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Chevrolet Bolt EV Traction Motor - Deep Dive

WeberAuto:

Hello, I'm professor John Kelly and this
is the Weber Auto YouTube channel.
In this episode we will be disassembling
the drive unit the electric motor and
gear reducer out of our 2017 Chevrolet
bolt on the hoist behind me here. now
this drive unit and electric motor
combination is is all one piece,
unlike the Nissan Leaf that has a drive
unit that unbolts from the electric
motor. This drive unit is rated at 150
kilowatts which is 201 horsepower, it is
also rated at 360 Newton meters of
torque which is roughly 266 foot-pounds
of torque.
Now let's let's talk about torque just a
little bit. That torque rating is what
the motor itself is capable of producing,
that is not the same as the torque that
ends up at the wheels of the vehicle, so
for example the Chevrolet Spark EV
produced by Chevrolet before the Bolt
here
actually had an electric motor that
produced 540 Newton meters of torque, the Bolt EV electric motor only produces
360 Newton meters of torque and so you
might be misled into thinking that the
Spark EV had more torque; well, the motor
did, but not the torque delivered to the
axles that drive the wheels. So the gear
reducer right here on the side of this
drive unit has an impact on that because
gear reduction is also torque
multiplication minus frictional losses, so
the Spark EV had a 540 Newton meter
electric motor but it only had a three
point one five to one gear reduction
unit which resulted in about 1700 Newton
meters of torque at the wheels, at the
axles. the Bolt EV electric motor
produces 360 Newton meters of torque a
whole 180 Newton meters less of torque
from the motor, but it has a seven point
zero five one eight to one gear
reduction through this gear reducer
which multiplies that 360 Newton meters
of torque by seven point zero five one
eight, which gives us over 2,500 Newton
meters of torque at the axles. So there
are other electric vehicles out there
that are being produced right now that
have higher torque higher motor torque
than the Bolt EV
but what would be interesting, I and
I don't know what their gear ratios are
yet, is to see what is the torque
actually to the axles what's the torque
to the ground because that's what you'll
feel when you step on that accelerator
pedal, that's the torque to the wheels
that makes the vehicle move. The design
of this drive unit this electric motor
it has a peak amperage draw of 400 amps
versus 450 as for the Spark EV so it
uses less current to provide more torque
so it's a more efficient better design
electric motor. The electric motor in
this drive unit spins clear up to 8810 rpm where the
Spark EV only spun up to about 4500 rpm,
and we'll take a look at some
differences in the electric motor design
and the stator winding design that
allowed it to spin at those higher rpms
without the AC losses that typically
occur at higher rpm. As mentioned in the
previous video on high voltage
components of the Chevrolet Bolt EV this
drive unit uses about 2.9 litres, around
3.1 quarts of Dexron HP fully synthetic
base transmission fluid automatic
transmission fluid. It also is cooled by
the General Motors Dexcool 50/50 mix
of coolant and deionized water. Okay
let's take a look at the outside of the
housing here of this drive unit. The
official name or designation of this
drive unit by General Motors is the
1ET25. The one means it's a one speed
trans axle, this doesn't shift, E means
it's electronically controlled, T means
it's a transaxle, and the 25 is a
relative torque rating. Alright, right
here on the front of the transmission is
the actual last eight digits of the
vehicle identification number and you
can see that MMF right there, that is
the three-digit regular production
option code the RPO code that you can
find on label in the back of the Bolt EV if
you take out the lower compartment
carpet and look in what looks like a
spare tire tub, there's a label on the
driver's side that has a whole bunch of
three digit codes on it
MMF just means that's which transaxle
or transmission this vehicle came with.
Okay right here on the top of the trans
axle is the transmission range selector
actuator and this is a brushless DC
motor with a gear reducer that actually
moves the shift lever to put us in to
Park reverse neutral Drive and low, now
technically inside of this drive unit it
there's really only park and not park,
but there is a position sensor in here
called an internal mode switch that will
monitor which position the transaxle
range selector is in so that the vehicle
can act appropriately. For example the
shifter itself on the center console is
not directly connected to the drive unit,
it's just an input to the computer that
controls this actuator, so when we go to
the reverse position for the neutral or
drive or low, there's a feedback on the
internal mode switch electrical
connector right here, that lets the
engine control module, even though this
doesn't have an engine, know which gear
range you have selected so that it can
request the trends axle act
appropriately. Also, right here by the
electrical connector for the internal
mode switch is the transmission fill
plug, so if you want to put fluid into
this transmission you need a 14
millimeter wrench or socket to take this
plug out and put the Dexron HP fluid
into the transmission. There are two
drain plugs on this transmission, one for
each side, so there's one down below on
each end of the transaxle the driver's
side and the passenger side, there's
there are two separate drain plugs to
get the fluid out of each side, now
there's only one fluid that goes
throughout this entire transaxle but
because of how its baffled and set up
inside to remove all the fluid you need
to remove both plugs.
Now speaking of fluid and fluid level
when you drain fluid at whatever the
recommended fluid change interval is or
if you're doing service work on the
transaxle here and you're adding fluid
you need to know when to stop adding
fluid, so on the other side of the
transaxle right here is the transaxle
fluid level check plug, so the drain
plugs right down here, the fluid level
check plugs here, the fill plug is on the
other side so you take the fill plug out
you take the fluid level check plug out,
and you add fluid until fluid comes out
over here, and then you let it sit and
stabilize for a minute add a little bit
more and make sure that fluid comes out
comes out to a slow drip, and then the
instructions tell us to put both plugs
back in and go drive the vehicle until
the transmission fluid temperature
reaches 35 degrees Celsius or 95 degrees
Fahrenheit and then double-check the
fluid level again to make sure that
comes out at a very slow drip. Alright,
while we are here on this side of the
transaxle we have an electric motor an
electric pump for the transmission fluid
so there's a big filter we'll see when
we take this thing apart down the bottom
center of this transaxle it will pull
fluid up from the filter and then put it
into what's called the oil sump so the
oil sump is basically just a great big
bathtub looking area up here that the
pump fills full of fluid and then there
are these little drain channels that
fluid drains down to cool the stator
windings and lubricate bearings and so
on and we'll see that once we get the
cover off so we have an electric 12 to 14
volt driven electric motor that pumps
fluid throughout this transaxle. From
what I read this pump only works when
you are in Reverse or Drive, it does not
pump when you're in park or neutral.
Alright, we have another electrical
connector right here, this connector is
for the resolver which measures the
angle of rotation the direction of
rotation and the speed of the electric
motor rotor itself, and then there's a
transmission fluid temperature sensor
that is in the bottom of this
transmission case cover here. All of
those are accessed electrically through
this electrical connector right here. As
you may have seen in my other video on
high-voltage components we have the air
conditioning compressor of the bolts up
here and then we have our coolant pipes
that go into what's called a coolant
sump in the bottom of this transaxle and
we'll see that here in a few minutes but
we have coolant going in coolant coming
back out and goes through a series of
cooling fins and cooling circuits to
absorb heat from the transmission fluid
right here on the back we have the
electrical connection for the
three-phase cables that come from the
the
single power inverter module that sits
two modules above here. Three-phase
orange cables come down to drive the
electric motor, there's a cover
the cables bolt on and then there's a
cover they'll holds the cable in place.
We have a transmission vent right here,
let's just take that vent off while we
vent tube off while we're here now you
can see the oil sump area again on the
top and the cooling sump coolant sump
area here in the bottom all right there
is one additional plug on the side of
the case with the electric motor and
there's nothing in the service
information to indicate this but I
believe this is a pressure test plug to
check the pump output pressure, but I
can't find any information on what that
fluid pressure should be. Okay, I'm going
to be disassembling this transaxle right
here on the workbench but there actually
is a special fixture to hold this
transaxle and allow you to rotate it and
disassemble different pieces of it and
still be able to rotate it for
convenience. I have this special adapter
as you can see here in this photograph
but the way it's mounted it's too high
and too difficult for me to disassemble
in that holding fixture being in a
wheelchair, so the workbench is where I'm
going to disassemble it, but I wanted you
to know there is a special fixture for
that and I tried it it just doesn't work
for me.
by the way this transaxle weighs about a
hundred and seventy pounds or 77.4
kilograms. Okay, well we're ready to
start disassembly, the first step is to
remove this oil pump the 12-volt power
oil pump, it has three bolts right here
and a few seals underneath it as you can
see here there are two seals that seal
the pump to the transmission case right
here there are two bolts that hold the
cover over the pump gears themselves
there are no instructions on
disassembling this so I assume we're not
supposed to disassemble it but that's
exactly what I like to do
take things apart I'm not supposed to as
long as I can get them back together and
make it work again here we go we've got
a Jew rotor style oil pump there's an
o-ring right here that needs to fit in
this groove to seal and then the cover
just bolts on okay the next thing on the
list is to remove the left-hand and
right-hand output shafts that go into
our differential side gears in the gear
reducer this is the left-hand side right
hand side over there it calls for a
slide hammer and a old pilot bearing
removal tool for a manual transmission
so this is the pilot bearing removal
tool right here and a slide hammer and
we are supposed to put this up inside
and put it into the snap ring groove for
the CV shaft and then pop it out well
come to find out the snap ring groove is
thinner than the tip of this tool that's
supposed to go into it and I didn't
realize that's what the problem was and
I had a hard time getting these output
shafts removed I finally got him out but
once I got a mound got looking at the
tool versus what they were supposed to
be grabbing I realized I need to grind
these down make him a little thinner so
that they'll actually fit into the
grooves of the her for these CV shaft
snap rings that are there so since I've
had this entire transaxle apart before
and I'll put it all back together
I've removed those snap rings they'll
hold these output shafts in place so I
can just pull them out by hand right now
this big long left hand output shaft
goes right through the center of the
rotor of the electric motor itself it's
it's hollow in the middle
and it has a big heavy-duty bushing
right here on the outside with the axle
seal and this is our left-hand output
shaft and then the CV shaft itself plugs
into here that goes to the left front
hub and bearing assembly and tire and
we'll assembly so there's our left-hand
axle shaft there's a snap ring that fits
in that groove right there typically and
I've just removed and I've just removed
that snap ring for ease for this
demonstration here obviously I'll need
to put that back in when I reassemble
so that's the left-hand axle shaft on
the other side we use the slide hammer
again and pull out the right hand axle
shaft as you can see this one is much
shorter than the other one and it has
the support bearing in the differential
case itself that holds it in place and
its own snap ring that I've already
removed and of course an axle sill here
on the other side as well okay the next
thing on the list is to remove this
transaxle case to remove the case I've
got to take the linkage off and our
actuator off and then we've got these
bolts to go all the way around and then
we'll be able to see the gear reduction
transfer gear and the final drive ring
gear and differential gear set so I'll
take the clip out and lift up for a
linkage on the shift actuator and then
take the bolts out
okay here's the shift actuator assembly
itself transmission range selector
actuator kind of a great big piece I
I've seen some of these that are smaller
right I'm not sure why this one is so
giant I'm not I've never seen one this
big but it obviously does the job of
mechanically shifting the transmission
range lever since you have an electronic
shifter on your center console alright
let's take these bolts out of the trans
transmission case okay I've got all the
bolts out of the transmission case now
we can attempt to slide it off it has a
couple of dowel pins they'll hold it in
place there's a couple of pry points
plus one right back here and another one
right here there we go
I'm going to come in with a plastic
mallet here and just tap lightly there
we go okay we can see inside of the
transmission case itself and the only
things in here of real interest are the
transmission internal mode switch right
here we got the electrical connector
right here harness right there that
connects to this outer blue connection
connector that will read which Range
Park reverse neutral low you have
selected with your transmission shift
lever and then we have the parking
linkage right here we've got Park
reverse neutral Drive
and low now of course normally
transmission fluid would would be
pouring out of here of whatever didn't
get drained out when you drained it
previously but I've had this apart and
cleaned everything up before we have our
ring gear right here and our
differential gear set and as notice we
have real nice ball bearings here these
bearings since their ball bearings
instead of tapered roller bearings have
to have in place shims so there's a
special shimming procedure to control
the end play of these bearings that will
have to go through when we reassemble it
so you're supposed to take these shims
off and throw them away well and then
replace them with new new ones when you
go back together I suggest that you take
them off and measure them and then hang
on to them because you might you might
need them again when I took these off
previously and measured them they were
almost all identical in the thickness so
there are six of these shims for the six
ball bearings that are in this transaxle
four of these shims measured exactly
half a millimeter in in with the other
two one of a measure one millimeter in
width and the other one measured 0.9
millimeters so you need to keep track of
what thickness shim you had where and
write those down so that you you'll have
an idea of at least what it was before
you took it apart now if you're just
going back together and you haven't
changed any shims or any parts inside
just reuse the old shims but if you're
changing a bearing or any of these
internal pieces you need to go through
the special measurement procedure that
we'll see when we go back together to
determine if these shims are correct
okay so there's there's special shims on
each of these
bearings I've measured all of them RIT
written their dimensions on the ziploc
bag here that I keep them in and will
refer to those when we go back together
all right now we just need to remove the
counter gear right here and the final
drive a ring gear and differential gear
set this is where our short little
output shaft plugged in right here and
then our long one came all the way
through on the other side okay before we
remove these gears there is a an
aluminum gasket with a rubber seal
embedded into it the instructions tell
us that is not reusable
there is also an oil baffle right down
here to channel transmission fluid away
from the ring gear to reduce losses as
it rotates into it and to splash oil up
into different channels to lubricate the
the bearings if we look in this case
half right here you can almost see what
looks like a funnel right there for the
fluid to drain back down and lubricate
this outer bearing and a similar one
here on this other other side for that
bearing so we've got a oil baffle to
remove all right I've got the oil baffle
removed on the other side of that is our
magnet for metallic particles from gear
normal gear wear and other malfunctions
okay now we're ready ready to remove
these gears pull out on the counter gear
and then pull out on the final drive and
it'll come right out if you don't pull
out on that counter gear first there's
not enough clearance for the final drive
Unit two clear so here's our final drive
you can see our open differential gear
set inside there here's our sim on the
other side as well
all right the instructions tell us that
we can if we won't want to remove the
park linkage in the internal notes which
I don't really care about that that's
just regular stuff that you'd see in any
other automatic transmission so let's
continue on with things that are unique
to the bolt
evie drive unit here the one ET 25
transaxle so let's turn the transmission
case around and we'll take off the
transmission case cover here on the
driver's side
now the SAE document the details the the
bolt evey drive unit here that I told
you about in the high voltage component
video tells us that the drive unit
itself was designed to be serviceable in
the vehicle that's why they have a case
removable case cover on one side and a
case cover on the other side for the
gear reduction unit you can leave this
Center portion with the electric motor
in it in the vehicle and just remove one
or both case covers to do service work
on components inside the case covers
seal replacements resolver replacements
internal modes with replacement and so
on but anyway we're going to take off
this case
cover next from the driver's side all
right this case cover is going to be a
