Chevrolet / Opel / Vauxhall Ampera-e Bolt

Production period:	since 2016
Class :	compact class
Body versions :	hatchback
Engines:	Electric motor :  150 kW
Length:	4166 mm
Width:	1765 mm
Height:	1596 mm
Wheelbase:	2600 mm
Curb weight :	1624 kg

The Chevrolet Bolt is a battery-powered electric car made by the US car manufacturer Chevrolet .

History

Presented to the public in January 2016 and has been produced in the United States since the beginning of November 2016. The vehicle has been distributed in Europe since 2017 by Opel under the name Opel Ampera-e , in the UK under Vauxhall Ampera-e.

The Chevrolet Bolt is designed as a compact car. The space is realized by placing the energy storage system in the vehicle floor (as in the Tesla Model S ). This also allows the center of gravity of the vehicle to be kept low.  GM-tested such an arrangement in the form of a so-called " skateboard chassis" previously at its fuel cell electric prototypes GM Autonomy, HY-WIRE and drivable at the GM Sequel. 
A major supplier to the Chevrolet Bolt is the LG Group . The South Korean conglomerate not only provides the traction battery , but is also available for the extensiveBattery management , electric motor, inverter module, air conditioning, charging unit and infotainment system responsible. 

Both variants are to be differentiated despite the name similarity from the plug-in hybrid vehicles Chevrolet Volt and / or the original Opel Ampera , which use a combustion engine as range extender and are based on the Voltec drive technology . 

The electric car was presented as a concept at the Detroit Auto Show (NAIAS) 2015. At CES 2016, the production model was presented by Mary Barra , CEO of General Motors.  The same month, the key figures of the production car were presented as well as the production vehicle formally for the first time 2016 NAIAS.Production started in early November 2016.
Chevy Bolt was in 2017 for Car of the Year (North America). Maven, a car rental company from GM plans to 100 Chevrolet Bolt in to use Los Angeles . Later, more will follow in San Diego and San Francisco . 

Opel offers in Europe a vehicle derived from the bolt, the Opel Ampera-e . 

The electric car has three driving modes, which are selected by means of the selector lever: 

• "Drive" ... If you take your foot off the gas pedal, then the recuperation takes place in a "normal" extent.
• "Low" ... In this mode, the recuperation takes place to an increased extent; the car is therefore more delayed and the battery is more charged than in the "Drive" mode. The car can even come to a standstill without using the brake pedal.
• "Regen on Demand" ... Here, the power of recuperation can be manually varied by a rocker mounted on the left behind the steering wheel as needed. ("Rain" here stands for English regeneration , ie energy recovery via recuperation; on demandhere stands for "as needed")

The navigation takes place exclusively via the smartphone . For integration into the infotainment system , the two competing systems Android Auto and CarPlay are available. 

In the 2017 model year crash tests carried out by the IIHS , the Chevrolet Bolt received the "Good" rating in the "Moderate overlap front" test and was awarded the "Top Safety Pick 2017". NHTSA awarded when carried out for the 2018 model year US NCAP overall rating of five stars -Crashtest.  The European version Opel Ampera e was carried out at 2017 Euro NCAP -Crashtest assigned an overall ranking of four stars.

In Asia and the US, only single-phase AC is common in households. Bolt and Ampera-e can be charged single-phase with 230 V AC with up to 32 A, ie with a maximum of 7.4 kW. The single-phase charge with 230 V AC is limited in Germany to avoid unbalanced load according to TAB in the household to 20 A and thus 4.6 kW charging power. Three-phase would be possible according to TAB 22 kW (3 × 32 A). The adaptation of the Ampera-e to the use in the EU of the usual three-phase distribution in private houses was omitted so far. At public charging stations can be charged single-phase AC with up to 32 A, and thus 7.4 kW, because the AC on- board chargerhas not yet been designed more powerful and not phased. The DC high-speed charge via Combined Charging System (CCS) is possible with up to 55 kW - in tests, however, only 30 to 35 kW were achieved. 

The maximum speed is limited - in favor of the highest possible range - at 145  km / h electronically.

After the EPA cycle, the range of the Bolt is 383 kilometers; this was officially confirmed in mid-September 2016. The EPA range in city traffic is 410 kilometers. On the highway it drops to 349 km. 

For the European variant Opel Ampera-e a range according to NEDC of 520 km is specified.  The combined WLTPrange is estimated to be "more than 380 km", which corresponds to the EPA range.

Mark Phelan, a Detroit Free Press journalist, traveled 90 miles (145 km) at an outside temperature of approximately -10 ° C and then had a remaining range of 103 miles (166 km). He had the air conditioning set to about 17 ° C and the steering wheel, seat and windscreen heaters turned on. The bolt-EV-driver Glenn Williams succeeded (483 km) to cover a full charge even 300 miles. The temperature was 16 ° C, so he could drive without air conditioning. He covered 100 miles (161 km) on the highway and 200 miles (322 km) in city traffic. According to a Chevrolet engineer, the Chevrolet Bolt has a range of approximately 160 miles (257 km) in full throttle at an outside temperature of 18 ° C.  

The battery developed and built by LG Chem has a usable capacity of 60 kWh, which is roughly equivalent to the standard Tesla model. The hybrid predecessor Volt / Ampera could use about 11 kWh. The electric cars Nissan Leaf , BMW i3 and Renault ZOE were able to offer a maximum of half the capacity by the beginning of 2016, with BMW and ZOE now offering 41 kWh. The Bolt accumulator consists of 288 individual lithium-ion cells, which are installed in 96 groups with three cells per group. The weight of the accumulator is 435 kg. 

Bolt / Ampera-e can be charged single-phase to alternating current (up to approx. 32  A , up to approx. 7.4  kW ). DC high-speed charging is possible via CCS with up to 50 kW. 

Offered are the Intelli-Link infotainment and the "personal online and service assistant" OnStar .