Monthly Archives: October 2016

Chevy Bolt – Clean Car from a Green Factory

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I’m waiting  for my Chevrolet Bolt to be built. As of October 24, the order is submitted to the factory and accepted by production control, according to my salesman, Don Mays.

So–what kind of factory does GM have in Orion, Michigan? Well, the General Motors Orion Assembly Plant gets more than half its energy from methane from decomposing trash, and has a 350-watt solar array. That’s pretty impressive!

One of the arguments is, why not just use your old car–it’s already built? Why spend all the energy to make new ones? If the factory runs efficiently, there’s less cost to driving a new electric car. It’s a complicated story, and we’ll keep following it.

Meanwhile, I’ll be waiting for the next installment from Chevy.

 

My Chevy Bolt – The Story Begins

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On Tuesday, October 11, 2016, I stepped into Boardwalk  Chevrolet and sat down with Don Mays to order my own Chevrolet Bolt. This very specific step is the beginning of my second electric car adventure, one that I expect to change the way I write about cars.

Ever since I heard about the Bolt–GM’s 200+ mile all-electric car–I’ve been fascinated with it, and followed all the news reports on it closely. Also, over time, I’ve become convinced that electric cars are a major part of our future transportation solution for working to limit the effects of climate change.

From January to April of this year, I spent a delightful three months with a darling baby blue Fiat 500e, which I named Fidelio. He and I commuted and dashed about town together without using a drop of gas, and it was a very happy experience. However, Fidelio’s 90-mile range was the one down side. So, when I learned that the Bolt would offer more than 200 miles, I was sold.

Don tells me that the order will be placed, and that, as production moves along, he’ll be able to tell me when my car is made and track its progress from the Orion, Michigan plant to Milpitas, CA. Then, it will go onto a truck and be sent to the dealership in Redwood City, CA. Expected arrival? Around Christmas time, if I’m lucky. But it sounds like the West Coast gets the first allocations, and that’s where I live.

I’ve ordered cars before, but never without test driving one. I was one of the first Saturn owners, back in November of 1990. My family also bought one of the first Corvairs, in 1960. So I guess it’s a family tradition to try out new GM experiments.

By the way, I ordered my car as the upper level Premier, in extra-cost Kinetic Blue, with the  lighter of two interior colors (gray/white), with the premium audio package (I’ll spend a lot of time commuting in it), and the safety feature package as well. I got the quick charge plug, too. May as well have it the way I want it, and I expect to be showing it off a lot–especially when it’s the first one in town.

Stay tuned!

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Audi A3 E-Tron: Step One

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The Audi A3 e-tron gives the premium German marque an entry point to electric motoring. Based on the previous generation Sportback wagon, it combines a 150-horsepower 1.4-liter gas engine with a 102-horsepower 75 kW electric motor to make a combined 204 horsepower drivetrain. With 258 lb.-ft. of torque, it pulls the compact wagon from 0-60 in 7.6 seconds.

Electric vehicles, even half-electric ones, use the MPGe rating, which offers an efficiency standard that you can use to compare competing vehicles. For example, you can measure the A3 against the plug-in Prius or the Chevrolet Volt. The A3 e-tron earns an 86 MPGe rating using electricity and gasoline, and a 39 MPG with gasoline only. I averaged 96.4 MPGe during my test week. The window sticker claims I’ll save $3,750 a year in fuel costs over the average new vehicle.

EPA fuel economy ratings are 8 for Smog and a perfect 10 for Greenhouse Gas. The 138 grams per mile of CO2 is lower than most cars, but, of course, higher than an all-electric car.

One way to compare plug-in hybrids is by the range they can drive on electricity alone. The A3 claims 17 miles, and in my 18-mile commute, I found that to be accurate. Just before I arrived at my office, the gauge indicated the switchover. So, I plugged in and had enough to get almost home, and so it went. By charging at both ends, I used very little gas for commuting.

Charging is simple. Plug in to standard 240-Volt (level 2) chargers at work or in other public places, or use your own household current, which is 120 Volts (level 1).  It’s an eight-hour process at home, comfortably overnight. On a level 2 charger, it’s just two and a quarter hours. You won’t be hogging the chargers while others wait. They’ll appreciate that.

The A3 is on the lower end of the range listing for plug-ins, but it still makes a big difference. The Chevy Volt offers an honest 53 miles of charge before switching over to its gas engine, which generates electricity to run the electric motor. The Audi is typical of a hybrid, using the gas engine and electric motor interchangeably as needed.

The A3 e-tron offers four driving modes, which you select on the dash. EV mode uses the electric motor only. In Hybrid mode the car’s computer picks the most efficient power source for the driving conditions—EV, gasoline, or both. In Hold Battery mode, the car is a hybrid only, saving the battery charge for driving all-electric later. The Charge Battery mode uses the engine to charge the battery while you’re driving at freeway speeds.

I ended up taking a six-hour round-trip to an exciting but farther away than I thought microbrewery, so for that trip, the A3 behaved like a normal hybrid car. And that’s what distinguishes a plug-in from an all-electric car. You can pretty much go wherever you want to, but drive hyper efficiently when you stay local.

The 8.8 kWh lithium-ion battery pack sits under the rear seat, and because it doesn’t take up any cargo space, the wagon is fully usable to carry your stuff. Other plug-ins like the Prius and Volt are hatchbacks, so the A3 has an advantage with a lower sill for easier placement of, say, a bass, in my case.

The A3 Sportback wears a new name: e-tron, which Audi will use to identify other, future electric and hybrid models, too. For now, it looks and feels like an A3, which is a good thing. The premium craftsmanship inside, simply presented at this level, is pleasant and feels substantial and carefully thought out. My Misano Red Pearl Effect test car greeted me with a sweet leather aroma when I opened the door for the first time. The switchgear works nicely, the eyeball vents swivel satisfyingly, and the it’s a pleasant place to be.

The A3 e-tron comes in three levels: Premium, Premium Plus, and Prestige. Base price is $37,900. My tester was a Premium Plus, which added $4,100 to the tab. That got me extras like 17-inch, 15-spoke alloy wheels, 3-D optic inlays, the Audi music interface, heated front seats, and aluminum window surrounds. The $2,600 Technology package added a navigation system, Audi Connect online services, and more. They charged $575 for the fancy red paint (a typical Audi upsell). The bottom line came to $46,100.

If you’re an Audiphile, this is your high-efficiency choice. An all-electric e-tron model should be here soon.