little harder to get off than the other
one because the rotor that has internal
magnets embedded inside of it has now
magnetically pulled itself over to the
stator because we are no longer
centering it inside of the stator itself
and so it puts a it pulls it off to the
side just a little bit so there's a
prying
right here
and there's a pride point right down
here another prior point right here
there we go okay so here's our case
cover and it has an aluminum gasket
that's not reusable as well our case
cover has this long transmission filter
that's not serviceable without
disassembling things as you can see has
a temperature sensor down inside of it
right there and then this is our
resolver our serviceable resolver that
measures the position speed and
direction of rotation of the electric
motor rotor inside the transaxle here
let's turn this around oh by the way
down inside of the bearing housing there
is a shim for the ball bearing right
here on the rotor itself so we're
looking at the stator and the hairpin
six conductor deep stator design a
unique design we'll talk about that a
little bit more once we get the stator
out we have a lubrication channel right
here where fluid is going to drip out of
our oil sump and run along and drop down
on to the stator windings themselves and
cool the the stator windings it also has
a drip channel that comes over and goes
down to this bearing here to lubricate
it
so we've just got an 8 millimeter head
bolt holding the filter in place and as
you can see the filter just has an
o-ring seal on the one side and you can
see the pick up filter screen filter
element on the inside so this is going
to reach all the way in up underneath
the the stator itself to pick up the
fluid on the back side of it and on the
back side of it is the inlet of the
coolant so that would be the cooler oil
on the back side there all right then on
the resolver it just has eight three
eight millimeter head bolts to hold it
in place and one electrical connector
this resolver only bolts in in one
location it's not adjustable it has
automatic learn unlike the older Toyota
Prius resolvers that that would actually
come out of alignment
if you unbolted them and there was no
way for you to line them back up okay so
here is our resolver pull back on the
connector position assurance clip
depress the tab and remove the resolver
itself the resolver is a serviceable
unit when and if it ever goes bad but it
should should never go bad all right
then the remaining wire harness and the
pass-through connector here just goes
over to our temperature sensor okay next
on the list we need to remove what is
called the center support this is what's
supported the driver's side ball bearing
of our differential case assembly
okay this is our center support it's
held in place with six bolts and aligned
with two dowel pins right there now with
that removed there's nothing to stop our
transfer gear from sliding out it's just
a tight fit on the bearing in the bore
as it should be just pray lightly
sometimes these will just slide right
out and right in and other times they'll
they'll fight you here we go okay so
here's our transfer gear it's ball
bearing and shim so put that shit over
here with the others okay right here in
the end of the case we still have a
lubrication channel right here from the
oil trough the oil sump I mean right
there and then we have a cover for the
three-phase electrical connector right
here as well then on the other side we
have that oil distribution channel right
here that cools the stator so we've got
to remove that we are now to the point
where we are ready to pull this rotor
out but we just can't grab on to it and
pull it out it has some super strong
neodymium magnets multiple layers envy
configuration inside of this stator
you're not going to pull it out by hand
and you sure don't want to come in here
and start prying on it so the only way
to get that rotor out of there if you
want to remove it for service replace a
bit bearing on it or the gear on the
other side or another bearing or just
replace the rotor itself for whatever
reason loss of magnetism and trouble
code sets or whatever
it takes a special tool to pull it out
without having it rub on the stator
frame itself and without having it
injure you with you trying to pull it
out and it's pulling back in with all
its magnetic strength so true get that
out there's a special guide tool that
will hold it centered in the stator and
we need to set that up next and it
starts on the other side here so there's
a special tool kit that costs almost a
thousand dollars to Center this rotor as
you pull it out I found one on eBay for
a little bit less than that but but it's
a very expensive tool but if you want to
do service work on this transaxle you've
got to have it so let's bring in the
special tools okay so I brought in the
special tools to keep the rotor centered
there's a special spacer with a notch in
it to clear that notch right there this
is just gonna fit in there just like
that then there's a plate that bolts on
over the top of this to hold it in place
these don't need to be super tight
they're just holding that little spacer
in place so I'll just lightly Snug those
up then there's a sleeve here that's
supposed to fit down the center of that
rotor but these sleeves are a little bit
too big I've had to take sandpaper and
send them down to make them fit inside
of this rotor and I don't know if that's
because the tools were made for a first
design rotor and then they changed it or
if they just made the tools incorrectly
but these tools are from what used to be
can't more tools the special tools
supplier for General Motors it's now
Bosch service solutions so Bosch you may
want to take a look at this this tool
here the DT five two zero one one
- one - three because it doesn't fit
it's not doesn't Center up inside the
the rotor as well as it should
i've had to sand it down just a little
bit and then i'm able to tap it in a
little bit there but I think that it's
supposed to be if it's supposed to be a
tight fit but it should be able to slide
in by hand I believe then we have a
guide pin that's going to go through the
center of that then we have this outer
housing the bolts in place to hold the
guide pin in place so the blue sleeve
this one here because there's one for
the other side also centers the rotor
into this plate and then this sleeve is
centered into this plate so we've now
centered the rotor on this side of the
stator so now we need to go to the other
side to put additional tools in to get
it centered and then pull it up and out
okay at this point if I had the
transaxle mounted in that special
rotating holding fixture I would just
simply rotate it on its side and get the
get the rest of the tools hooked up but
I don't I'm not able to use that so I'm
just going to put some extra long bolts
in this side of the case to hold the
case up off of this tool when I tip it
over to support it as we pull the rotor
out
okay so here we go we're going to tip
the tip the whole thing up on its hand
just like that so now we've got
clearance for the tool underneath and we
can get the upper tools set up to pull
the rotor up and out all right while
we've got the transaxle tipped on its
side let's take this oil sump cover off
and show you what's inside of there so
it's just a big empty trough and you can
see has one two three four five six
holes in it where fluid is going to go
out and drip down on other parts inside
of the transaxle for stator cooling and
for the ball bearing lubrication the
cover itself has that same aluminum
gasket that's not reusable also while we
have this transaxle on its end let's
turn it over and take the coolant sump
off next okay here's our coolant sump
you can see this pipe right here is
where the coolant comes in and it has to
wind back and forth back and forth and
then come back out over here the coolant
sump which is visible from the bottom of
the car with the under car cover removed
also has that same aluminum gasket
that's not not reusable why are they not
reusable I don't know maybe the aluminum
crushes these I'm going to see if I can
buy replacement gaskets at the local
Chevrolet dealer it seems like I saw a
service bulletin saying that all these
parts are serviceable now and it gave
the part numbers for them but if not
none of these are damaged it only has 35
miles on it and I'll reuse them and see
what happens
okay so coolant sump oil sump so now we
are ready to pull out the rotor assembly
so to pull out the rotor assembly we
have a guide pin it's going to come in
and screw into that dowel they had a
threaded end on it all right so this
threaded guide pin did not line up
exactly perfect with the guide pin down
below I can't tell if we're just
spinning the whole thing there we go
all right it's screwed all the way into
that alignment dowel from below now we
have this tool that has three holes that
go over the holes where the stator bolts
are so we need to remove the stator
bolts next these stator bolts are not
reusable three stator bolts so we put
this tool over the top of that we want
to be very careful that we don't damage
pry lean or set anything on the stator
windings here that could cause damage to
them so we'll get that lined up just
like that now I'm going to reposition
the camera so you can see
how tall this next tool is that fits on
here all right we have two clamshell
type tools that are going to come in and
clamp down over the resolver cam rotor
there and this bearing they're gonna go
just like that except I need to split
them apart so I can get the next tool in
it says this big tall piece right here
that's going to go over and down into
our stator bolt holes so we've got this
threaded shaft we've got this adapter
right here that these little clamshell
tools are going to hook into and then
the threaded shaft with a nut on the top
of it we're going to tighten that nut
and pull the rotor up out okay so the
tricky part of giving this hooked up is
getting both of these
clamshell tools over this lip right here
so I have to loosen the nut on the top
and let it come down let me turn this
you can see what's going on
there we go okay so we slide that open
clamp the clamshells around it put this
sleeve over the top of it to lock the
clamshell in place snug up this nut to
hold the lock in place and then from the
top here we start to pull up on the
rotor itself I'm going to get
repositioned bring my chair up a little
higher here so I can reach that nut it
takes quite a bit of turning to pull
that out okay here we go thirty
millimeter wrench we want to turn the
nut and prevent the shaft from turning
so I'm just going to hang on down here
as it comes up those guide pins the
guide dowels keep it from rubbing on the
stator frame although although there's
almost a strange ratcheting sound as I'm
pulling this out that makes me think
it's barely contacting the the stator
laminations or the rotor laminations
anyway we'll pull it out and take a look
see if we can see any witness marks you
can see the top of the rotor now is
starting to appear
I think we're finally clearing the top
of the yes we are it all of a sudden got
real easy to turn the nut so we no
longer have the magnet pulling out or
resisting us pulling out okay you can
see the entire length of the rotor here
get another bearing down below it and a
gear below that now we're supposed to
just lift up on this and and pull it out
I'm not sure if I'm strong enough I may
have to bring in the the engine hoist to
pull it out of here but it's just
sitting on these three non-magnetic
aluminum poles here and we've got the
weight of the the rotor assembly itself
I measured it earlier but I can't
remember what it is at this moment but
let's see if we can lift this up and out
though I cannot so let me get the engine
hoist we have to lift it up high enough
to clear that alignment dowel so I've
got to lift it up probably four more
inches 100 millimeters or so okay I've
never tried this before it's just a lift
strap let's bring it up
okay the lifting or the tool was getting
stuck in one of the holes for the the
stator bolts there we go
okay here we go
and we've cleared the alignment dowel so
slide the case out of the way here and
we'll let that back down
oh let's see how much that weighs it
says it weighs 60 pounds with the tool
the tools probably 10 pounds of that
okay we have to remember that this rotor
is highly magnetic very strong eight
pole magnetic field around this thing
and so we need to keep it away from
anything any metal particles or any
tools or anything else that could cost
cause it to receive damage on its
laminations here in looking at the the
laminations from removing it I don't see
any obvious damage at all there let's
let this down and take the the tool off
and just look at the rotor itself
little clamshell pieces out of there
these tools are magnet earth iron some
some sorts so we got to keep those away
from the magnetic field as you can see
these blue bars are aluminum they're not
sticking to the the rotor itself and
then plastic of course works great with
the magnetic fields so now we've just
got our rotor we've got our drive gear
down here I've got a ball bearing and
another ball bearing there's another
shim down inside the case a bigger
diameter shim for this bigger diameter
bearing all right I'm going to get some
wooden blocks to put this in all right
here's the rotor for the bolt
evie as you can see this bearing seems
to have some sort of a gray coating on
the outer race where this one does not
and on the counter gear bearings they
also have this gray coating it doesn't
say anything about what that gray
coating is for I suspect it's to prevent
corrosion from the dissimilar metals
with possible induced currents going
through them with the the motor running
vehicle going down the road I've seen
this type of coating on universal joints
in universal joint caps universal joint
caps bearing caps in an aluminum
driveshaft the same color I don't know
if it's the same material but if any of
you know what this coating is for if
you'd please put that in the comments
below I'd appreciate that
I'm just speculating okay so we've got
the rotor out of the way this is a
serviceable piece now the last piece to
remove is the stator assembly itself and
it has three special guide pins that go
into the stator bolt holes and screw
into the transaxle case and then they're
tapered on the top here and that's to
allow you to slide the stator out
without it binding inside so I'll slide
that over there rotate it down and just
pull out slightly
here it comes just like that so here's
the stator for the Chevrolet bolt Eevee
if we zoom in close and look at the
stator windings you can actually see
there are 1 2 3 rows of these hairpin
conductors which means they are 6
conductors deep in this stator and from
what I read in the SAE document on this
new improved motor that helps reduce the
AC power losses at the higher motor rpm
a typical stator like in the previous
Chevrolet Volt had 2 rows instead of 3
so they were four conductors deep in the
Chevrolet Volts and six conductors deep
here and one of the people that was on
the original design team for the
Chevrolet Volt told me that when they
designed this electric motor and it's
designed for maximum efficiency and hand
power that there was no other motor out
there that could even match the
efficiency of this motor and they said
that they designed this motor to be the
next small-block Chevrolet so to say of
power trains so the small-block
Chevrolet was and still is a very
popular very powerful v8 engine and has
been for many many years and their
intent was to have this motor design
maybe even this drive unit be in
multiple platforms with the same high
power high efficiency motor system if we
look at the other side here of the
stator windings you can see the the
other end of the hairpin conductors and
then there's a drip channel right here
for oil to come out of that oil sump and
to drip down and go down and lubricate
the stator windings because these get
really hot this is the heat source
inside of the transmission and it and
although it gets hot it doesn't get as
hot as the fluid
although the fluid gets hot it doesn't
get hot as a normal planetary gearset
style automatic transmission and the
cooling system surge tank reservoir cap
was only pressurized to 5 psi for this
loop of the cooling system so much lower
amounts of heat compared to an internal
combustion engine with a torque
converter heat generating planetary
gearset style of automatic transmission
now just a couple of things to get
wrapped up with this disassembly video
because we will reassemble it showing
the special measurements for the shims
and everything when we go back together
but one thing I wanted to show you about
these electric vehicles is how simple
they are and when I mean when I say
simple I don't mean simple design
meaning it was easy to design these
simplicity is not necessarily easy but
if we look at the number of rotating
parts in this entire drive unit
there are basically three main rotating
parts we've got the rotor assembly that
then turns the counter gear right here
that then turns the final drive three
pieces no clutch packs no bands and no
sprags no roller clutches no Pistons
none of those hundreds of parts that you
would see in a typical automatic
transmission let alone the internal
combustion engine that this is replacing
of course there are three main moving
parts these pieces here but each one has
two bearings on it so there's six more
pieces so there's nine total and then
inside of the differential here we have
two side gears and two differential
pinion gears so that makes for a total
of 13 possible moving parts inside the
of this drive unit and only when you're
turning corners would the side gears in
the differentials
be rotating at a different speed than
the differential case so a real basic
very reliable system these electric
vehicles and and this one is is very
efficient and that the design is very
compact to where this left-hand output
shaft remember goes right through the
center of the rotor instead of being
offset like on the the Nissan Leaf and
other electric vehicles out there so
congratulations to Chevrolet and the
design team that came up with this
amazing and efficient and simplistic
evie drive unit and I think it's
absolutely beautiful so coming up I hope
to shoot a reassembly video with all the
measurements for this drive unit and
then we've got all of these parts out
the drive unit all of the electronics
and our and our Chevy bolt back here on
the hoist is totally empty yeah under
the under the hood so we've got to put
that all back together and and make it
work again even the battery is out the
whole thing is stripped as far as the
powertrain is concerned and we're gonna
put that back together and and make it
work and hopefully get it converted to a
DC fast charge thank you for watching

