# Chevy Bolt



## clayinaustin (Jul 11, 2018)

I have been an Uber driver for a whole two months, and I have been driving my 2017 Chevy Silverado. While I love my truck, it only gets 16 MPG. So I am considering buying a 2018 Chevy Bolt and using it exclusively as my Uber vehicle. The Chevy Bolt will go 238 miles on a single full charge. And since I only drive for Uber as a side hustle on week nights and weekends, I think I can stay under the 238 range limit.

Does anyone on the forum drive a Chevy Bolt? Or any other EV (not hybrid) vehicle?

Thanks!

Clay


----------



## cumonohito (Feb 13, 2018)

16MPG is bad. You've only been at this for 2 months and now are thinking on buying a new car? This is where I will suggest to you if you foresee yourself doing this on the long run. First, how will you pay for your car, that's about 35k, you uber as a side hustle on week nights, that means that you will be driving in order to pay off your monthly car payment, does not make sense to me. Best to look at a certified/warranted used car, 2014-2017 that will be in the 20k or less, that gives good MPG. What are you going to do with your Silverado? The idea for us drivers on working uber/lyft is to make money on the side, not to work to pay for our car, if that's the case, might as well give up. Just my .02


----------



## clayinaustin (Jul 11, 2018)

Yes 16MPG is pretty bad, but that's what you get with a V8 pickup truck. I love my truck, so I plan to keep it. 

I am looking to get a second vehicle to use exclusively for Uber. Yes, I could find a late model sedan that gets better gas mileage for around 20K, but I want to consider a new Electric Vehicle (EV) for under 40K and skip the gasoline expense all together. Plus, I live in Austin, and most people here appreciate "Going Green" 

If I make $700 in a week (part time) in my truck, I will burn around $200 in gas. That $200 a week ($800 a month) will go a long way to make a car payment plus the increased electric bill, so I want to hear from any EV drivers on the forum.


----------



## Hagong (Jan 17, 2017)

238 miles(estimated) drops down considerably with the A/C on and if it’s freeway miles. DC Fast charging isn’t free. Level 1 charging at home is too slow and not enough to top you off overnight. Getting a Level 2 charger installed at home would cost you around $1k. 

“Going green” isn’t going to earn you more money doing Uber. You drive to earn money and not for people appreciating you going green. It doesn’t make economic sense to spend $40k on a new car that only qualifies for Uber X despite the assumed savings on gas. 

Now if you’re buying a Bolt for personal use. Hell yeah. One-pedal mode all the way!


----------



## RideshareGentrification (Apr 10, 2018)

IF you want an efficient car just for uber buy a 2008 Prius and call it a day if you're like me and hate the prius but want similar efficiency go pick up a Lincoln MKZ Hybrid ours gets close to prius mileage around 45 mpg and it's not a prius . 2011-2012 models can be had for $8k and newer 2013+ with the newer body style can be had for $12k if you are patient . Spending $30-35k on a Volt just to do UberX seems kinda crazy to me , if you're buying an Uber Specific car get something cheaper . When you compare say a $12k car getting 45mpg to a $35k car getting the equivalent to 65mpg (converting average energy cost to charge to amount of miles you'd get . They say the average cost to drive an EV is 3-7 cents a mile depending on your energy costs) it's going to take a lot of driving a lot of hassel to cover that price difference plus all the wasted time charging instead of wasting money and range anxiety . I Started in a BMW 335 that got 20mpg on Premium which equals out to probably worse MPD (miles per dollar) than your truck after about 6 weeks I started looking into buying a car for just Uber that was 2.5 years ago and now I always have a Rideshare dedicated car 

With all that said you should do what you want to do and take all this internet advise with a grain of salt .


----------



## Aerodrifting (Aug 13, 2017)

238 mile range is calculated based on ideal condition such as driving at 55MPH, no AC (which you clearly can not live without in Texas), great road and weather condition, Not hauling 4 people in your car, high way driving etc, In reality you will never get anywhere close to that range. If gas cost is your concern, Get a Prius imo. Looks like the guy above me already gave the same answer.


----------



## dauction (Sep 26, 2017)

Bolt would be too small..Love the EV but in reality is simply too small which is why I got rid of Ford Focus and went with Lincoln MKZ hybrid. Clay the Leg room in the Lincoln is pretty amazing ..you wont have any trouble at all with people 6'2 , 6'3 etc and getting 42-3 intown ..40 highway ..2014


----------



## UberBastid (Oct 1, 2016)

Prius.
All the way.
Someone suggested an '08 -- it was a very good year.
Avoid the 2010 - the first year of a new generation, engine problems reported (a lot of them).

