At long last, I have an EV

For years now, I’ve been dithering about getting an electric
vehicle (EV). Much of that dithering has been done in public, on
Twitter and for various sites I’ve worked for — just a few weeks
ago I subjected you to my handwringing about an EV test drive —
so I figured I might as well document how the journey finally
ended.


Long story short, we bought a used 2017 Chevy Bolt. That is about
the least sexy sentence one can write about EVs in the year of
our lord 2022, but there you have it.


We thought about leasing or buying one of the fancy new EVs, the
Kia EV6 or the Ford Mustang or a Tesla. But we’re pretty cheap
and didn’t want to pay that much. And we felt slightly guilty
about buying a new car. And those cars feel like statements. As
Mrs. Volts put it, “I just don’t want to say that much with my
car.”


The Bolt (along with the Nissan Leaf) is the closest thing to an
econo-box option in the EV market, and that’s more our speed. We
paid $25K — considerably more than we would have paid for the
same car 12 months ago, thanks to lingering supply issues, but
less than half of a tricked-out, new version of any of the
fancier models.


In terms of value, though, there’s a twist — the “cheat code” of
the current EV market. As you probably know, there has been a
massive recall of Bolt batteries. Every battery in every Bolt
from 2017 to 2022 will be replaced, at no charge, by Chevrolet.


That means, at some point in the next year (my local Chevy dealer
estimates seven months from now), they’ll call me, I’ll drop the
car off at the dealership, they’ll put in a brand new,
260-mile-range battery, and I’ll get it back the next day. Given
that the rest of the car is in good shape (~57K miles on the
odometer), this will effectively be like getting a new EV for the
cost of a used one. Score.


The econo-box of EVs


The car itself is somewhat spartan, if comfortable. It has the
“premier” trim, so I got my beloved heated steering wheel, Mrs.
Volts her beloved heated seats. It has one-pedal driving and lane
assist and parking assist and all-around cameras and Android
Auto. The only fancy-pants feature I notice missing is wireless
phone charging (which I got used to real quick in the Mustang).


As for acceleration, even if it isn’t the insane road-rocket the
Mustang was, it is considerably zippier than either of our aged
current vehicles, more than zippy enough to make it fun getting
around the city. (It has a “sport” mode, with higher torque and
lower range, but I haven’t had occasion to use it yet.)


The interface is lower end, which means it involves more physical
buttons and knobs and less screen real estate than newer EVs, but
to be honest I like that much better. There’s less occasion and
temptation to look at the screen. I can find most stuff I really
need with my fingers.


There’s not enough console space and the Bluetooth interface with
phones is somewhat janky — listening to music on my phone
involves a lot more button-poking than I’d like — but it’s
tolerable.


As for accessories, I bought a back-seat cover (for the dogs) and
a level-two charger (we had a 220-volt outlet already installed).
I can’t think of much else we need. We are now driving
(semi-)guilt-free.


Getting an EV is easier than ever


One final note: early in this process I was contacted by a
company called Link that is devoted to making it easy for people
to get EVs. You can use their site to shop for the EV you want —
they offer an advisory service — and then they’ll arrange the
lease or purchase for you.


After wasting way too much time shopping around, I told Link I
wanted a used Bolt. For a few weeks, they sent me notices of
Bolts (that had been inspected) as they came on the market. When
we saw one we liked, they did all the purchasing and transferring
of titles. They mailed me the paperwork (including detailed
inspection reports), I signed and mailed it back, and then the
car was dropped off in my driveway. I never had to haggle or talk
to a salesperson. All I had to do is register it at the DMV and
let the Chevy dealership know I had it. It could not have been
easier.


Link is mostly operating on the West Coast for now, but if you
have been dithering about an EV like I was, I can’t recommend it
enough. (I know other services like this are springing up — it’s
a big and eager market, I would think.)


Anyway, that’s the story of how I finally got an EV. You’ll hear
no more dithering from me. Instead I’ll to go back to daydreaming
about living somewhere where I don’t need a car at all.


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