Here’s Why Chevy Silverados are Crap

Scotty Kilmer:

rev up your engines
GM has a lawsuit against them now saying
that they were selling diesel pickup
trucks in the United States they
couldn't run correctly on American fuel
it turns out that a bunch of them had
Bosch German fuel pumps refined slightly
differently so people are saying that
it's wearing the fuel pumps out the fuel
pumps are throwing metal shavings into
the fuel injection system and destroying them
of course GM denies all this stuff I
mean they seem to deny everything they
denied that ignition switch thing where
they even changed the number of the
ignition switch replacement parts so
people wouldn't notice that the old ones
were designed wrong and then they got
sued and then they had to pay out a
bunch of money for that stuff that they
were doing and now they're claiming that
oh no that's not the case well I mean if
people are having problems what only
time is gonna tell us what happened I
think it's got the interest soon yeah
they couldn't even design their own fuel
pumps they're buying the German fuel
pumps and they didn't even probably
think before they put them in the vehicles,
jackie says Scotty what would be a
great first car for about two grand if
you want reliability get an old Corolla
or an old camry,
now for two grand its odds are it's
gonna be pretty old you don't get much
for two grand these day two grand today
is equivalent to when I was a kid to a
hundred dollar car and usually can't get
much for a $100 car, do the old trick
that I've always told people do you're
gonna pay that much money for a car get
one with a paint's peeling off they
don't have any value when the paint's
peeling off and then if you really care
go to one of those places like Earl
Scheib that'll paint a car when they're
gonna sale for 250 bucks or one that's
got bashed in founders it still works
good but when they look bad to go for a
lot less money, sing says
all wheel drive or front wheel drive or
rear wheel drive for a winter all-wheel
drive works better than waiting at all
the wheels driving but do you really
need that much as an example my mother's
92 she still lives in Agra Falls she
drives two Toyota Corolla front-wheel
drive car in the snow doesn't you put
snow tires on they plow the roads in
Niagara Falls and she never has any
problems now if you going skiing and
mountains and stuff all-wheel drive is
much better
front-wheel drive is pretty good and of
course rear-wheel drive is the worst for snow
you spin around it turns out that
vehicles are more controllable if you
pull them rather than push them so with
front-wheel drive you got better snow
control and rear-wheel drive because
you're pulling instead of pushing but if
you live where they plow the roads you
don't care one way or another most guys
are front-wheel drive these days anyways
clam dick said why shouldn't you use
full synthetic on an engine at state
semi synthetic 97 Ford Puma you could if
you would have from the very beginning
but my advice to people and I engineers
have argued this back and forth with me
but I don't care I've seen it happen you
have an engine that you've been using
regular oil or semi synthetic oil and
you switch to full synthetic oil and
it's been using the other oil for a long
time a lot of times they'll either start
burning or leaking oil because the full
synthetic oil flows better it's thinner
and a lot of times it'll leak or burn a
lot sometimes the engines start making
noises if you start it out with it you
generally don't have that problem but I
would just leave it alone today if you
want to buy a new car and put full
synthetic go right ahead but don't
switch after it's had a hundred thousand
miles of some other type of oil,
Jacob Roger says Scotty I got a 98
Chevy s10 with a locked up 4 cylinder
can it be unlocked if your engine's
locked up it means it has internal
problems and odds are you're gonna have
to take it all apart and rebuild it or
that old clunker try to find a used
engine from a junkyard and put in it if
you want to try you can get a long
extension bar in a socket put it on the
front crank pulley bolt try turn it back
and forth and back and forth and if you
can break it loose say take the spark
plugs out and put oil in them leave the
spark plugs out with oil in the holes if
you can break it loose maybe you can get
it running again who knows I've done
that some times in the past
Donald says how often should you change
brake fluid love your channel all your
information and tips I personally have
had Toyotas that had 250,000 miles on I
never changed the brake fluid and never
had to change anything but the brake
pads the cylinders didn't leak but on
the other hand if you got some piece of
junk like a Chrysler
I changed the fluid none have them every
four or five years they're not made that
well and they will absorb a lot a lot of
a prett have problem if you really want
to see if yours is any good there are
tests that we make
do we have little machines a test for
the percentage of water in them and the
percentage of copper because a lot of
times the copper from the lines will
infiltrate into it it won't work as well
so it can be tested if you got an honest
mechanic he can tested for you tell if
it's good or not
Rossler go says Scotty my 2010 corolla
tire spin when I hit a bump okay if you
get spinning tires half the time it's
just the tires are worn out or they're
crappy tires if you buy crappy tires if
the rubber isn't soft enough it's too
hard it will actually spin you hit a
bump and hits and it spins because it's
too hard and it slips you want to have
tires that are reasonably soft so they
grip if you're watching those car races
you might think tires in those car races
they're changing them every 110 miles
cuz they're so soft and they're going so
fast that they just erased themselves
going around a track at that speed and
at that temperature
you don't want tires that last 150 miles
but you don't want really hard ones to
skip check the tires first if it's not
the tires generally it's the shocks wearing
out and then they're bouncing and
slipping after you hit a bump, Jeremy
says what do you think of body kits well
if you wanna make your car look tougher
go ahead and bolt or not it doesn't you
know generally affect how they run or
anything problem I see with them I see a
lot of kids that put body kits on these
Honda Civics they put them way too low
and then the pieces get ripped off every
time to go over a speed bump or they hit
something and pieces come flying off,
do whatever you want it's your car I
personally think hey the way they're
made is good enough for me there are
transportation devices you know and
motorcycles generally my thing with them
is naked take everything off of them
except the motor and wheels so I don't want
anybody on them at all
so if you never want to miss another one
of my new car repair videos, remember to
ring that Bell

