedal Drive. This feature reduces driver fatigue by using the accelerator as the only pedal you need on the vehicle. If you need to slow down, simply ease the pressure on the accelerator and the speed on your Bolt EUV will decrease as well. You can even come to a full stop with One Pedal Drive by simply completely removing your foot on the accelerator and letting the regenerative braking system do the rest. This also reduces the wear-and-tear on your Bolt EUV’s brakes, allowing for longer life on the brake pads and other component parts.
Powering the Future Today
Chevrolet is not just one of the oldest automotive brands. It is also one of the biggest innovators in the industry. The 2023 Chevy Bolt EUV demonstrates how this dedication to innovation can pay off, with an incredibly powerful and efficient electric powertrain that will free you from the gas pump while reducing your own personal environmental impact. Best of all, you can do so without sacrificing your love of performance, acceleration, and passenger safety. This comes from choosing a BEV that is efficient and effective, like the 2023 Chevy Bolt EUV.
