Chevrolet Bolt EV Affordable Electric Driving Without Compromise

By Isabella Storyclaire

last updated September 17, 2024

Contributions sourced from

2022 Chevrolet Bolt EV Review: Affordable Electric Does Exist

FAST FACTS

Motor:	1x permanent-magnet synchronous motors
Output:	200 hp, 266 lb-ft
Transmission:	1AT, FWD
US fuel economy (MPGe):	131/109/120
CAN fuel economy (Le/100KM):	1.8/2.2/2.0
Starting Price (USD):	$32,495 (inc. dest.)
As-Tested Price (USD):	$36,090 (inc. dest.)
Starting Price (CAD):	$39,998 (inc. dest.)
As-Tested Price (CAD):	$40,888 (inc. dest.)

Four hundred and ninety three.

As I park the 2022 Chevrolet Bolt EV up at its drop-off point, its digital instrument panel shows Ive travelled 493 kilometers on a single charge. Thats 306 miles, far beyond the 259-mile (417-km) official range. The screen has stopped providing range estimatesit simply flashes Lowbut that makes the Bolt one of the longest-range EVs to ever pass through the AutoGuide battery of tests.

Whats more, its also one of the most affordable. For 2022 Chevrolet has chopped the price of its dedicated EV, along with giving it a substantial facelift and interior refresh. The result is a likeable, budget-friendly hatchback that proves switching to electric doesnt mean spending big bucks.

Editors Note: This test drive originally took place in mid-August 2021. The Chevrolet Bolt EV and Bolt EUV recall happened shortly after. With GM restarting production on April 4, we now feel confident publishing the review.

Get a Quote on a New 2022 Chevrolet Bolt EV

Whats new?

The Bolt EV has been around since 2017. Over the years, Chevrolet has quietly expanded its range, with the 2020 model clocking in at the afore-mentioned 259 miles (417 km). So nothing has changed therebut then again, nothing really needed to. The Bolts range is unmatched in the sub-compact segment, pipping the Hyundai Kona EV by a single mile.

Similarly, the drivetrain carries over. Based on Chevrolets older BEV2 electric vehicle platform, not Ultium, it carries a 65.0-kWh lithium-ion battery pack low in the floor. The 150-kW motor produces an even 200 horsepower, and 266 pound-feet. A single-speed transmission sends that power to the front wheels alone. This is the case for the related Bolt EUV too, despite its faux-crossover shape.

The EUVs look transfers over to the Bolts fascia. The squinty headlight design is certainly more distinctive, though its also much fussier. Around back, Chevys designers have swapped out the wave-style LED pattern in the taillights for a cleaner, more modern look. The Bolt retains one of the most aggressively-raked window lines in the industry, which gives it a dramatic look in profile.

2022 Chevrolet Bolt EV interior and comfort

Changes are afoot inside the Bolt, too. In fact, Chevys designers have taken the opposite approach here: the interior is now more regular car than before. Or less unique, depending on your perspective. The white plastic of the 2020 model we last tested is gone, with an upright, black section now sitting in front of the passenger. While some considered the white cheap-looking, Id argue the new look isnt much better, and the addition of swathes of piano black means this one collects dust and fingerprints like nothing else. The climate controls do look much nicer, however.

Chevrolet has switched to its push-button shifter, which now forms a bridge over the under-console storage cubby. Drinks now sit behind the shifter, which is an objectively worse place for them. Yeah, I said it.

The Bolts tidy dimensions and short overhangs give it a fishbowl-like view out from the drivers seat. The rising beltline and thick C-pillars do limit visibility over the shoulders, however. Rear-seat passengers wont love a window line that comes up to their chin, either. That said, theres a healthy 36.5 inches (927 mm) of rear legroom,

And up front? Chevrolet made a big song and dance about its improved seats, after the old ones drew plenty of criticism. A combination of a flat cushion and little lower back support results in them feeling more like perches than seats.

2022 Chevrolet Bolt EV technology and features

It tracks that an EV should have a robust tech suite. The Bolt does, with Chevys well-liked system occupying the 10.25-inch screen embedded within the dashboard. New for 2022 is wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, and it all works seamlessly. Both the phone menus and the native ones respond quickly to taps, and the color-coding makes it easy to access via peripheral vision. The one miss is the redundant rotary knob below the home button. Its used to select icons on the screen, but when its that close, why bother?

Im a big fan of the Bolts digital instrument cluster. The customizable setup provides plenty of information, but the best feature is to the left of the screen. Chevrolet doesnt share a remaining battery percentage, only a range. Rather, a range of ranges: theres the current estimate based on recent driving habits, plus the optimum, as well as the heavy-foot alternative. This real-time display gives drivers a clearer picture not just of the remaining range, but how their driving directly impacts it.