2015 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Custom - First Look

Cars.com:

at a time when truck makers seem to be
falling all over themselves
making the most luxurious and most
expensive trim packages
it's nice to see somebody throwing a
little love to the no nonsense trim
package
and that's what we have here at Chevy
it's called the Silverado custom
which is a name for Chevrolet because
all the way back to the early seventies
basically what we have here is just a
simply styled half-ton pickup truck
to keep the prices down so you have
front and rear chrome accents
on the front bumper and rear bumper
chrome surrounds on the grill
20 inch rims and your choice between a
5-3 lead rb8
or a 4-3 leader v6 the interior all
although meant to be basic no-nonsense
is still pretty well equipped
40/20/40 front seats cloth seats are
going to be very durable
you get your choice between rubber mats
or carpeting
for the interior you get tilt steering
wheel
cruise control electric windows and door
locks
and if you get the four wheel drive you
get the manual shift
on the floor we like what chevy is doing
here
offering a a decently equip pickup truck
that looks pretty nice but has a
a no nonsense no frills interior we
think that's going to resonate pretty
well with the
that average truck guy whether he's a
fleet buyer or personal use guy
this could be the truck for them this
two wheel drive version that I'm sitting
on is just
around thirty four thousand dollars
four-wheel drive versions are going to
be around thirty seven thousand dollars
for more information on this pickup
truck or any other pickup trucks sold in
the US
got a pickup trucks dot com
the
0

Why GM And Ford Are Worried About RAM

CNBC:

American automakers take their
trucks extremely seriously.
And the ongoing battles for dominance
among the Detroit three are
often called the "Truck wars".
General Motors, the largest U.S.
automaker overall, sells the most trucks,
if you count full-size and
mid-sized pickups.
Ford F-Series is the best
selling line of full-size trucks.
But, third place challenger Ram has
made its own waves in recent
years, snagging major industry awards
and stealing market share from
rivals. Ram is killing it.
U.S. sales of Fiat Chrysler's truck
brand have roughly tripled in the
last decade, and the brand seems to
be taking food out of its rivals
mouths. After taking the helm
of Fiat Chrysler in 2018,
new CEO Mike Manley said he
wanted to make Ram the second-best
selling full-size pickup brand
in the U.S.
In the first three
quarters of 2019,
Ram surprised the automotive world by
passing Chevrolet in sales, and
some think Ram could very well
stay in second place, fulfilling
Manley's goal. To be fair, others are
quick to note the timing has
been in Ram's favor and that the
game is too early to call.
What is certain is that this upstart
is now posing a more serious
threat to its rivals
than ever before.
It's a stunning rise for a brand
some in the industry thought Fiat
Chrysler was foolish to create in
the first place. The
Ram brand was once actually part of
Dodge, but the two were separated
as Chrysler emerged from bankruptcy under
the oversight of the late
Sergio Marchionne.
The idea was that the split would
allow Ram to focus exclusively on
trucks while permitting Dodge to
focus on developing performance
vehicles, including its popular Challenger
and Charger, as well as
sport utility vehicles and
its long-running Caravan minivan.
Some in the industry questioned the
wisdom of spinning the Ram brand
out at a time when cross-town
rival General Motors was axing several
of its own brands.
First of all, the Ram name has
a long history with Dodge itself.
The company first started using the Ram
logo on its cars in 1932, and
it was still used on Dodge models
until FCA began rolling out new
logos sometime after the
brand's split in 2009.
As one of the four American
full-sized pickup brands, Rams sold
reasonably well, but were often
known as a more affordable
alternative to those offered
by GM and Ford.
The audio you're about to hear
is distorted due to recording issues.
They were less expensive, the
interiors weren't that great.
They were pretty basic.
It wasn't the kind of truck that
GM or Ford had on the road.
Ram simply could not compete with
the capability offered by rivals.
But after Fiat took over and
the company began to emerge from
bankruptcy, Ram came out swinging.
In 2010, GM and Ford were roughly
tied and pickup market share, each
with just over 38 percent with Ram
solidly in third place at just
14.6 percent.
But, over the next eight years, Ram
grew its share of the market to
more than 22 percent, while Ford lost
one percent of its share and GM
lost nearly five.
To be fair, Japanese import brand Toyota
also lost some share at that
time from 6.8
percent of the market to 4.9
percent and fellow Japanese maker Nissan
gained a sliver of market
share. But Ram is now threatening
to displace Chevrolet as these
second best selling full-size pickup
brand in the United States.
So how did it do this?
By offering something different,
say industry analysts?
So I think Ram's idea then was
OK, then maybe, our strategy should be
to build a really, really
good all around truck.
Let's make it comfortable.
Let's make the interiors nice.
Let's make the ride
quality really good.
Two areas where Ram really
shines our interiors and technology.
The interior of the truck
is just unbelievably great.
The technology is unbelievable.
They've got the biggest screen,
it looks like a laptop.
Ram made a bet that seems
particularly suited to the times.
Owners are more accepting of technology
than they ever have before.
There's examples of new technology being
put into pickup trucks that
kind of fell flat. General Motors
had a four-wheel steering system
for their pickup trucks,
which was terrific.
But the problem was that it was
an expensive option, and at that
time, pickup truck owners, their feedback
was, I already know how to
move my truck. I already
know how to tow.
I already know how
to do this stuff.
I don't need to spend the man's
money that you're asking to have this
technology help me do that.
But times have changed.
Now we have buyers of every demographic
that are far more willing to
let technology help them do things.
And as a result, the big screen in
the Ram has drawn a lot of
attention. As a result, some of
the technology that General Motors
has brought it to their Chevrolet and
to the GMC, there's a lot more
cameras on board.
There's ways to save your towing
of your trailer information to your
truck so that if you have three
trailers, every time you hook it up,
you just call up that information and
you don't have to reset it.
There's lots of things in both of
those trucks that make it easier to
work with them. And the Ram got
out into the market a little bit
earlier. One feature in the 2019 Ram
1500 truck that has had the
automotive world buzzing is the large
12 inch touchscreen in the
center of the console.
Ram boasted that the screen was the
largest found in any truck in its
class. If you asked a pickup truck
owner, before they had the big
screen in the Ram if they wanted
a big screen, they'd probably said,
no. I don't want that.
I don't need that. I
don't need to do that.
But now that it's there,
they're reacting to it strongly.
FCA's new strategy was well-timed.
The pickup market has changed over
the last decade as truck sales
have risen. Along with the boom
in sport, utilities and crossovers,
pickup trucks have become popular options
for drivers who might have
a wider range of uses in
mind then in previous eras.
For instance, there has been a rise
in the portion of four seat and
four door models in
the pickup market.
Ram said more than 50 percent
of its pickups are "family trucks".
FCA has also used a tactic
that some industry observers say has
contributed to the brand's sales success
- selling an outgoing model
along a newly redesigned one,
typically at a lower price.
Ram's rise is partly notable
because pickup truck buyers have
historically been considered among the
most brand-loyal in the
automotive market.
Ford buyers typically don't buy GM
trucks, and just the opposite, GM
buyers typically don't buy Ford
trucks, but what's interesting is
either one of those buyers
will consider a Ram truck.
Dealer
Don "K" Kaltschmidt, who sells both
Chevrolet and Ram and owns
products from both GM and Fiat Chrysler,
said that in some ways Ram
does outdo the Chevrolets, but he
thinks it isn't over yet.
The GM truck product is very,
very strong here for good reason.
It is important to understand the
timing has also worked in Ram's
favor. The Ram went into production
roughly eight months before the
Chevrolet product did.
So, there was a bit of a head
start and sort of building it and
having it online and having
it available for the dealerships.
Another element is that Ram has
kept the previous generation of
production longer than
Chevrolet has.
A spokesman for General Motors told
CNBC, the launch of our Chevrolet
Silverado has gone exceptionally well
and combined with the GMC
Sierra, we are quite pleased with
the quality of our market share.
As of November 2019, Ford said
its F-Series lineup outsold Ram by
225,000 trucks for the year, a lead
the company expected to widen by
the end of 2019,
a spokesman told CNBC.
Ford has so far been the best selling
line of pickups in the US for
the last 42 years.
The "Blue Oval" has also been
hyping its upcoming hybrid and fully
electric versions of the F-series.
Electric vehicles are important and
they're happening and they're
coming, but they're
also coming slowly.
That's kind of
important to remember.
Even as Ford and GM are
talking and start talking about electric
pickup trucks, once they're here, the
sales ramp up is probably going
to be a pretty slow.
Pickup truck battles are fierce in
ways that fights in other segments
are not. You get excited about a
pickup truck because it either helps
you feed your family,
or you're into horses.
It's an enabler to do something
that you truly care about.
And, that makes it much more
important emotionally than I'm going
back and forth to work and
it's just a mode of transportation.
There are also a huge
source of profits for automakers.
So industry watchers aren't expecting this
one to be over anytime
soon. If you think about building a
small car and you need so
much amount of steel or so much
amount of wiring harness, or so much
amount of leather or cloth to cover
the seats and you can charge
$20,000 for a small car.
You need more of all of those
materials to build a pickup truck, but
you're charging four
times the cost.
It's an interesting element
of the market too.
Smaller products are not as
profitable, as larger products.

Hyundai Kona Electric vs. Chevrolet Bolt EV: Which Is the Best Affordable Long-Range EV? | Edmunds

Edmunds:

[MUSIC PLAYING]

DAN EDMUNDS: Prevailing
wisdom suggests
that an electric vehicle needs
more than 200 miles of range
to stave off range anxiety
and make it useful for more
than just commuting.
But until now, there's only
been one affordable example.
The Chevrolet Bolt EV brings
238 miles of range to the table.
But now there's a new
Hyundai Kona Electric
with 258 miles of range.
KURT NIEBUHR: Which of
these vehicles is better?
Are these finally
the affordable EVs
that everybody's
been waiting for?
Before we answer that, make sure
you subscribe to our channel,
and visit Edmunds.com to
help find your next vehicle,
electric or otherwise.

