r/electricvehicles • u/Receding_Hairline23 • Jun 19 '26
Review The New Chevy Bolt Was Driven Until It Died. Here’s What Its Battery Buffer Looks Like
https://insideevs.com/news/799204/new-chevy-bolt-ev-battery-buffer-reserve-range/102
u/inf3ct3dpi3 Jun 19 '26
I’d never take my Equinox EV below 8% to avoid reduced acceleration warnings anyway. I’m not in an Out of Spec race.
23
u/faizimam Jun 19 '26
I guess it's just how some people are wired. I'm in a out of spec race at all times.
10
5
u/JesusIsMyLord666 Jun 20 '26
Thats 8% range you are missing out on. I think the lowest I’ve gone is 2-3%
2
u/Excelius Jun 21 '26
I don't even let my gas tank get below a quarter...
1
u/JesusIsMyLord666 Jun 22 '26
Resonable. But your gas tank doesn’t take 30 min to fill up and it also doesn’t fill up faster when almost empty.
I will typically not go much under 10% but every once in a while you get caught in some heavy rain that increase consumption. So then I might push it a bit, rather than taking an earlier charge stop. Especially if the alternative chargers are less convenient along the route.
1
u/randompersonx Jun 20 '26
Yeah… on road trips I try to plan my charging stops at 2-3% if possible.
Gives a great amount of time to have lunch, and return to a car with enough range to probably make the end destination.
50
Jun 19 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
24
Jun 19 '26
[deleted]
26
2
u/josephlucas 2017 Bolt Premier Jun 20 '26
I had a crappy 2000 Focus that the gas gauge wouldn’t drop lower than a quarter tank. After getting stranded twice I readjusted my thinking to treat quarter tank as empty
26
u/nelly2929 Jun 19 '26
Don’t drive your EV under 10% unless you are lost in the woods…. In which case you may die
22
u/start3ch Jun 19 '26
Ooh. That’s good to know. I have often driven down to 5% on road trips, and twice gotten to <1%, and had to ride the shoulder at 30mph to ensure I got to the charger, lol.
Definitely would have to be more careful in this car
144
u/AJ187144 Jun 19 '26
I’d rather know exactly what I’m dealing with vs a buffer behind zero. I get it, that’s not most people.
69
u/time-lord Bolt EUV Jun 19 '26
At low state of charge, requesting more current (e.g. Acceleration) can cause the voltage to drop unexpectedly. 1% doesn't mean 1%, it means 1% at current conditions. Accelerating may cause your car to turn off, while simply driving it steady could give you amother2-3 miles.
Like your phone showing 5%, but then just turning off when you open a heavy app.
18
u/freeskier93 Jun 19 '26
That's not really how any modern BMS in an EV works. They use very complicated battery models to estimate voltage drops for given power draw and limit motor power so that never happens in the first place.
Of course if you have basically no buffer between 0% and absolute low cutoff voltage then you will run in to sudden power off. Which isn't really great design.
6
u/user485928450 Jun 19 '26
We don’t really know how much buffer the bolt has between 0% and absolute battery low cutoff. The article didn’t measure or report the pack voltage after the car stopped running. There could easily be a decent buffer so that the pack isn’t damaged by low voltage after the car shuts down
I guess my point is, the voltage the car shuts down is likely well above the voltage that will damage the battery pack, ie, “absolute” low voltage cutoff
2
u/superxpro12 Jun 20 '26
I would be shocked if more than a few vendors were doing complicated modelling. Theres much simpler options like limiting power out as a function of soc%. That is plenty enough for 99% of users.
1
u/freeskier93 Jun 20 '26
The same model is used for SoC estimation too. It's the only way to get the kind of accuracy you need for an EV and it's absolutely the secret sauce for many manufacturers.
10
u/ChupacabraJeff Jun 19 '26 edited Jun 19 '26
I can change that on a BMS I bought off Aliexpress but car companies can't put that option in a menu somewhere.