The Bolt is the EV equivalent of an economy car, so its outright feature count is only acceptable, not exceptional. Wireless charging is optional (in the US, not Canada), which makes this one of the few cars to offer wireless phone pairing without the requisite Qi pad. The same option package brings in a Bose seven-speaker sound-system. We couldnt test it, but the stock six-speaker setup was fine. Heated front seats, a heated steering wheel, heated exterior mirrors, eight-way power drivers seat, and Wi-Fi hotspot are all standard features.

On the safety front, every 2022 Bolt EV comes with automated emergency braking with pedestrian detection, blind spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, lane-keep assist, rear parking sensors, lane keep and departure assists, auto high beams, and Chevys useful Teen Driver profile. Adaptive cruise control is an option in the US; sorry, Canadians, no feet-off highway time for you.

2022 Chevrolet Bolt EV driving impressions

Oh, I get to quote myself! Here it goes:

The Bolt feels tailor-made for big-city driving. Its a torquey little thing, yet the go-pedal is calibrated to make it easy to meter out exactly as much thrust as youd like.

Thats from the 2020 review, and its just as relevant here. The Bolt is remarkably easy to drive, remaining one of my favorite cars to wheel around downtown. The combination of excellent visibility, short overhangs, and instant-on torque makes the Bolt EV a cinch to slot into gaps in traffic. The option of one-pedal driving is here too, and it persists even through on/off cycles. Regenerative braking is strong, but not abrupt. As is often the case with these things, it takes a day or two to get used to, and then it becomes second nature. I kept it on for most of the loan period, which no doubt contributed to that long range.

Steering effort and weight are both minimal. This tester resists the more severe pogoing over rough terrain that its 2020 predecessor succumbed to. Put simply, the Bolt EV is a quiet, comfortable ride, easily capable of longer drives. If only those seats were more supportive. Power does taper off around highway passing speeds, but the Bolt never lacks power. The low center of gravity and econo-spec tires make it weirdly entertaining to fling around a curvy backroad, too.

And that final range? I drove without AC when it was bearable, and kept to surface roads unless it became unreasonable. At 5 miles (8 km) per kWh, that makes the Bolt EV incredibly efficient. It is the very opposite of the Hummer EV, from the same parent company no less.

2022 Chevrolet Bolt EV pricing and competition

The Bolt sees a huge price cut for 2022, dropping the US entry cost to just $32,495, including destination. Thats for the 1LT trim, with the fancier 2LT coming in for a few grand more. Options are limited to premium paints, the new dual-level charge cord, an uprated infotainment package, and adaptive cruise control.

Things are different in Canada. The latter two packages arent even offered, and the Bolt comes in just one trim. The machine-faced aluminum wheels are optional, however. As equipped, this tester rings in at $40,888 CAD, $900 CAD more than base.

Verdict: 2022 Chevrolet Bolt EV Review

The 2022 Chevrolet Bolt EV remains an impressive little all-electric option. It doesnt have the shine of newness anymore, and the supposedly grown-up interior redesign makes it a little more bland. Larger EVs from numerous mainstream automakers have eclipsed it in space, pace, and range, too.

Yet there are still shoppers who eschew the idea of buying too much car. They want what covers their needs, and nothing else. For those who still value a city-sized hatchback, but want to make the jump to zero emissions, the Bolt is a straight-forward, easy-to-live with option.

FAQs

How much does the 2022 Chevrolet Bolt EV cost?

The Bolt is one of the most affordable electric cars on the market, starting from just$32,495 ($39,998 CAD).

When can you buy the 2022 Chevrolet Bolt EV?

The Bolt EV and EUV were taken off sale Q3 2021 due to the battery recall; production restarts on April 4. American buyers can find the Bolt EV on the American website; Canada had not yet restarted sales at the time of writing.

What is the range of the 2022 Chevrolet Bolt EV?

The official figure is 259 miles (417 km). We did almost 20-percent better.

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LOVE IT

Super-affordable price
Fun, torquey drive
City-friendly footprint

LEAVE IT

Still chintzy inside
Styling changes are a miss
That whole recall thing

2022 Chevrolet Bolt EUV First Drive Review - An affordable electric makeover

The Chevrolet Bolt EV has long been the electric car that automotive writers will tell you to buy when you ask them for advice, even though they know you probably won't, but perhaps the 2022 Bolt EUV will prove more convincing. Now in a fashionable crossover body-style, and with aggressive pricing along with freshly-available tech like Super Cruise, Chevrolet has taken maximum advantage of a familiar platform to set what's arguably the new benchmark in a growing segment.

Though the pictures make it look otherwise, in the metal the Bolt EUV and the new Bolt EV are actually very similar. Despite the crossover positioning, the EUV is only 5mm wider and higher than the hatchback; both get the squinting new headlamps, faintly reminiscent of the eyes on Iron-Man's helmet, and the kicked-up shoulder line.