DAN EDMUNDS: When I
first proposed this test
in the office, everybody said,
why are you putting a Bolt up
against a crossover SUV?
Well, the Kona electric isn't
really that much of an SUV.
I mean, it's only got
front-wheel drive.
There's no all-wheel
drive version.
KURT NIEBUHR: And the Chevy's
just kind of a tall hatchback
anyway, and it's
front-wheel drive too.
I mean, these things are
pretty close on paper,
when you look at the specs.
DAN EDMUNDS: Oh, yeah, the
wheelbase is identical.
And the Kona is only
about a half inch longer.
And both of them have 150
kilowatt electric motors.
Chevy says theirs is
good for 200 horsepower.
Hyundai's number
is 201 horsepower.
But I'll give it to them,
because their electric motor
makes more torque.
KURT NIEBUHR: These things
do not look the same at all.
DAN EDMUNDS: No, no,
the Kona Electric
is both lower and wider than
the Bolt, some SUV, right?
KURT NIEBUHR: People around
the office are asking,
why didn't you guys
include the Leaf?
Why didn't you
include the Model 3?
DAN EDMUNDS: Well, the Bolt
has 238 miles of range.
And the Kona Electric
has 258 miles of range.
KURT NIEBUHR: Yeah, the Leaf's
150 is just way too short.
DAN EDMUNDS: Right.
As for the Model 3,
the $35,000 version,
with 220 miles of range,
they're not making it.
I mean, we can't compare
these two vehicles
to something that doesn't exist.
KURT NIEBUHR: Nah,
that's just vaporware.
DAN EDMUNDS: Yeah, really.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

KURT NIEBUHR: So what
are we looking at?
DAN EDMUNDS: Well, at the
moment, a whole lot of plastic.
But up in here is
the electric motor
that drives the front wheels.
KURT NIEBUHR: Yeah, I
can just see it up there.
DAN EDMUNDS: Right.
We move back and there's this
big aluminum expanse, the width
of the car, really long.
This is the battery pack.
65 kilowatt hours
of storage, that's
like gallons to a gas tank.
And that's what gives this
car 258 miles of range.
KURT NIEBUHR: It's so flat.
DAN EDMUNDS: Yeah, the
smoothness of this battery pack
and the plastic ahead
of it contributes
to a 14% reduction in drag
compared to a regular Kona.
KURT NIEBUHR: That's a lot.
DAN EDMUNDS: Yeah,
it's not nothing.
And we move back
here, and we see
a really nice
multi-link suspension,
which gives this car really
good ride and handling.
And also makes room
for the battery pack
to be as big as it
possibly can be.
KURT NIEBUHR: So I imagine
that the Chevrolet looks
exactly the same underneath.
DAN EDMUNDS: Well, maybe.

KURT NIEBUHR: So
we're under the Chevy
and there's a lot of black
plastic underneath here too.
DAN EDMUNDS: Absolutely,
but trust me,
there's an electric
motor up in there
that drives the front
wheel, just like the Kona.
We move back, and we see,
this is the battery pack.
But it looks different.
It's narrower.
It's not as long.
But it's almost as big,
at 60 kilowatt hours,
238 miles of range.
So it's got to be taller,
which might be why the Bolt has
the roofline that it has.
KURT NIEBUHR: It's also
not very smooth under here.
DAN EDMUNDS: No, it's not.
It doesn't look like they
paid nearly as much attention
to smoothing the
airflow underneath here.
We move back and we see
something different here too.
KURT NIEBUHR: Yeah,
this suspension
does not look anything
like the suspension that's
in the Hyundai.
DAN EDMUNDS: No, this is
a basic twist beam rear
axle, which is really pretty
cheap and inexpensive.
It was popular in compact cars.
But it's not the most
sophisticated suspension
for ride and handling.
It'll be interesting to see how
the two compare when we start
driving them back to back.
KURT NIEBUHR: Yeah.
DAN EDMUNDS: They might
not be the same at all.
KURT NIEBUHR: I can't
wait to find out.
DAN EDMUNDS: Yeah.
[MUSIC PLAYING]

So both of these
have plenty of space
if you fold the seats down.
But they have a lot of range,
so you can go somewhere
with the family.
So you might have
four people in this.
Where are you going
to put the luggage?
Will it fit?

KURT NIEBUHR: I don't like
how that kind of rides
on the plastic trim back there.
DAN EDMUNDS: It's
a little bit tight.
What about third one?
KURT NIEBUHR: The third one,
we're going to have to put it--
DAN EDMUNDS: No choice there.
KURT NIEBUHR: It's easy
enough, but will it shut.
DAN EDMUNDS: Oh,
actually pretty easily.
No problem.
KURT NIEBUHR: But we
can lower the floor.
DAN EDMUNDS: Oh,
yeah, that's right.
And it's a pretty
dramatic change.
Oh, look at that.
You can stand these things up.
Easy.
KURT NIEBUHR: There we go.
On the Kona--
DAN EDMUNDS: Well,
you can already
see that the
floor's longer here.
KURT NIEBUHR: Yeah,
there's more room.
DAN EDMUNDS: More width too.
KURT NIEBUHR: You can
probably shove that one in.
DAN EDMUNDS: I think so.
KURT NIEBUHR: And it shut.
DAN EDMUNDS: Not a problem.
You can also lower
the floor as well.
KURT NIEBUHR: Oh, yeah.
DAN EDMUNDS: It's not as deep.
But it might do the job
Yeah, this stands up.
There out the line of sight.
KURT NIEBUHR: Yeah.
DAN EDMUNDS: If you don't
want to drop the basement,
this has a little more space.
But if you do, there's
really not a big difference.

Wow, who was driving this thing.
KURT NIEBUHR: I was.
DAN EDMUNDS: Well, I
got to bring it back.
Are you OK?
KURT NIEBUHR: Yeah, I'm OK.
DAN EDMUNDS: How's that.
KURT NIEBUHR: It's OK, you
can go back a little farther.
I'm actually happy back here.
I've got enough
room for my legs.
I got enough room for my feet.
I even have a heated seat.
Let's go check out the Hyundai.
DAN EDMUNDS: All right.
Oh, I'm going to have to
bring this one back big time.
KURT NIEBUHR: This
isn't so bad back here.
Oh, what are you doing.
DAN EDMUNDS: I got
to bring it back.
KURT NIEBUHR: Oh, I hate you.
Oh, my god.
OK.
DAN EDMUNDS: That's
a power seat, though.
The other one wasn't.
KURT NIEBUHR: There's less leg
room back here than in the Bolt
by quite a bit.
DAN EDMUNDS: You think?
KURT NIEBUHR: My feet
are starting to go numb.
Could you move this forward?
I can't get out.
[MUSIC PLAYING]

Now comes the fun part.
DAN EDMUNDS: We've left town,
and we're in the mountains,
and we're going to go
up to Crystal Lake.
KURT NIEBUHR: Yeah, and because
we have plenty of range,
we don't have to
worry about range
and we're not going
to talk about ranch.
DAN EDMUNDS: Right, we can
think about the normal things
that people think
about, ride, handling,
steering, braking, how fun
are these things to drive.
KURT NIEBUHR: Let's find out.
DAN EDMUNDS: Let's
take the Bolt.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Wow, these roads are
pretty incredible.
KURT NIEBUHR: Yeah,
they really are.
DAN EDMUNDS: What's not
incredible is this seat.
It feels like I'm
sitting on a seat frame.
It's really narrow.
I'm sitting on it,
rather than in it.
KURT NIEBUHR: I
think I'm overlapping
on the side of the seat.
And I'm with you.
My upper back, my shoulders
are not happy with the seat.
DAN EDMUNDS: The driving
position is good, but the seat
itself just feels too small.
The interior just
feels kind of cheap.
It just does not have
really attractive materials.
I wish they'd put a little
bit more money in the seats
and the interior panels.
KURT NIEBUHR: The
one thing that's
really prominent in my eyes,
and it's literally in my eyes,
is how bright and
light the interior is.
Because there's a lot of shiny
or light plastics, which now
we're in shade, and it's great.
But as soon as we come
back through the sun,
like reflections flicker
off the windscreen.
DAN EDMUNDS: Yeah, the
angle of the windshield
is just about perfectly wrong,
because it's reflects the--
every detail of the top of
the dash back into my eyes.
It's like I need
sunglasses just for that.
But that is an option.
I suggest that you get
the darkest one they sell.
KURT NIEBUHR: You'd have to.
DAN EDMUNDS: Yeah, absolutely.
You know what's really
cool about this car,
the driving position is great.
I mean, the telescopic steering
wheel's right where I need it.
I feel I can see out really
well, other than the glare.
And the re-gen on this thing,
using the motor's magnetism
to slow the car, is really easy.
You just flip the shifter
and it goes into L.
And now, when you lift off the
throttle, you're slowing down
and you're not touching
the brake pedal.
And it's really kind of fun.
It's not kind of fun, it is fun.
KURT NIEBUHR: Yeah.
DAN EDMUNDS: I got to get
on a little bit of breaks
for this tight hairpin, but--
yeah, the tires, they
make a little noise.
KURT NIEBUHR: We
might be having fun,
but the tires don't sound
like they're having fun.
DAN EDMUNDS: Low
rolling resistance.
But that doesn't mean low fun.
Because this thing really
changes direction really well.
KURT NIEBUHR: Yeah.
DAN EDMUNDS: And I have really
good control of the car's entry
speed because of the
lift throttle re-gen
It's really kind of neat.
Yeah, these seats
though, they're--
[TIRES SQUEALING]
Listen to that.
What was I saying?
All right, I guess it's
your turn to drive, right?
KURT NIEBUHR: Yeah.