You can pick them up all day long with 150k miles for $5k or there-abouts. They'll go to 300k easy, and it's good enough for our pax's. 
I've done a lot of research because my '03 Toyota Avalon (22 mpg avg) is about to be booted out of Ubers platform for being too old. I like my car and will keep her - so I'll get a cheap, throwaway wind-up toy, and when I'm done playing with it, I 'll get another one.


----------



## henrygates (Mar 29, 2018)

I get 18MPG. It's pretty bad. I've run all the numbers and I can't even justify buying a used Prius for $10k. I can't imagine ever being able to afford a $35k car on Uber, let alone part time, even if it didn't use any gas or oil. It just doesn't pay enough.

Plus buying any car for Uber makes no sense. What's the depreciation on a new $35k EV if you have to turn around and sell it a month later because your rideshare career abruptly ends? What if you buy the car and the next day a drunk millennial thinks it would be hilarious to report that you tried to sell his underage sister a bag of crack and you get deactivated forever?


----------



## BostonTaxiDriver (Nov 23, 2014)

I rented a Chevy EV Bolt via the Maven Gjg program in Boston for a month in February.

Not enough trunk space at times.

Couldn't stand always worrying about running out of miles. Charging was free for this temporary promo period via MavenGig but not worth the headache.

Plus wasted too much time driving to a quick charging station which took 60-90 minutes for less than 200 miles of charge


----------



## Moore887 (Dec 11, 2015)

Agree on the trunk space. My neighbor has one, but the biggest downside is the two seats in the back. I don't think it can be used on Lyft. I have a plug in cmax. It's comfortable enough to sit in but the trunk space is non existent. I am using my Sedona almost exclusively now for Uber because I don't want to get caught out-and I will. I had two pax today coming and going from the airport who ordered an X and it would.have been a disater if I had the cmax. Most people expect the trunk space of a camry or an impala.


----------



## Hagong (Jan 17, 2017)

Moore887 said:


> Agree on the trunk space. My neighbor has one, but the biggest downside is the two seats in the back. I don't think it can be used on Lyft. I have a plug in cmax. It's comfortable enough to sit in but the trunk space is non existent. I am using my Sedona almost exclusively now for Uber because I don't want to get caught out-and I will. I had two pax today coming and going from the airport who ordered an X and it would.have been a disater if I had the cmax. Most people expect the trunk space of a camry or an impala.


You're confusing the Chevy Bolt with the Chevy Volt


----------



## 56sav (Nov 7, 2017)

Let's also not forget the battery pack in a Bolt is going to degrade over time, progressively getting worse mileage, until it eventually needs to be replaced to the tune of 5k or more. Under normal driving this wouldn't be as much of a problem, but with rideshare it's really going to rack up the mileage and cause degradation much quicker than normal.


----------



## dauction (Sep 26, 2017)

56sav said:


> Let's also not forget the battery pack in a Bolt is going to degrade over time, progressively getting worse mileage, until it eventually needs to be replaced to the tune of 5k or more. Under normal driving this wouldn't be as much of a problem, but with rideshare it's really going to rack up the mileage and cause degradation much quicker than normal.


Actually Battery costs are dropping like a rock.....

















And degradation is very minimal ..10% at 150K for Chevy VOLT ...so the BOLT will probably be in the same range

Anyway.. yeah the Bolt will be to small for rideshare in MOST markets


----------



## 56sav (Nov 7, 2017)

Could still be close to 5K with labor, but that is cheaper that what I was expecting. Also, doesn't the degradation of the pack depend heavily on things like the climate, conditions of usage, when it's charged, etc?


----------



## PHXTE (Jun 23, 2015)

Buying a $40k car to make pennies with. Seems legit.


----------



## UberLAguy (Aug 2, 2015)

I have been thinking about renting a Bolt EV and drive 200 miles a day. It's free gas in Los Angeles. For a Lincoln MKZ hybrid. 200 miles means $20 of gas a day and $600 a month. Renting through Maven Gig it's $1200/month but you also get free insurance, free maintenance etc. Plus you get to drive a brand new 2019 car, latest EV technology.