At the rear, the primary oddity is the location of the brake lights: they're down low in the bumper, rather than in the main LED clusters. A panoramic glass sunroof is optional, while 17-inch alloy wheels on firmly-tuned suspension are standard.

In some ways, the 2022 Bolt EUV feels like a wish-list of long time Bolt EV fans made real. Owners liked the one-pedal driving mode, which can rapidly slow the car to a complete stop without you touching the brake, but disliked that you needed to enable it each time you started the Bolt EV up. Chevrolet has fixed that with a dedicated button for that mode, and the car now remembers your setting even after you switch it off and on again.

Similarly, Bolt EV owners wanted more rear seat space, and so the majority of the Bolt EUV's size increase goes there. The car is about 6-inches longer overall, with half of that adding legroom for the second row. It leaves it feeling much more welcoming to those with longer legs, even if the regular 2022 Bolt EV actually has very slightly more headroom, shoulder room, and hip room. Even the trunk on the hatchback is very slightly larger, surprisingly, though by less than a cubic foot. The Bolt EUV offers a usable 16.3 cu-ft with the rear seats up, and 56.9 cu-ft with them down.

The other big request was around power, and now the Bolt EUV comes with 11 kW DC fast charging support as standard. Chevrolet also throws in a 7 kW dual-mode charger, capable of working with a regular 120V outlet (adding around 4 miles of range in an hour) or a 240V outlet with an adapter that can give you a full charge in around 7 hours. Find a DC fast charger, and 30 minutes plugged in will add up to 95 miles of range.

What you don't get can't get, in fact is all-wheel drive. Like the 2022 Bolt EV, the EUV is only available with front-wheel drive, using a single electric motor. It may look more like, and be positioned by Chevy more like, a crossover, but it's not going to fare better in the ice or snow, or in mud, than the hatchback might.

Chevrolet's argument is that "crossover" can reflect a body shape and practicality promise, just as much as it might imply different traction abilities. The reality is that the cost of reengineering the Bolt platform for that second rear motor is just too great, given GM's next-generation Ultium EV architecture is the new focus. And, it's not like the FWD Bolt EV is necessarily bad in the snow: an EV on winter tires, even without power going to all four wheels, can perform considerably better than a gas-engined car with the same conditions.

Still, I suspect it'll limit sales in some regions of the country. Particularly as Chevrolet's competition typically offer all-wheel drive as an option, even if it'll cost you extra.

On the road, the 2022 Bolt EUV feels much like a Bolt EV did before. You still get 200 horsepower and 266 lb-ft of torque, and the crossover EV feels nimble and eager. No, it's not the fastest compact electric car out there, but the instantaneous power when you graze the accelerator makes zipping away from stop signs and traffic lights far swifter than most internal combustion cars. Press the Sport mode button and things get even perkier.

As before, hitting the power hard can leave the steering a little squirrely as the Bolt EUV struggles to effectively put down everything through the front wheels alone. The electric grunt isn't just usable in urban settings, either, with highway-speed overtaking no problem. Chevy has usefully enlarged the regen paddle on the steering wheel, too: pull that and even if you're not in the one-pedal mode you'll get much more electric motor braking, and it can bring the Bolt EUV to a standstill if you keep hold of it long enough.

It's part of a cabin redesign that's also welcome. Some of the trim pieces in these early pre-production cars were final, but the general feel overall was of a higher-quality, cleaner and more mature design than the interior of the old Bolt EV. The driver still gets a decent-sized screen to show speed, power, and other details, controlled with easy-to-use buttons on the steering wheel, while a 10.2-inch touchscreen in the center stack runs GM's latest infotainment software.

That supports Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, both connecting wirelessly, and there's a wireless phone charging pad below. Switching to a push-button transmission selector and redesigning the center console makes for more usable storage space, too.

One new button on the wheel is for GM's Super Cruise, the Bolt EUV being the first model outside of select Cadillac cars and SUVs to offer the hands-free driver assistance system. It'll be standard on the limited-production 2022 Bolt EUV Launch Edition ($43,495) or a $2,200 option on the Premier trim (starting at $38,495) that also adds things like leather seats, a 360-degree camera, rear camera mirror, and standard adaptive cruise control.

It's worth noting that this is "regular" Super Cruise, not the "enhanced" version that we've reviewed on the new Cadillac Escalade. That means it'll keep pace with traffic in the lane ahead, keep you centered in your lane, and do so without demanding you keep your hands on the wheel, but it can't do the automatic lane-change maneuvers. Unfortunately, just as Cadillac CT6 owners discovered to their ire, that's a limitation of the architecture of the car: the Bolt EUV platform simply can't support those more advanced features.