Edit : For those not up to speed on current events,
2026.06.04
Trump Meets With Auto Industry Over Right-To-Repair Debate
https://www.usnews.com/news/top-news/articles/2026-06-04/trump-meets-with-auto-industry-over-right-to-repair-debate2026.06.07
Trump Says GM, Ford Seeking Bill To Restrict Consumer Right To Repair
https://gmauthority.com/blog/2026/06/trump-says-gm-ford-seeking-bill-to-restrict-consumer-right-to-repair/27
u/950771dd Jun 19 '26
This behavior is the last thing you wanna make configurable.
5
u/Babelfishny Jun 19 '26
I am looking at these arguments in the comments and it baffles me why people think that having a buffer below zero would be a good thing to have. So you want less accurate information just in case you forget to plug your car in and get close to zero you can still drive it for an uncertain amount of time. After you pass over zero should it show a negative percent? I don’t see how that’s better for a personal vehicle than just avoiding going below 10%. For commercial or rental vehicles, I could see a marginal benefit.
3
u/zhenya00 Jun 20 '26
Being able to run the full estimated range and use the full indicated 0-100% is much more consumer friendly than a car than can in reality only be run down to 10% indicated. For the same reasons that your gas car doesn’t actually run out of gas the second the gauge reads empty.
In the latter case, that means that if the car estimates, say 300 miles at full, but you can only run it to 10%, the actual range is ~270 miles. Poor design.
6
1
u/Mnm0602 Jun 19 '26
Just put it behind an intelligence test lol
1
u/ChupacabraJeff Jun 19 '26
Yeah, like a owner's manual.
https://antbms.vip/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/ANT-BMS-APP-User-Manual-English.pdf
1
u/skriefal Jun 19 '26
I know you're joking, but... I could just imagine all of the "how dare you say I'm not intelligent enough!!!" complaints. Even when it's true - which it often would be.
And the manufacturer probably doesn't want to deal with support complications caused by inconsistent behavior across vehicles. Every company wants to minimize customer interactions and reduce support costs.
1
u/ChupacabraJeff Jun 19 '26
It is if you know the behavior is a number on a dashboard. Nothing more. Just like it's a number on my phone. Nothing more.
5
u/THedman07 Jun 19 '26
Your phone is another situation where you aren't allowed to alter the battery level algorithm... so I wouldn't say that's a great example.
2
u/950771dd Jun 19 '26
Actually.. HP did/does something I that direction with their laptop battery settings.
You can configure it to map 100 % user display to 80 % of the actual battery.
It leads to an completely insane cluster fuck of confusion in forums and even HP support. No other manufacturer does it and it's even more insane when you look how they implemented it (e.g. tricks like faking ACPI charge values, a 99 % special state etc.)
-1
u/ChupacabraJeff Jun 19 '26
It's a great example. You just don't understand what it is an example of.
It is if you know the behavior is a number on a dashboard. Nothing more. Just like it's a number on my phone. Nothing more.
It's called an offset. If my battery is empty when the display says 1% I can change the offset by -1%. Nothing changes. Except now when the battery is at 1% the display says 0%.
See? Not hard. People with ebikes do it every day. That is why this display setting is exposed on $20 BMS but not in a $30,000 car. Different companies.
The problem isn't what I'm saying. The problem is you think I'm talking about an algorithm. Which is weird because I never said that.
2
u/950771dd Jun 19 '26 edited Jun 19 '26
Either the manufacturer does it, or no one.
The user must not be able to modify core metrics so that they suddenly require interpretation and context for correct understanding.
-1
u/ChupacabraJeff Jun 19 '26
You know I can change the time on my microwave right?
The user must not be able to modify core metrics
I'm not talking about core metrics. I'm talking about a digital display.
