EV Trip Reports
As the title suggests, this section is devoted to our experience driving an electric vehicle (EV). In late 2014, we leased a Nissan Leaf, a mass-market EV with an official range of 84 miles. In late 2016 we bought a 2017 Chevy Volt. When the lease expired on the Nissan Leaf in the fall of 2017 we leased a 2017 Chevy Bolt EV. We sold the Volt in the spring of 2018 when we downsized to one vehicle. We now drive electric only. In the fall of 2020 we returned the Bolt to GM at the end of the lease and bought a 2020 Bolt.
Mud, Rocks, EV Capacity, and Flexibility
By
Paul Gipe
Our family car–our only car–is a Chevy Bolt. When we want to drive somewhere, we drive the Bolt. The Bolt is a battery-electric vehicle (EV). It runs on electricity. You can’t just pull up to a gas station and “fill it up.”
Mountains to the Sea: EV Road Trip Made Possible by a 60 kWh Battery
By
Paul Gipe
While a friend was visiting from Canada, we took her on a road trip from Bakersfield, California to the coast via Mount Pinos in the San Emigdio Range. This is an easy trip in a gasoline-powered car. But we drive electric and therein lay the problem, or as we think of it, the challenge.
EV Road Tripping: Bakersfield Bolt to Yosemite via US 395 and the “East Side”
By
Paul Gipe
In mid August we took our annual vacation to Toulumne Meadows in Yosemite National Park. We drove the family car. Nothing special about that per se, we’ve been doing it for years. What was different was that we drove a Chevy Bolt EV, an electric car. And we drove it up the “East Side” on US 395, one of the nation’s most scenic highways.
Bolt EV Successfully Crosses Sierra Nevada Bakersfield to Independence
By
Paul Gipe
Since I’ve been driving electric I’ve been itching to drive across the Sierra Nevada to Independence, California from our home in Bakersfield. We love the “East Side” and it’s our escape from the heat of a Bakersfield summer.
Bakersfield to Santa Cruz and Return in a Chevy Bolt
By
Paul Gipe
We again put our Chevy Bolt through its paces with a 540-mile round trip from Bakersfield to Santa Cruz to visit friends.
Energy Consumption Estimators, Trip Planners, and the Chevy Bolt EV
By
Paul Gipe
We leased a Chevy Bolt EV (electric vehicle) in November 2017. Since then we’ve taken the car on several road trips of varying distances. Based on these trips, I’ve tested the accuracy of three different estimators or trip planners: EV Trip Planner (EVTP), GreenRace, and Chevy’s Energy Assist app for the Bolt.
