From Volt to Bolt?

I've had my 2018 Volt for 4 years now. It has less than 50K (kilometers) on it and the dealer is enticing me to come in and see what kind of deal can be made on a new car.  They have new Bolt EUV's in inventory and they're actually priced competitively.

I got the Volt so that I could ease into the electric car experience without the range anxiety. And what has surprised me is how easy that transition was. I rarely have to put fuel in the car, as most of my traveling is well suited to the cars electric range. So I think if I can get a great deal I might take the next step to 100% electric. In reality, I don't need to change cars and I am still very happy with the Volt - but if the right deal presents itself I think I'd be happy with having a full electric as my daily driver.

IIRC ChrisV made the 'Volt to Bolt' move - has anyone else made this transition too - I'd love to know your experience.

Thanks, Paul

I don't have much to contribute other than I am glad to hear that the Volt has been good to you, as it's something I wouldn't mind having next.

Do keep in mind that if/when they dangle a good or great Bolt EUV value in front, you may be out some time later on if and when the battery gets refreshed/replaced/whatever under the GM/LG recall. In reality I think the Bolt/EUV are great values, and they would absolutely cover ~95% of our use cases. Keep us tuned in to whatever you work out!

I would be wary due to the battery recall issues. 

With that being said, I think the Bolt is the new "everyman's" car. The hatch, short wheelbase, and electric powertrain make it the perfect city runabout.

I never drove the Volt, but I have ridden in one. The Bolt is better. I put 40K on mine so far. After the recall, I will get an additional 8 years, 100K miles warranty. I suspect I'll drive this car for the next ten years. 

If the pricing on a new one is good (as in not inflated like everything else) and you can sell yours at the top of the market, it may be the best time to move.

Good time to sell the Volt, not a great time to buy a Bolt. Now that the stop sale has been lifted and the battery recall and rebuilding is in full effect, used Bolt prices are rising quite a bit (to the point that a used 2017 is priced higher than my new 2020 was). Luckily the ones that caught fire are less than one one hundredth of a percent, so it's easy to find a good one. The 2020 and newer are the better choices due to the larger battery (though the old ones that are getting battery replacements are getting the larger packs, as well. And if you can drive reasonably efficiently you can see really good miles per kWh: my wife regularly gets 4.8 miles per kWh for a real world range of 316 miles).

But yeah, the Bolt is better at everything OTHER than trips into the wilderness where there is limited charging options. But that's getting better all the time, too.

The Bolt is a cool platform for sure.  Know what your Volt is worth currently and argue the best deal with or without trade on the new Bolt!

My next door neighbor LOVES his Bolt. The only time he uses his Outback is when he needs the extra room.

A friend of mine did the exact same thing you're looking at doing. He bought a Volt the first year they came out, put gas in it once about once a year, then switched to a Bolt the first year they were made. He loves it, but is tired of hearing "why didn't you get a Tesla?" 

In reply to Schmidlap :

I have looked at the local Tesla inventory available, and I just cannot justify the significant difference in price. The Mustang Mach E is more competitive price-wise but feature to feature comparisons for me show the Bolt will suit my requirements much better. I also prefer the looks of the Bolt EUV over the Mach e. 

We had a 2012 Volt, that we were very happy with. It was an awesome transportation appliance that was reliable and very cheap to run. It was written off in a relatively minor accident this summer, so we took the insurance settlement and ordered a new Bolt, validating the Volt's role as a gateway drug to electric cars. I was confident in the order because the Volt had been so reliable, and the Bolt battery recall only went up to the 2019s. Three days after we placed the order, GM extended the recall to include all Bolts, including ones they hadn't built yet. I've never had a car before that was recalled before it was built, (and I owned many British cars).

Since GM had declared the battery problem fixed in the previous three software update recalls, I didn't have much confidence that they would indeed fix it this time, and at the time (about a month ago) they had no ETA on when they would resume battery production or Bolt production. I decided I would like to wait a year or two before I was sure they had actually fixed the problem, so that I wouldn't have to replace the Bolt badges with Blazer badges.

We found a nice 2018 Volt with 50,000 km on it (about 30,000 miles for those of you still using furlongs per fortnight) that has been great so far. The increase in range for the second gen Volts meant that we went from having nearly enough range to do everything electrically to having more than enough range to be completely electric. BTW, the lifetime fuel consumption for the 2012 was 2.48 L/100 km or 95 mpg. Not bad at all.

In reply to Turboeric :

Yeah, my lifetime fuel consumption in the Volt is at 1.7 L/100 km. The only time the engine runs is when its too cold out (I'm in Ottawa - so that can be pretty frequent in our winters), or when I take the occasional trip out of town. I'm still waiting on the dealer's reply. If they actually have one of the six Bolts they show in inventory I am prepared to see if we can make this deal happen. If not - I'll wait it out too and also take a serious look at the electric F-150.