I'm absolutely with you
on the seating position.
I can get comfortable in
this car very quickly.
I like the range the steering
wheel moves towards you.
The seat is very adjustable.
DAN EDMUNDS: It just
isn't nice to sit on.
KURT NIEBUHR: It's not
a comfortable seat.
DAN EDMUNDS: No.
KURT NIEBUHR: This
could be the like worst
seat I think I've sat
in that's on sale today.
Now I get to make the
most of this car's torque.
DAN EDMUNDS: Oh.
KURT NIEBUHR: All
EVs make torque right
from zero miles an hour.
DAN EDMUNDS: Well,
it's not just that.
This thing's got 200 horsepower.
I mean, we can't forget that.
KURT NIEBUHR: No, and it's
actually fun to drive.
It's not sloppy.
DAN EDMUNDS: That's
a tight hairpin.
And that's a skinny tire.
KURT NIEBUHR: That's
a skinny tire.
But I have to tell you that
I'm not using the brake
pedal, I'm just using the
re-gen of the throttle pedal,
because it's so intuitive.
Back off a little bit to slow
down, twist it to speed up.
DAN EDMUNDS: And you know, the
body isn't rolling a whole lot.
I mean it's rolling some, but
any car would on this road.
KURT NIEBUHR: Yeah.
DAN EDMUNDS: But that's
probably because the battery's
under the floor, so the center
of gravity of this thing
is really low.
KURT NIEBUHR: I
will say that I feel
like I'm sitting more
on top of the car
than in the car, which creates
more of a sensation of speed.
Like I feel like I shouldn't be
driving the car this fast, even
though the car feels just fine.
DAN EDMUNDS: The
cal is really low.
The seating position's
a little high,
because you've got the
battery under your backside.
Just needs some
sticker tires I think.
KURT NIEBUHR: This
is way too much fun
for an electric vehicle.
So what's your
opinion of the Bolt?
DAN EDMUNDS: Well,
I like driving it.
I mean, the steering,
the handling.
It's got plenty of
power, they regenerate
braking is really fun,
actually even on a challenging
road like this.
I just don't like the
interior, the seats, the way
the dash is put together.
I'm not a fan of that.
But to drive it, it's great.
KURT NIEBUHR: I
completely agree with you.
And you must not buy the
light colored interior.
DAN EDMUNDS: Exactly.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Oh man, right away,
I love this seat.
It looks good, and it's
wide, and it's comfortable.
KURT NIEBUHR: Yeah, we are
definitely not in the Bolt
anymore.
DAN EDMUNDS: Exactly, and
we're a little further apart.
This cabin is wide
and spacious too.
And look at the materials.
This thing looks nice.
KURT NIEBUHR: I feel
more surrounded.
I feel like I'm
sitting in the car.
DAN EDMUNDS: Right.
KURT NIEBUHR:
Whereas, in the bolt,
I felt like I was kind of
higher up, kind of perched.
DAN EDMUNDS: And the controls
are really nicely laid out.
There's the touchscreen,
air conditioning, shifter,
and these are the heated and
ventilated seat controls.
KURT NIEBUHR: I've got vent--
I'm going to use mine.
DAN EDMUNDS: Yeah, right?
KURT NIEBUHR: Yeah.
DAN EDMUNDS: This
also has a sunroof.
The Bolt didn't
have one of those.
KURT NIEBUHR: No.
DAN EDMUNDS: And the
Bolt is the premier.
It is the top of
the line offering.
This is the ultimate,
which is also
the top of the line offering.
Its more ultimate.
KURT NIEBUHR: Yep.
Something else that's
glaringly obvious
is the distinct lack of glare.
Now, this is still a
light colored interior,
but I'm not getting blinded
by shiny plastic bits.
DAN EDMUNDS: Right,
right, I agree.
And as the driver,
I appreciate it.
The other thing I'm noticing
is going into that last corner
and some of these other ones,
the regenerative braking just
isn't quite as powerful
as it is in the Bolt.
KURT NIEBUHR: That
was a squirrel.
DAN EDMUNDS: Squirrel.
I do have three settings.
I can adjust it
with a paddle here.
But I set it to the max and
wish I had one more step.
You know, this car really
feels more substantial.
It's wider and it
feels like it has
a wider footprint on the road.
It's a little bit more composed.
The tires don't feel like
they're working as hard.
It's not squealing as much.
It's really nicely balanced.
I mean, the Bolt wasn't
unbalanced, it wasn't bad.
But this just feels better.
And even there, on that
really tight corner,
a little hint of
squeal, but nothing
like the Bolt generated.
KURT NIEBUHR: The bolt
was a little vocal.
DAN EDMUNDS: Yeah, the
transitions feel real nice.
The multi-link rear
suspension over twist beam,
I think we're feeling a
little bit of a benefit here.
KURT NIEBUHR: I'd say so
far, I feel less movement.
DAN EDMUNDS: It's almost like
this road is a smoother road
than when it was in the Bolt.
KURT NIEBUHR: Yeah.
DAN EDMUNDS: Oh, wow.
KURT NIEBUHR: That
was way better.
No arguing that, the Kona
electric rides better.
DAN EDMUNDS: I just
wish I could get
a little bit more lift throttle
re-gen in these corners.
It's just not quite there.
The steering in this
car feels pretty good.
When I drove it in town, I
thought, it's a little light,
it doesn't feel as distinct
on center as the Bolt.
And that's true.
But when we get up
here in these corners,
it loads up a bit nicer
than it does on the street.
I still think the
Bolt's steering feel
is a little better, but this is
better than it was in the city.
KURT NIEBUHR: So when am
I going to get to drive?
DAN EDMUNDS: Right about now.
If you listen closely,
there's that--
KURT NIEBUHR: Yeah,
I think it gets
louder when you start moving.
DAN EDMUNDS: Listen to
that, that's awesome.
KURT NIEBUHR: You're
right, right away
the car feels more solid.
It isn't that the Bolt
feels the least bit flimsy.
It's just I like the
way this car feels.
I agree with you on
the steering feel.
It is a little light,
but I like the way
this feels through the corner.
And I also like the fact that it
has wider tires on it as well.
It's very noticeable.
There's not the tires
squeal that the Bolt had.
DAN EDMUNDS: It has the power.
It's just the matter of
not having as much power?
KURT NIEBUHR: No.
DAN EDMUNDS: That's not it.
KURT NIEBUHR: The power
feels more robust.
And the Bolt does not feel
like it's lacking for power.
DAN EDMUNDS: No.
KURT NIEBUHR: But the Kona makes
that power available to you.
DAN EDMUNDS: This has
about the same horsepower,
201 versus 200.
Let's call it equal.
But it makes more torque,
about 30 more pound feet
than the Bolt. So I think that's
what you're feeling coming out
of these corners.
KURT NIEBUHR: I'll
second what you said
about the interior of this car.
I feel like I'm sitting
in a more regular car.
Because the Kona Electric
is also a regular Kona,
it's the same car.
And the Bolt was built
just to be an EV.
DAN EDMUNDS: Right.
Which usually would make the
Bolt a better EV, because it's
purpose built. But
this doesn't feel
like they've made any sacrifices
to make an electric car
version.
Just look at the way the
battery is mounted underneath,
as we saw yesterday.
It's just so well
integrated into the chassis.
KURT NIEBUHR: You're
right about the re-gen.
I wish it was a little
bit more aggressive.
We have it set at the maximum.
We both seem to prefer the
way that the Bolt handles it.
[MUSIC PLAYING]

DAN EDMUNDS: Well, that was fun.
KURT NIEBUHR: That
was really fun.
DAN EDMUNDS: I mean,
why wouldn't it be?
These are compact hatchbacks
with 200 horsepower.
KURT NIEBUHR: Yeah, and we said
we wouldn't talk about range.
We're still not going
to talk about range.
Because we both have
over half a charge left.
DAN EDMUNDS: And
we're at 5,000 feet.
It's downhill most
of the way home.
Things are only
going to get better.
So let's go.
KURT NIEBUHR: Let's go.
[MUSIC PLAYING]

DAN EDMUNDS: So which of these
two EVs is the right one?
First, we have to talk pricing.
We don't know exactly what the
Kona Electric costs just yet.
But sources say the
base model's price will
come in close to that
of the base Bolt.
And we know with
certainty that the Kona
will be better equipped.
But here's another
point to consider.
Chevrolet is about
to cross the phase
out threshold for federal
tax credit eligibility.
The Bolt's $7,500 tax credit
will shrink by half to $3,750
early next year.
Then shrink again to $1,875
six months after that.
In just over a year,
it'll be down to zero.
Hyundai, on the
other hand, is just
getting started with EV sales.
The Kona electric will
qualify for the full $7,500
tax credit for years to come.
There's a lot to like
about these cars.
Both are more fun to drive
than you might expect.
They're practically
hot hatchbacks.
And you can go places
and be spontaneous,
because each offers enough range
to make them useful for more
than just commuting.
We like the Bolt for its
superior regenerative
braking and more
generous rear leg room.
But the clear winner here
is the Hyundai Kona Electric
on the strength of its
more sophisticated ride
and handling, nicer
interior, and longer list
of standard and
optional features.
The extra 20 miles of range
it offers is merely a bonus.

For more videos like this,
be sure to click Subscribe,
and visit Edmunds for all
your car shopping needs.

Brothers bond over co-owned 1972 Chevy C3 Corvette | Why I Drive #20

Hagerty:

- [JJ] My brother and I've done
basically done everything together.
We've been best friends
and we've never had any problems sharing.
So instead of having one car individually,
we had two cars collectively,
and we made one of them badass.
A lot of people thought that it would have
created tension or conflict between us,
but I think it's only
exemplified how strong
our relationship is.
(engine revving)
- [Pierre] Car is a 1972 Corvette.
We were looking at a couple
different classic cars,
and the C3 was the one we both
agreed that we really liked.
Just has these lines
to it that are sharper
than I think that you're
gonna find on any other car.
Just looks so iconic.
You can just appreciate a
car that's 47 years old.
One of the things that was really fun
about getting a classic car,
was that, I don't think JJ and
I knew anything about cars,
when we first got one.
It's really incited the
process of wanting to learn
more about cars and engines.
- (JJ) Being a first
generation citizen with parents
who are European, you don't
necessarily always feel
the same tie to your home country
that someone who has deeper roots.
So I think part of the beauty
of getting an American car
with being a multi-cultural
and a global citizen
is the fact that it
really brings us back to
the home that we grew up in.
I'm living abroad now, but
when we do get to go out,
it's pretty awesome.
Most of it's actually
reminiscent of the first
road trip we took together.
During the road trip,
all we ever did was bond
further and faster,
regardless of the snow storms,
the hail, the rain coming
through the windshield.
All we ever did was bunker down together
and keep on persevering.
(engine revs)
It's a really nice
representation of the bond
that I have with my brother.
- [Pierre] We realize
that, she's a driver,
and she wants to be driven.
- [JJ] You, know, it has
it's own little issues.
The pop up headlights are
permanently popped up.
It's little quirks like that.
But at the end of the
day, this will absolutely,
forever and always be a driver.
I love every time I hit that accelerator.
I love the power band,
and just being able to
really feel that
acceleration when you hit it.
It's not that it accelerates faster
than anything else I've driven.
It's just the way it does
it, is a whole lot more fun.
- [Pierre] One of my favorite things
about owning a classic car
is that anytime you stop at a gas station,
you're filling up, everybody
wants to come talk to you.
And it just gives you an
additional bonding experience
that I think most people don't get.
The car has more rattles
than a baby can play with.
She drinks gas for a living.
She shakes when you take
her above 80 miles per hour.
And yet I've never been
more in love with an
inanimate object.
I'm Pierre Peterson.
- I'm JJ Petersen.
- [Together] And this is why I drive.
(engine revving)

Why Jaguar And Land Rover Face Uncertain Futures

CNBC:

