Chevy Bolt again proves its range mettle vs. Nissan LEAF

My 2017 Chevy Bolt “trickle charging” after an 82-mile trip from Littleton, Colo., to Estes Park, Colo. — complete with a 2,500 foot elevation gain — at the YMCA of The Rockies in Estes Park, Colo. The Bolt still had 140 miles of range after the trip. [Photo by Christof Demont-Heinrich]

So, I drove my newly leased Chevy Bolt — a red LT — from my townhome in Littleton, Colo. to Estes Park, Colo. to attend a meditation retreat this weekend.

There’s another Chevy Bolt here at a weekend meditation retreat that I am attending at The YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park, Colo. Guess meditators have similar tastes in cars 😉 [Photo by Christof Demont-Heinrich]
Like meditation, the Bolt calms me thanks to its 238 miles of range vs. 84 miles I had in my leased 2014 Nissan LEAF, which was my only car for three years. It’s 82 miles from Littleton to Estes Park + 2,500 feet of elevation gain.

I would have been super anxious driving up here in my old LEAF, which I turned in two months ago — after Nissan’s September announcement that the 2018 LEAF would only have 150 miles of range — so that I could lease a Bolt.

My old LEAF would’ve had to be charged once to make the 81-mile trip less anxiety provoking. This means I could NOT have made this 82-mile trip in a normal two hours, but would have had to add at least an hour of Level 2 charging in Boulder, Colo., which is on the way from Littleton to Estes Park.

Thank you, Bolt — my new and much more viable as an only car, car — for making longer trips easier, more realistic and anxiety free again

I drove the route outlined in blue here on Google Maps from Littleton, Colo. to Estes Park, Colo. I would have NEVER attempted this drive without a charging stop of one hour at a level 2 charging station in Boulder, Colo. in my old 2014 Nissan LEAF, which had an 84 mile EPA rated range. Meanwhile, my Bolt finished the trip with 140 miles left, and no charging stop necessary 🙂