Skip to main content

Chevrolet warns the Bolt could lose 40 percent of its range in eight years

Chevrolet got the industry’s attention when it introduced the 2017 Bolt, a battery-powered compact with 238 miles of range, during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). As the first examples head to dealer lots, a paragraph buried deep in the owner’s manual is getting the attention of prospective buyers.

“Like all batteries, the amount of energy that the high voltage “propulsion” battery can store will decrease with time and miles driven. Depending on use, the battery may degrade as little as 10 percent to as much as 40 percent of capacity over the warranty period,” warns a snippet on page 322 of the Bolt’s owner’s manual. The text was discovered by Green Car Reports.

Recommended Videos

The warranty period Chevrolet refers to is eight years or 100,000 miles, whichever comes first. A 10-percent loss wouldn’t be alarming, but a 40-percent loss would reduce the Bolt’s operating range to 143 miles on a single charge in ideal driving conditions. That’s still more than many electric vehicles on the market — including the BMW i3 — but it’s far less than advertised.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

Every type of battery degrades over time, so capacity loss is part of living with an electric vehicle. However, Chevrolet’s decision to include the paragraph in the Bolt’s owner’s manual might have been made to to protect itself from the type of lawsuits that other carmakers have faced arising from this same issue.

Angry Nissan Leaf owners in California and Arizona filed a class-action lawsuit against the Japanese automaker after they saw their driving ranges drop drastically; one owner reported range had dropped from 100 to 44 miles in a year. A judge approved a settlement last year, and Nissan agreed to replace the battery pack in affected vehicles free of charge.

Looking through the Chevy Bolt’s owner’s manual also reveals a second, more pleasant surprise. An electric vehicle does without many of the wear-and-tear items found in a gasoline-powered car, including spark plugs, a timing belt, and an oil filter. Largely as a result, the only major maintenance the Bolt needs in its first 150,000 miles is a simple coolant flush.

Ronan Glon
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Ronan Glon is an American automotive and tech journalist based in southern France. As a long-time contributor to Digital…
Kickstarter loses 40% of its staff after a wave of layoffs and buyouts
five favorite kickstarter projects of the week

According to a recent filing, crowdfunding platform Kickstarter has reduced its staff by nearly 40%, following a sharp decline in the number of projects launched on the site in the wake of the pandemic-fueled economic downturn. The company has laid off 25 employees, while an additional 30 have exited after accepting voluntary buyouts.

The company had previously filed a notice with the state of New York about the layoffs, but confirmed the buyouts later to The Verge, saying affected employees were staying through this week to make for a smoother transition.

Read more
Volvo CTO Anders Bell chats its new do-it-all tech platform and future EVs
2025 Volvo EX90 front quarter view.

Volvo is at an inflection point. The company has finally launched the new Volvo EX90 -- it's long-awaited flagship electric SUV, designed to take on other premium large SUVs like the Rivian R1S. The new vehicle offers Volvo's signature Scandinavian style, but with modern features and Google's Android Automotive software.

Beyond being its first major electric SUV release, perhaps more important is the fact that the EX90 also represents the launch of Volvo's so-called Superset platform. Essentially, Superset is the Volvo-designed tech stack that is supposed to be used on all of its upcoming electric vehicles, containing all the modules and software necessary to power a built-out next-generation lineup of EVs.

Read more
Electrified buses are cleaning up urban transit, one stop at a time
An electric bus with the sun behind it.

When you hear "EV", you tend to think of a car, but the term is a big umbrella. E-bikes and scooters fall under the category as well, and so do buses. Public transit is already a fairly sustainable choice. Given the large size of bus battery packs and their pre-existing efficiency for mass transportation, does switching buses to electric appreciably lower emissions? Is it worth the work and cost of adding commercial charging infrastructure?

Our first stop in answering these questions was the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation. This specialized government group supports the electrification of public transit by providing resources and technical assistance to local agencies.

Read more