Jaguar Land Rover are two iconic
brands in the automotive world.
Rich with heritage an excellent style
and performance but each have
also suffered Rocky histories.
And for years each were passed between
new owners in Europe and the
U.S. including BMW and Ford.
With BMW owning Land Rover and
Ford owning Jaguar in the 80s.
Then just when they were on the
verge of bankruptcy the two thoroughly
British sister brands were bought
by the Indian, Tata Motors.
Part of the vast Tata Group
empire that makes up everything from
software to food products.
When Tata acquired them in 2008, both
Jaguar Land Rover had their fair
share of financial struggles and
had fought to overcome reputations
for unreliability.
If you were going to say drive
across the country in a given vehicle
and hope that everything went well.
Pre-Tata, Jaguar Land Rover would have been
one of the last brands I
would have picked to do that in.
I just didn't have
faith in their vehicles.
Worse, Tata had bought these brands
and perhaps one the worst possible
times in recent history.
Right on the cusp
of the financial crisis.
However in the years that followed,
Tata Motors did something many
owners had failed to do
before turning them into moneymakers.
But things are getting gloomy
for jail are once again.
Just as these two legends have
finally found some footing a
drastically shrinking market in China for
JLR and trouble in Europe
are threatening them once again.
The S&P lowered the credit ratings of
both JLR and Tata Motors in
early 2019 and they are
now deep in junk status.
The question now?
Will Tata Motors be able to turn around
JLR once more or is looking to
cut its losses?
Jaguar was founded in 1922 as the
Swallows Side Car company by William
Lyons, a motorcycle
enthusiast and engineer.
Back then the company initially made
side cars, those little pods that
sit on the side of motorcycles.
But in 1935, Lyons built the S.S.
Jaguar.
It was the first car
to bear the Jaguar name.
Over the years the company has
made sleek aerodynamic sports cars and
became known for racing.
Number 20 is the winning Jaguar
which eventually finish nine laps
ahead of the next car.
Having traveled at an
average speed of 93.5
miles an hour.
Perhaps the most famous example was
the E-type which Jaguar started
making in the 1960s.
Land Rover had an entirely
different history making off-road vehicles
used by the military and bucolic
customers in Europe and around the
world starting in 1947.
Over the years Land Rover developed
a reputation for making rugged
trucks an SUV with
a distinct British touch.
Models such as the defender,
developed reputations for ruggedness and
capability rivaled perhaps only by few
vehicles such as the Jeep
Wrangler.
Though also extremely capable, the
brand's Range Rover was perhaps
what anticipated the trend in
high end luxury sports utility
vehicles.
And has even been the target
of scorn for its popularity with
well-heeled buyers who never drive
the thing off pavement.
The two companies were rejoined under
one roof beginning with Ford
buying Jaguar in the late 1980s.
But in terms of fully exploiting the
brand name of strength that we
were building up in the company there's
no question we should be able
to do a better job with the
resources that Ford Motor Company will
make available.
And then in 2000,
Ford bought Land Rover.
Ford under went its own
troubles in the following years.
It had to sell off many of
the premium names they had acquired
including Jaguar and Land Rover.
And another high-end British
automaker Aston Martin.
Just eight years after Ford bought Land
Rover, Ford sold it and Jaguar
to Tata Motors for about 2.7
billion dollars.
Tata Motors did exactly what many fans
and enthusiasts say is the best
thing an owner can do for
car companies as legendary as these.
And it paid off.
Jaguar Land Rover didn't really start
to become a powerful and
competitive group of brands in the
modern automotive world until Tata
took over.
And when Tata inherited both brands
and invested the kind of money
that they had long needed invested.
That's when you saw everything from
the design to the engineering to
most importantly the quality, reach a
level that made them comparable
to things like a BMW or
an Audi or a Mercedes.
Up until 2017, it looked like
Tata Motors had engineered a lasting
turnaround for the
legendary brands.
But things took a turn
for the worse in 2018.
JLR posting a loss of about 4.3
billion dollars in
fiscal year 2019.
Its biggest loss in
the last 10 years.
That loss resulted in a large part
from a nearly 4 billion dollar one
time write down.
However even taking that into account
the company still would have
lost money.
The company said in January of 2019
that it's cutting 4,500 jobs about
10 percent of its workforce.
Jaguar Land Rovers troubles have
hurt parent company Tata motors.
JLR's recent troubles have been one
of the factors contributing to
recent declines.
In April 2019, reports surfaced that
Tata Motors is considering a sale
of the brands to
French car manufacturer PSA.
Reports that Tata Motors denies.
Out of the two brands
Land Rovers and the strongest.
But it has struggled as well.
A big part of the problem, Jaguar
Land Rover sales in China fell about
26 percent in May and
46 percent in April.
In March 2019, the company said sales
in China had fallen 34 percent
for the fiscal 2018 to 2019 year.
It is also facing
headwinds in Europe.
Brexit threatens to raise costs.
More than 40 percent materials used
travels from the European Union to
the United Kingdom.
And it must contend with
increasingly stringent emissions laws in
Europe following the so-called diesel
gate scandal that rocked
Volkswagen and other companies
in the automotive world.
In a comment to CNBC, Jaguar
CEO Ralph space said that:

But the U.S.
may hold the keys
for JLR's recovery.
Land Rover's strongest markets in North
America where it's in the
fortunate position of being a premium
sports utility maker in a time
where U.S.
customers are hungry for SUVs.
JLR sold about 10 times as many
SUV as the United States as did
traditional passenger cars in 2018.
Despite the fact that jaguars portfolio
is still heavy on sedans and
sports cars.
But Jaguar is leaning
into utility vehicles too.
It sold almost twice as many SUVs
in 2018 as its famous sports cars
and sedans.
And unlike brands such as Porsche,
it's brushing aside the usual
criticism that moving towards utility
vehicles is straying away from
its race car roots.
The Jaguar Land Rover
CEO also said:
Jaguar
is also stepping forcefully into
electric cars with its I-Pace
crossover which has been
praised by critics.
The car swept the world car awards
at the New York International Auto
Show in 2019.
But North America's continued appetite for
its vehicles might not be
enough to engineer a full
recovery for the two brands.
Industry analysts worry about a larger
downturn in new car sales is
looming.
The easier path is just sell
Land Rovers people know them by
Land Rovers.
But they are taking a longer path
by of keeping both Jaguar Land Rover
together because there are a couple
of restrictions which are coming
in terms of fleet norms and all
those things which they need to meet
and hence they can work out.
In the meantime Tata Motors has
fended off reports that it's
considering selling the division
to PSA group,.
The very same French automaker that
bought Opel and Vauxhall car
brands from General Motors
and turn them around.
Jaguar Land Rover have history
and heritage on their side.
But the global automotive industry
is changing rapidly and it's
unknown how much of that history
and heritage will count in a
business increasingly obsessed
with the future.

1973 Chevrolet Camaro: An American Let Free In The French Countryside

Petrolicious:

I've been passionate about cars
since I was a little boy.
I was lucky to have a dad
who was a mechanic
and who taught me the basics
from a very young age.
I would spend my time
fiddling around with my dad,
in the evening, on weekends,
on the family cars.
He taught me a lot of things,
but he mostly communicated
his love of do-it-yourself
and gave me tips and tricks
to repair cars,
but also about life in general.
At first, you start working on cars,
fiddling with engines and bodywork,
and you quickly move on to other steps,
like learning how to weld
or creating small boxes
out of sheet metal.
You basically try anything you can,
until you realize
you can do pretty nice things.
You twist objects, and people like it,
so it makes you happy.
It is a very rewarding experience.
Every day, you have an idea
of what you want to put into practice.
My name is Gabriel,
and I drive a 1973 Chevrolet Camaro.
I've always had a soft spot
for VW Type 1s.
I've had a lot of fun restoring a few.
These are great memories,
but when you keep on seeing
four-cylinder cars in American movies,
you end up wanting one.
From the time I was 18, I drove Type 1s,
and V8s were just a fantasy.
You think it's impossible,
until one day you say, "Why not?"
Another car enthusiast friend and I
started dreaming
of fetching a V8 in the U.S.
And we did, in 2013.
We took the plunge
and left to each buy a car.
We didn't have a set idea in mind.
Contrary to popular belief,
we didn't necessarily want a Mustang,
but we wanted a V8,
the typical American car.
So we flew all the way to Los Angeles,
but, of course,
we couldn't miss out on Las Vegas,
so we went.
Right in the middle of the desert,
I took a look at the gauge
and realized the tank was almost empty.
I knew I wouldn't be able to go 200 miles,
so we took the next exit,
which was Victorville.
We had no clue where we were going,
and there was nothing in sight.
We truly were in the desert.
So we took the Victorville exit
and tried to find a station to fill her up,
and, luckily, we found one.
Half of the shops were closed.
We were a bit lost,
but we quickly got gas at the pump.
While doing that, my friend saw
a vintage car off the road
and wanted to check it out.
I could tell it was apple green,
which is not a color I like,
but we had might as well take a look,
because the car was for sale.
So we got closer, and it was a Nova.
It was not my favorite model,
and I didn't like the color,
but then a Mexican guy showed up.
His name was Roberto.
So, Roberto came up to me and said,
"What are you looking for?
Why are you here?
Do you want to buy a car?"
So, I told him,
"Yes, I am looking to buy a car."
And he said, "Follow me."
We entered a shed full of dismantled cars.
I saw a car under a dusty tarp
and recognized a Camaro.
My interest was peaked.
He removed the dusty tarp,
and I got all excited; I loved that car.
He fiddled with the starter for a bit,
and then it made a thundering noise.
The car lived again.
I had goosebumps.
The noise filled my ears,
and I could smell gasoline.
So, we took a serious and closer look.
We looked under the car and inside,
and it was very dirty,
but despite the dirt,
it was in very good shape.
Then I confirmed with Roberto.
"I can wire the money.
Is everything okay with you?"
He said, "It's all good with me.
You'll have the car
as soon as I get the money."
The nice thing about this story
is that you indulge yourself
when you discover the car,
but also when you re-discover it
a few months later,
when the vehicle finally arrives home.
You had forgotten a lot of things.
Of course, you had pictures,
but you had forgotten the smell of it,
the sound it makes.
Details had been erased with time.
Especially since I had never seen it
all clean and shiny under the sun.
So, when the car arrived, I was awe-struck.
I couldn't believe it was my car.
This car is unique to me,
because it allowed me to meet
so many people,
and it gave me the chance
to have unique experiences
that I will never forget.

Electric Trio: The Chevrolet Bolt, Nissan Leaf and Tesla Model 3 Square Off | Edmunds

Edmunds:

[MUSIC PLAYING]

DAN EDMUNDS: What we have here
are three electric vehicles
that are well known,
perhaps because each
is a dedicated EV that has
no gasoline counterpart.
Chevrolet has plugged
everything they
learned from their Bolt plug-in
hybrid into the Bolt EV.
JASON KAVANAGH: The Model 3
represents Tesla's first foray
into a more accessible EV.
CALVIN KIM: And the Nissan
LEAF, the first widely available
electric vehicle in
the United States,
is now in its second generation.
And while they're all
mainstream offerings,
they're not true
direct competitors.
JASON KAVANAGH:
Today, we're going
to explore the differences and
similarities among these three
popular EVs.