Even so, there's a lot to like about Super Cruise. The ability to, well, cruise down the highway as its attention-monitoring camera makes sure you're sufficiently engaged feels like a game-changer, even if you're familiar with regular adaptive cruise control. The experience takes a few miles of getting used to, as you learn to trust its capabilities, but it definitely feels more comfortable than most hands-on systems.

Chevy's engineers tell me that, even without the "enhanced" version, Bolt EUV owners will get the more refined, natural driving experience that Super Cruise has polished over years of iterations. With strong crosswinds on my test drive, however, it was difficult to tell; still, that did show just how capably Super Cruise kept me in the lane, even with its adjustments necessary to keep the 3,679 pound crossover centered.

There were a couple of times the system took a little longer to allow me to enable it, since I needed to make sure the Bolt EUV was already centered in the lane first, but only one point where the status light bar built into the steering wheel flickered red to have me lend a hand because of the wind conditions. Otherwise, aside from complex junctions where Super Cruise doesn't know where you need to go and so will revert to manual control, it held up just fine as long as you're on the roughly 200,000 miles of pre-mapped highway it's intended to work on.

Super Cruise isn't a cheap option, but I still think most Bolt EUV buyers should strongly consider it. You get three years of service including quarterly map updates delivered via OnStar and then after that it'll be a monthly subscription. Chevrolet hasn't decided how much that'll be yet (for Cadillac owners it's $25/mo, or a $15/mo extra on certain OnStar packages, with no minimum contract) and I'm told there's also consideration being given to one-time purchases, such as if you wanted Super Cruise for a month so as to cover a road trip or vacation.

As for range, the 250 miles that the Bolt EUV expects as its EPA rating is 9 miles short compared to the smaller, lighter Bolt EV, but neither figure is anything to be ashamed of. With these being early preproduction cars I didn't do any specific range testing as both software and hardware could still change, but over 64 miles of driving the car's range estimate had dropped 69 miles. That's with no consideration given to driving frugally over a combination of highway and urban use, and despite my experimenting with Sport mode and fighting those not-insignificant highway crosswinds.

For most people, then, the Bolt EUV (and indeed the 2022 Bolt EV) will do just fine for their everyday use. Chevrolet is also throwing in installation of a 240V outlet for new owners (assuming your home electric system isn't too old or unusual) which, along with the dual-mode charger, should mean keeping the car topped up at home isn't an issue. I'm disappointed not to see a 120V power outlet anywhere, though you do get several USB (Type-A and Type-C) and a 12V socket.

As for charging on the move, there you're still at the mercy of public infrastructure. It's the problem all EVs bar Tesla's face, though the situation has certainly improved since the first-generation Bolt EV launched in late 2016. The myChevrolet app will show public charger locations and, in many cases, live availability, and can help map a route with charging stops included and even handle paying for the recharge across certain networks like ChargePoint and EVgo.

Chevrolet's other challenge is the absence of the US federal tax credit. With GM having sold its way through its allowance already, it means Bolt EUV buyers will only get state and local incentives, rather than the potential $7,500 of credits many rival EVs still enjoy.

Even with those constraints in mind, the new compact electric crossover is competitively priced. A base-spec Bolt EUV LT at $33,995 including destination is about the same as a front-wheel drive 2022 VW ID.4 Pro after the federal tax credit. A Tesla Model 3 Standard Range Plus is $38,190 (including destination; Tesla has also sold so many EVs that it doesn't qualify for that federal incentive any more) for about the same range as the Chevy, though better performance and more brand cachet.

A better comparison is probably Hyundai's Kona Electric, from $38,565 before the federal incentive, for the same range as the Bolt EUV though less standard tech. A Nissan Leaf S Plus with the 62 kWh battery is $39,220 before the incentive, but still falls 24 miles short of the Chevrolet in range.

Certainly, you could argue that the 2022 Bolt EUV doesn't quite go far enough. An AWD option would be nice, as would Super Cruise being available on the base trim, and the reality is that the extra space promised is really just in rear legroom. More significant steps forward will just have to wait until GM Ultium is ready, but it's difficult to imagine that the automaker will be able to price EVs based on that new platform quite as aggressively as with this cunning massage of a tried-and-tested architecture.

Seldom is the reality of compromise so abundantly clear. On balance, there's more to like about the 2022 Bolt EUV than there is to criticize: if it's a stopgap until Ultium can be made as cost-efficient for Chevrolet's bread & butter models then it's one which is charmingly spritely, pleasingly designed and practical, and generally does a solid job of not rubbing that fact in your face. Indeed the biggest value challenge might well, ironically, be... the 2022 Bolt EV, even if that can't be had with Super Cruise and makes optional some of the crossover's standard features. All the same, on a dollar-per-electric-mile basis, it's hard to do better than these close Chevy siblings.