2018 Leaf SL vs 2018 Bolt LT

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sthbeach

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 20, 2019
Messages
74
Ok so I traded in the 17' Leaf yesterday and picked up the 2018 Bolt. So now after having driven it home 450 kms from the dealer, I can give my first opinion of it versus my 2018 Leaf.

Leaf Wins:
Fit and Finish, interior quality, comfort, looks, sound system, rear cargo space.

Bolt Wins:
Power, front and side views (windows), cup holder position, large touchscreen, OnStar, GOM technology, battery with thermal management.

My biggest complaint about the Bolt would be the front seats are stiff, narrow and just uncomfortable and my only other minor complaints would be too much interior plastic and too stiff rear suspension.
The power is fantastic, the car goes like snot!
The front windshield is enormous and just an amazing view and visibility and the side front windows are extra big too.
I love the GOM battery read out as it shows a max, average and minimum amount of distance you will get on a specific charge with an extra meter that shows where you are based on your current drive. This is a must! It works great and I'm not left guessing when beginning a drive in inclimate weather, for example.......yesterday, it was -15° celsius and with the Bolt fully charged, the GOM showed a max of 292kms and a minimum of 209kms and it was bang on. Much better than getting in my Leaf and looking at my GOM that is based on my last drive and wondering what kind of range I'm going to get on a -15° day.

So now my wife will drive the 2018 Leaf and I will take the Bolt and our range anxiety issues are all but a thing of the past. Next, installing the Leafbox into the Leaf and see what it does!
 
Yay! I agree with you about the interior and seats. At least Leaf has some felt and fabric on the door panels instead of cheap hard plastics on the Bolt.

Re: GOM, I hate to break it to you, but usually max is just 1.18 * the middle value and the min is usually 0.82 * middle value. Try it. See https://www.chevybolt.org/threads/the-math-behind-min-max-calculations-and-the-energy-usage-score.18114/#post-225018. There are sometimes exceptions, for some reason.
 
Ah yes, I see this....so it's just another bullshit algorithm.....oh well, I still like it more! Lol
 
IIRR the Bolt's range algorithm does use a much longer period (ISTR at least 30 minutes and maybe a lot longer) for its rolling average than the LEAF's (which is something like the last 5 minutes), so you're far less likely to see the wild range swings with the Bolt's GOM that have been common on the LEAF.
 
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