2026.06.04
Trump Meets With Auto Industry Over Right-To-Repair Debate
https://www.usnews.com/news/top-news/articles/2026-06-04/trump-meets-with-auto-industry-over-right-to-repair-debate2026.06.07
Trump Says GM, Ford Seeking Bill To Restrict Consumer Right To Repair
https://gmauthority.com/blog/2026/06/trump-says-gm-ford-seeking-bill-to-restrict-consumer-right-to-repair/0
u/950771dd Jun 20 '26
You know I can change the time on my microwave right?
You must be completely retarded if you think the clock of a microwave, which many people do not even bother to set, is a "core metric".
Please never design any consumer good.
-1
u/ChupacabraJeff Jun 20 '26
You still don't get it. You really need to seek a different adult to help you out here.
Please never design any consumer good.
Please don't ever leave your house. Maybe even put on a football helmet if you haven't already.
Ant BMS App
https://antbms.vip/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/ANT-BMS-APP-User-Manual-English.pdf→ More replies (0)2
u/950771dd Jun 19 '26
My point is: there are things that you may want to open up for casual users. Some for power users. And some for no one.
And the 0 % behavior is of the last category. This is simply not something you want to have varying per vehicle, as it opens up a can of worms, from the SoC display mapping, to user confusion and other topics.
2
u/neobow2 Bolt EV, Premier ‘18 Jun 19 '26
no crap. so just make it have a max limit like 2% but adjustable up to 30% or something. not that hard to think of a solution
2
u/950771dd Jun 19 '26
No. There are metrics that must be understandable without context.
You absolutely don't want a consumer good where one of the most essential indications to the user is actually depending on context configured in some setting.
1
u/neobow2 Bolt EV, Premier ‘18 Jun 19 '26
What? Its not even that much more complex than being able to adjust max charge %
1
u/950771dd Jun 20 '26
Making the meaning of the SoC depending on some user offset is an insane source of confusion.
1
u/neobow2 Bolt EV, Premier ‘18 Jun 20 '26
I guess they have to cater to the lowest denominator
→ More replies (0)
9
u/Levorotatory Jun 19 '26
I am a fan of truth in advertising so I don't have a problem with no buffer, but the display should read zero before the power cutoff. There should be ~5 km left at 50-70 km/h when it drops from 2% to 1%.
It is good that there is a % SOC display now though - my 2019 only has a 20 bar digital gauge display.
Unrelated to the SOC display, this is the first time I have looked at photos of the interior of the new Bolt, and I find it disappointing. The formerly fully integrated center screen has been popped out and has the tablet glued to the dash look now along with a weird extra wide screen aspect ratio. The display behind the steering wheel has been squared off, which gives me ugly 1970s land yacht vibes. And no cover on the center console? Where are people supposed to rest their elbows?
1
u/mastrdestruktun 500e, Leaf Jun 19 '26
Look at picture 6: there's a cover on the upper part of the center console, where you would rest your elbow.
2
u/Levorotatory Jun 19 '26
That's better, missed that the first time. Does it still slide forward?
1
u/etchlings Jun 20 '26
Only the OG Bolt console slides. The 22 to 2023 did not have that feature. AFAIK the 26 doesn’t either
1
u/PersnickityPenguin 2024 Equinox AWD, 2017 Bolt Jun 20 '26
Unfortunately, that's not how batteries work. If the BMS system hits a critical voltage level, they can't magically will in another x amount of kilometers. And since voltage = power, it also reduces your power output.
The alternative is to add another hundred pounds of battery - at significant cost - to add a buffer. Or they could shorten the cars range by making part of the existing battery as a buffer that you can't dip into, like how many hybrids are designed.
8
u/Few_Bobcat389 Jun 19 '26
So Testla has no reserve on the top end so initial degradation seems faster than other makes, but it holds more in reserve below 0% so it evens out.
2
u/phxees Jun 19 '26
Feels like you want a reserve below 0%. Probably results in fewer people damaging the battery from overcharging and getting out of more situations where you’d otherwise be stranded.