Well, the Tesla Model 3 has
a lot of power, actually.
I mean, there's no
complaints that I have
with the acceleration in this.
And like all EVs, it
has that instant torque.
You can punch around cars on the
freeway pretty much instantly.
I mean, you dip your foot
down on the accelerator,
and there's just an instant
reaction from the car.
That's one of the
things that EVs
and in particular, the
Tesla does really well.
DAN EDMUNDS: One of
the things I like
about the Bolt is it's quick.
I'm just rolling into the
throttle, not really laying
into it hard at all.
And it's up to speed
and in a short order.
And I am having no problem
getting around folks.
People think these
things are golf carts.
Uh-uh.
CALVIN KIM: The Nissan LEAF has
what sounds like a low number--
146 horsepower.
But it's the torque that
really gives it the beans.
It's got about 236,
possibly the torque.
Don't quote me on that.
But 236 is a lot for
a small car like this.
The car weighs
about 3,500 pounds.
So it's well in line.
I mean, basically, it'd
be equivalent to a bigger
engine in a compact car.
Needless to say, acceleration
is easy and brisk.
JASON KAVANAGH: Well, compared
to the Bolt or the LEAF,
the Tesla Model 3 is
definitely the most powerful.
It's the most capable.
It's also the most expensive.
It's also the only rear-wheel
drive EV of the three.
The other two are
front-wheel drive.
And that affects the driving
dynamics in a beneficial way
for the Model 3.
The Model 3 has the best
steering and handling
of the bunch by far.
It's just a more
grown-up feeling
car in the way it
goes down the road.
The steering feel
is really good.
It corners flat.
It picks up its speed
well over bumps.
In terms of steering
and handling,
the other two don't
touch the Tesla Model 3.
DAN EDMUNDS: The
Bolt handles great.
I mean, you wouldn't
think so to look at it.
It's tall and skinny.
But the battery pack is low
and underneath the floor,
so that keeps the
center of gravity low.
And that makes it feel
more like a go-cart
than an SUV or
something like that.
The steering is also
nicely weighted.
It's immediate, but not darty.
It's just what you want to kind
of maneuver around in traffic.
JASON KAVANAGH: Now,
the range in the Model 3
is kind of its trump card.
We got the long-range
version, which
has a 310-mile max range
in normal mode, which
is what Tesla recommends you
use on a day-to-day basis.
This will do 279 miles, which
is still really impressive.
It's still more range
than the other two.
In fact, it's the longest range
EV you could buy currently.
CALVIN KIM: This
face-lift of LEAF--
you get 150 miles
of claimed range.
Wonderfully for us, if
you put it in ECO mode
and enable e-Pedal, you can
get a lot more than that.
With our long-term
LEAF, we've been
able to drive it a
little bit already.
And we've routinely
gotten over 150 miles
with those features enabled.
That's great news for
commuters, especially
those that drive a little
bit longer distances.
So they can go a week
without charging.
Now, for EV owners,
the best way to do it
is to charge every night.
But, hey, if you're going to
go visit a friend's house,
or maybe go across town
to hang out somewhere,
it's nice to have that option.
DAN EDMUNDS: The Model
3 has a higher range
rating than this one.
But I don't really think
that at actual practice
that would be the case.
Because I've had a
really hard time getting
close to the Model 3's rating.
And yet, with this car, which
is rated at 238, I've gone 334.
That's almost 100 miles
more than the rating.
And if I'm paying for
more battery than I need,
then that's a big part
of the price of the car.
And this car could be cheaper
if it had a 150-mile range
or a 175-mile range.
CALVIN KIM: One of
the best advantages
of electric vehicles is
the ability to regenerate,
which is regenerative braking.
That means you can use an
electric motor that propels
you to help slow you down.
And one thing that
they did very cleverly,
though, is give you a
switch right on the center
console here called e-Pedal.
And just by clicking the
switch, you immediately
engage that
regenerative braking.
Nissan says you can
break as much as 2/10
of a "g," which doesn't
sound like a lot,
but from our
testing, it's plenty.
JASON KAVANAGH:
And in the Model 3,
the regenerative
effect is strong.
You can basically
one-pedal drive this thing
most of the time.
DAN EDMUNDS: Now, the Bolt is
especially good in this regard,
better than I think any
other car that you can buy,
any other EV.
Because when it's in
drive, like it is now,
I toggle using this here.
When it's in drive, there's
no regenerative braking.
It's all pads and rotors, so
the brake feels utterly natural.
A lot of cars--
EVs and hybrids use something--
a computer that kind of
decides whether it's
going to be regenerative
or brake pedal, based on demand.
And so then the
brakes feel weird.
This never feels weird, indeed.
And then when you
put it in L, there's
so much regenerative braking
that the brake lights come on.
And you can actually execute a
stop all the way down to zero
without ever touching
the brake pedal.
You just modulate the throttle.
Compared to the
Model 3 and the LEAF,
I like the Bolt's
setup much better.
Click it into L. You've
got all the regen you want.
Put it in D. You've got the
brake pedal feel you want,
if you want that.
The Model 3-- it's poke
through the touchscreen.
And the LEAF requires
you to flip a switch,
and you may not
remember to do it.
And it's not where you
think it should be.
This is really intuitive,
really easy, and very effective.
CALVIN KIM: Inside
the Nissan LEAF,
you'll find a pretty
much traditional car.
The materials are good.
There's not a lot of busyness
with the colors and design
choices.
We're in the top SL
model, so the seats
are this nice leather
with microsuede inserts.
The controls-- again, easy
to use, well laid out.
Again, it's more like a regular
car, instead of maybe a science
project, or a sci-fi set you'll
find in some of the other EVs.
DAN EDMUNDS: The one thing
that really disappoints
me more than anything
else about the Chevy Bolt
is the quality of the
interior materials.
It's just hard plastic
which would be OK
if it was attractive.
But there's just a
lot of weird lines.
And this color scheme
is kind of hard to take.
I mean, I would trade
away some battery capacity
and range to get
a better interior.
I mean, it doesn't
help that we've
got the light-colored
interior here.
I think that really does not
show it in its best light.
A darker color might
mask some of this stuff,
even like the reflections of the
dashtop or in the windshield.
Everywhere I go at just
about any light condition.
And that's kind of annoying,
because the visibility as a car
is great otherwise.
This car is probably
the least well equipped
of the three when it comes
to active driver aids.
It has a Lane Keeping
Assist System.
It has a Forward
Collision warning,
but it doesn't have
Adaptive Cruise.
It has nothing like Autopilot
or Nissan's ProPILOT Assist.
That's not bad because
you're not paying for it.
But at the same time,
it does lag behind.
And you couldn't get those
things if you wanted them.
JASON KAVANAGH: The design
of the Model 3's interior
is pretty unusual.
There's not a whole
lot of stuff in it.
I mean, it's a wide-open
space with a big touchscreen
in the middle, and
that's about it.
I mean, you could
even go and say
that maybe this is a
little generic looking.
But what you can't say is that
it's cluttered or crowded.
It feels really breezy
and airy in here.
There's a lot of space.
If you need anything, you
have to go to the touchscreen.
Or you've got a couple of
controls on the steering wheel,
and that's about it.
A good amount of
headroom for me.
I'm over 6 feet tall.
It does have this panoramic
sunroof arrangement
up here, which gives you a
little bit extra headroom.
Compared to the Bolt and the
LEAF's interior, or the Model
3's cabin-- is
definitely a departure.
And some people really love it.
And some people--
they're maybe going
to have to warm up
to it a little bit.
In terms of material
quality, the Model 3
does pretty well there.
The seats are this
synthetic leather,
which feels pretty convincing,
and looks like the real thing.
There's this synthetic
suede on the headliner
and on the door panels.
There's also this wood
applique on the dashboard.
Overall, the materials look
pretty good at a glance.
If you look closer at
the Model 3, though,
you'll notice some build
quality issues here and there--
cheap plastics, things
that don't fit quite right.
We've had some issues with
things falling off our car.
But it is built to a
higher price point,
certainly than the
Bolt or the LEAF is.
CALVIN KIM: The Nissan
LEAF is a hatchback
which means, obviously,
it's got a big hatch.
A lot of interior cargo room
with the seats folded up.
The rear seats do fold 60/40.
You'll find that once
you do fold them up,
there is a bit of a shelf
from the seatback to the cargo
floor.
But I'd say that between
its comp competitors,
this general cargo
area is very useful--
the low-loading height,
and the nice, deep floor,
and the tall ceiling height.
So you can fit taller cargo,
bulkier cargo in a little bit
easier.
DAN EDMUNDS: Of
the three, the Bolt
does have the least
cargo-carrying capacity
on paper.
But it is very flexible,
because of the way
the seats fold, the
way the floor can
be set into two positions.
And because you can
put roof racks on it.
JASON KAVANAGH:
The Model 3 might
look like a hatchback
from the outside,
but surprise, it's
a sedan, which
means it has a
traditional sedan trunk.
But that's no bad thing, because
the Model 3's cargo space
is pretty huge.
Not only is the trunk really
deep and a good width,
there's extra bonus storage
in the floor of the trunk
and an additional trunk
at the front of the car.
So you're not hurting for
cargo space at all in this.
Another thing it has is a
60/40 folding backseat, which
goes basically completely flat.
You could sleep in the
back of the Model 3
if you fold the seats down.
That's how much space there is.
CALVIN KIM: Compared
to its competitors,
the LEAF prices pretty well.
Now, in this SL trim with the
Pro-PILOT Assist and everything
like that, that'll set you
back a little over $37,000.
That's a little bit
less than the Bolt
Obviously, a lot less
than the Model 3.
And the federal tax credit is
still available for this car,
so you can get out the door
for a lot less than that.
You do get a lot of
car for your money.
The biggest attractor,
though, will be the range.
Both the Bolt and
the Tesla Model 3
have a lot more range
than the LEAF does.
Now, for those that are truly
range conscious that really do
want to go on
longer trips, rumor
has it that the Nissan LEAF--
bringing out a higher
range LEAF next year--
one with a 60-kilowatt battery
that cracks the 200 barrier.
Even if you're on
the fence about that,
this standard range
LEAF with 150 miles
is nothing to sneeze at.
DAN EDMUNDS: The
thing about this car
is you can buy it with
a premium package,
or you can get the
lower-priced base
model that does everything as
far as the driving experience.
It just doesn't have as
many bells and whistles
for a lot less money.
The Model 3-- right now,
the mythical $35,000 one
doesn't exist.
It's vaporware.
Certainly, this is a lot
less money than the Model 3.
If the $35,000 one
ever comes out,
well, we may have
to re-evaluate that.
JASON KAVANAGH: When the
Model 3 was launched,
it was purported to be the
$35,000 entry-level Tesla.
While that might
be the case, Tesla
is not shipping the $35,000
variant of the Model 3.
They're only shipping
a long-range variance.
And once you have
even a bare minimum
of options like this one--
I mean, this one's
sticker price is $55,000.
So we're in a totally different
segment than the other two
cars, which are substantially
less expensive than this one.
Tesla's Autopilot system
makes Nissan Pro-PILOT Assist
look like it's in diapers.
And in a way, it is.
It's Nissan's first attempt
at a semi-autonomous driving
mode, whereas Tesla has
had several years now
of real-world use of Autopilot.
And they've accumulated
a lot of data.
With that said, it's
not a perfect system.
We've discovered some
issues with it in the past.
But the continual
software updates
are a means to
address limitations,
not just in Autopilot, but
in any system in the car.
So again, pros and
cons with being
at the leading edge of things.
CALVIN KIM: Definitely one
of the coolest features
of the LEAF is Pro-PILOT Assist.
Now, it's not an
autonomous driving system.
What it is, though, is
a very, very connected
driver-assist system.
Now, just one button push
on the steering wheel
enables the system.
And then to turn it on, you just
activate your cruise control.
Now, what that gives you
is adaptive cruise control,
which keeps the distance from
ourselves and the car in front.
It does lane centering to--
keeps the car in the
center of the road.
And it'll even bring
you to a complete stop.
It's not a self-driving car.
All it's doing is just
keeping it in the center
and at a safe distance
from the car in front.
In an interesting twist of
fate, this system actually
works pretty darn good, even
alongside the Tesla's Autopilot
system.
Now, the Tesla has
the advantage of a GPS
and a connected system, where
it knows road conditions
to a certain extent.
The Nissan does not
have that feature set.
But considering the price
premium that Autopilot has
and that Tesla has, we believe
Pro-PILOT is a fantastic
addition to the Nissan LEAF.
DAN EDMUNDS: The thing
about the Bolt EV
is while I like
the way it drives,
I'd trade some of its range
for a nicer interior and better
seats.
JASON KAVANAGH: Yeah.
And while the Model
3 is definitely
the best driving,
most capable EV here,
you're going to pay
for the privilege.
The least expensive Model
3 you can get is $50,000.
The $36,000 version
just doesn't exist yet.
CALVIN KIM: Speaking of price,
that's the Nissan LEAF's forte.
It's the least expensive.
But it's also one of the more
comfortable out of the three,
which begs the question,
which of these three EVs
is the right one for you guys?
DAN EDMUNDS: Well, for me,
151 miles of range is enough.
And I do like those
seats, so yeah, the LEAF.
JASON KAVANAGH: Yeah.
For me, the cost is the
single overriding factor.
And while I don't think the
Nissan LEAF is necessarily
the best driving one
here, its price point
is really attractive.
So that's the one for me.
CALVIN KIM: Well,
we're unanimous.
It's the LEAF for
me also, thanks
to its price and practicality.
DAN EDMUNDS: But I
do reserve the right
to change my mind
when the $36,000 Tesla
Model 3 becomes available.
For more videos,
click Subscribe.
[MUSIC PLAYING]

2017 Chevy BOLT vs. Chevy VOLT | DGDG.COM

Del Grande Dealer Group:

***Correction Adds 90 miles of range in 30 minutes when
using a DC charger.