----------



## OldBay (Apr 1, 2019)

clayinaustin said:


> I have been an Uber driver for a whole two months, and I have been driving my 2017 Chevy Silverado. While I love my truck, it only gets 16 MPG. So I am considering buying a 2018 Chevy Bolt and using it exclusively as my Uber vehicle. The Chevy Bolt will go 238 miles on a single full charge. And since I only drive for Uber as a side hustle on week nights and weekends, I think I can stay under the 238 range limit.
> 
> Does anyone on the forum drive a Chevy Bolt? Or any other EV (not hybrid) vehicle?
> 
> ...


My advice is learn to drive more efficiently.

If you are good at rideshare, your fuel costs should be 20-25% of profits with a truck. You are close to 30%.

Also, even if you double your milage with a fuel efficient car, you would still be spending 15% on gas, so you only save 100 week.

I think your silverado is a bad idea, not because of the mileage, but because it is so new. You are killing it with depreciation.

2008 Prius or Kia-whatever is best bang for buck.


----------



## VanGuy (Feb 15, 2019)

Not rideshare but I was driving a Kia Soul EV for Skip the Dishes delivering food. It was great as a side hustle as power was free. Included in rent. There were sometimes I wasn't able to finish a 4 hour shift but that was on days when I did too much driving between my day job and a small store I owned before trying to start food delivery at night.

I bought the car new for me, then decided to do a little food delivery at night. Since there weren't many used EVs other than Leafs when I went to trade it in a couple months ago the depreciation wasn't that bad. I figured I came ahead on the deal between lack of depreciation, saving around $7K CAN on gas and maintenance in 2.5 years and free power to deliver food with. Skip seems to pay better up here than I here food delivery is doing South of the border.

Currently I'm in a hybrid minivan. I still do food delivery since most of my shifts I can still do it on electric power. Power now costs me $35/month almost unlimited in my new place. It'll go up a little if I get carried away but not much. Gas is super expensive but I don't burn much thanks to mostly being on plug in power. I'm hoping that in a few years if I go to trade it in that depreciation will again be limited since there won't be many used hybrid minivans on the market at the time. 

On the other hand I might keep this one longer if I like it. I had a lifestyle change by selling my store or I wouldn't have traded in the Kia but the timing couldn't have been better.


----------



## Dammit Mazzacane (Dec 31, 2015)

I sat in a Chevy Bolt at the auto show, but could you remind me: Did they put a center console in the rear seats, leaving four seats in the car? If so, they won't let you use this car.


----------



## UberLAguy (Aug 2, 2015)

Dammit Mazzacane said:


> I sat in a Chevy Bolt at the auto show, but could you remind me: Did they put a center console in the rear seats, leaving four seats in the car? If so, they won't let you use this car.


There are plenty Bolt EV Uber drivers out there.


----------



## Hagong (Jan 17, 2017)

Dammit Mazzacane said:


> I sat in a Chevy Bolt at the auto show, but could you remind me: Did they put a center console in the rear seats, leaving four seats in the car? If so, they won't let you use this car.


You're talking about a Chevy Volt. Not a Bolt


----------



## Older Chauffeur (Oct 16, 2014)

Specs sheet for the Bolt lists it as five passengers. A friend has one, and it sure looks small to me. I think three pax in the back would be cramped. But if U/L allow it.......


----------



## Dammit Mazzacane (Dec 31, 2015)

Hagong said:


> You're talking about a Chevy Volt. Not a Bolt


I vaguely remember the Volt had that and I shook my head, but wasn't sure if the Bolt did too.

I did like the Volt's toned-down exterior packaging (left) compared to the first-gen. The Bolt looks OK too (right), I guess. Photo source: Hybridcars.com - https://www.hybridcars.com/what-makes-more-sense-chevy-volt-or-bolt/


----------



## MissAnne (Aug 9, 2017)

Another thing to take into consideration, Lyft is phasing out subcompact cars, and I’m sure Uber will be right behind him


----------



## SurginGeneral (Aug 9, 2017)

Dammit Mazzacane said:


> I vaguely remember the Volt had that and I shook my head, but wasn't sure if the Bolt did too.
> 
> I did like the Volt's toned-down exterior packaging (left) compared to the first-gen. The Bolt looks OK too (right), I guess. Photo source: Hybridcars.com - https://www.hybridcars.com/what-makes-more-sense-chevy-volt-or-bolt/
> View attachment 321715


I wish the Volt was a 5 seater. Missed opportunity by GM there. Nice looking plugin hybrid.


----------