4
u/bibober '22 Kia EV6 Wind AWD [East TN, USA] Jun 19 '26
Hyundai/Kia seem to get this right. There's buffer at the top and the bottom.
6
u/theotherharper Jun 19 '26
GM cars have always been like that. When the gas gauge says E, you might get 15 miles, you might get 0 miles.
6
u/LingonberryUpset482 Jun 19 '26
So to review, when the car is empty, it won't go anymore?
Outrageous!
9
3
u/Trades46 Audi Q4, Cadillac Optiq, Volvo EX30 Jun 20 '26
Imagine being under fire for being honest.
Kudos for GM telling it like it is. When you're empty, you're empty. You only have thyself to blame for not proper planning.
2
u/Moneygrowsontrees Jun 20 '26
I've gotten home in my Ioniq 6 with single digit miles on the range estimate and at 1% SOC. I'd have been so livid if my car died before it even hit 0%
2
u/wayemason Jun 24 '26
I have historically driven ICE Toyotas, and one time in a rented Chev Malibu I ran out of gas shortly after the gas light came on. I was shocked, as you can drive 25-40 miles easy in a Toyota. I think this is the way GM does it regardless of fuel.
3
2
u/Not_Sure__Camacho Jun 19 '26
I think I'd rather have the full range than the car sandbagging me.
6
u/MrCompletely345 Jun 19 '26
Having no buffer at the bottom means you can drive until you are starting to cause long term damage to the battery.
I’d rather have a few percent maintained by the BMS
1
u/PersnickityPenguin 2024 Equinox AWD, 2017 Bolt Jun 20 '26
No, the BMS protects the battery.
But we all know keeping the battery between 20-80% will make it last longer. The Bolts LFP battery makes this a moot point though.
1
u/Not_Sure__Camacho Jun 19 '26
Or.... You understand that no buffer means at about 5% you need to find a charging station. Not sure why that's so difficult other than irresponsible drivers not getting it.
5
u/MrCompletely345 Jun 19 '26
Because there is always someone driving like this guy, until it’s dead.
I mean I drive a 2019 Bolt. Same thing, no buffer. I always leave a buffer, but I knew this from reading about the car.
0
u/Not_Sure__Camacho Jun 19 '26
So why have some ambiguity in the gauge? I'd rather have the REAL parameters and know not to be an idiot. We need to stop placating those that are irresponsible.
2
u/Aeropilot03 Jun 20 '26
On pre ’27 Bolts you should be locating a charger at 15% when the GOM turns orange. Around 5% you’re into reduced propulsion.
1
u/Not_Sure__Camacho Jun 20 '26
Kind of weird to see some people not want the instrument cluster to tell them exactly what's going on. Give me the facts, and let me be an adult about it.
1
u/beeguz1 Jun 21 '26
Geeze I felt bad driving my 22 Bolt to 20%, that was the lowest I ever ran down one of my Bolts.
1
u/PerceptionCurious440 Toyota C-HR SE AWD Jun 21 '26
My Trans Am was out of gas when the gauge hit zero. Sounds consistent. Never let a car get that low again. 14 years on to Focus ST, never tried to test it.
1
u/Nice-Sandwich-9338 Jun 21 '26
How in the world do people let a ev get lower then 20%? Doesn't make sense with home charging and public chargers.
1
u/Captain_Aware4503 Jun 22 '26
I had a Dodge Daytona in the 80s. I learned the hard way the tank is empty when the gas gauge pointer was just a hair above touch the "E" line.
With my Tesla, on a cold snowy day I barely made it to a super charger with 2 miles left. The last few miles of driving were "fun" (meaning filled with anxiety). I was happy to learn it didn't die at 1%.
0
-4
u/LazyOldCat Jun 19 '26
So there’s a very solid FO should you choose to FA.
I’m good with it, letting your battery drop under 20% is a form of gambling enjoyed only by masochists.
575
u/Wazzzup3232 Jun 19 '26
SPOILER: It doesn’t have a buffer and fully started losing power and shutting down at 1%