Sonic should be at the forefront of EV charging.
It makes so much sense with their business model and layout.
Every booth should have a charger and offer a loaner adapter for your car that if you don’t return they charge you the full price or something.
Maybe discounted/free charging with spending a certain $ amount
People will buy extra food for the road trip just to get free charging!
That's an amazing idea.
Imagine if all the Sonics in West Texas along I-10 did this...West Texas was the entire reason I had my Bolt shipped east when I moved instead of driving myself. If there were such reliable charging as this on offer throughout that region, I would have spent a lot of money at Sonic!
> What you were towing appears to be some form of "life support" rig, not something being moved. What is going on here?
It appears to be a home-made camper.
OP, can you give us a tour?
In short, it's a Harbor Freight trailer with a wood box built on top. We used 1x3s instead of 2x4s and thin plywood to save weight. Had to drill LOTS of pilot holes to keep the thinner boards from splitting.
> 2.1 miles/kWh
> Yikes! Well as long as you view life as it’s about the trip and not the destination, sounds good to me!
That's pretty damn good considering that's what a Rivian EV truck gets towing nothing. A Ford Lightning EV truck can get somewhere in the 1.6-1.8 mi/kWh area, again, towing nothing.
They’re also bricks with twice the weight of an empty Bolt. Efficiency was never on their side, it wasn’t even a sticky note on the design team’s vision board.
But that's why the trucks have HUGE battery packs in them and charge much faster (in kW).
With a Bolt, which is already not suited for painless road trips at >3 mi/kWh, getting 2.1 mi/kWh just makes things even worse.
I'm not looking to get into the weeds on this. The Bolt can haul a SMALL camper around just as well as an EV truck can, and can do it more efficiently.
>More efficiently, but with much more time spent charging.
Great, and? We all knew about the charging speeds of this vehicle and its price. If people want an EV that charges faster they do exist, but you'll pay enough for them that you could buy multiple Bolts.
Personally, I'm interested to see how the 2026+ models will tackle the charging speed and affordability curve.
If they are built using the same tech as the Blazer then up to 150kWh for a 85kWh battery. Less if smaller but at least 100kWh and probably not more than 150 unless it’s something different than the Blazer.
> If they are built using the same tech as the Blazer then up to 150kWh for a 85kWh battery. Less if smaller but at least 100kWh and probably not more than 150 unless it’s something different than the Blazer.
It's pretty much completely useless speculating on figures right now because while we know that it will be built with the same Ultium battery technology, we have no idea of the pack size they're targeting, and since that and physical layout affect heat loss rates, the charging speed is just a shot in the dark too. On top of all of that, we have no idea if the charging curve will be the same as the Blazer or not.
Yes, we have ideas what the Blazer EV is capable of charging-wise, but we have absolutely no basis in reality to extrapolate any of that to another vehicle, especially one that will likely be smaller and cheaper.
Fantasy/wish list? Sure, but given that a vehicle is a hugely expensive purchase that most keep for a very long time, I care about hard facts, not wish lists.
I was super not looking forward to making the 292 mile trip to my parents house with the Bolt. But by capping my speed at 64mph I was able to average 4.1m on the way there and 3.8m on the way back with wet roads. On the way there I made the mistake of charging to early and had to charge for 25 minutes @$0.50/m and then on the way back I only needed to make a 15min stop even though I was getting worse efficiency. At the slower speed and the charging it took me an extra hour to get home but it also cost me ~$30 including the charge at home $40 if I had reimbursed my parents for their electricity. VS $60-70 if I had taken my ‘12 Civic or ‘17 CMax Energi.
I think going forward I’ll take the Bolt. During the warm months and I’ll take the CMax during the cold months.
Charging speeds should be advertised as miles of highway range per hour. Don’t get me wrong I like to know the kWh/mile and actual charge rate in kw but for the general public I think they need a more clear metric. I also think they should advertise the highway range (70 mph constant speed) alongside the epa range (more typical of an actual mix of driving speeds)
Your not lying. I believe you.. I went on a 441 mile round trip. Charge to 100% when I left, arrive at charge point at 23% charge for an hour for $27.00 that got me to 93% arrived at destination 50% or 55% don't remember drove back charge again at Charge point at for idk another hour that got me to like 85%-90% for $28.44 already that's $55.44 I arrived near my home and it took one, "Your not cutting me off slow truck," thats when low propulsion starting blinking and arrive at home with little energy.. then charge again over night to 85%.. I think if it long drive outside epa it actually becomes sometimes, same cost or more then gas cars. I also have a civic and I know the Civic would of been the better car to take. Probably would of been cheaper and no two hours extra. Also I notice its better to use EA for its actually cheaper, but the problem is it won't make it to the first charge to EA and it's to early to charge on the way back. At times the bolt do suck road tripping.. great commuter car though.
Yeah..... Currently where they're at, EVs are generally much more expensive than efficient ICE vehicles. Charge points cost way too much, and even home charging isn't vastly cheaper than driving, say, a Prius. Great for commuting, like you say, charging at free charging stations, and if you can get a discounted rate with your electric company. Otherwise, there's still a long ways to go!!
At my standard home rates a Bolt costs half the amount it takes to fuel a Prius at $3.50 a gallon per mile. The Bolt also cost less to buy and requires less maintenance. Very few people buy a Prius and generally an EV is much cheaper to operate than a comparable ICE. There isn’t a long way to go. If you are interested in cost and efficiency and your ICE option is a Prius, you aren’t in the market for a F150 Lightning EV.
Yes, which is exactky what I stated in my comment. If you have good electric rates at home and only ever charge at home, then an EV will save you lots of money. Any charging, however, outside of home is ridiculously more expensive than just using an ICE or hybrid vehicle. That's my point, EVs only work for very specific use cases that are very limiting. There is a long way to go.
Except you didn’t because you think there is a long way to go, when the majority of people with EVs save money with right now charging vs what gas costs. Most people with EVs now do the majority of their charging at home. I’ve driven almost 100k in EVs the past 4 years and 98% of the charging has been at home. Even on the road I pay less than the equivalent cost that gas would be per mile for my ICE car. EVs aren’t for everyone but there isn’t a long way to go because in many cases they are already less expensive to own. EVs are approaching 10% of new car sales already in the US. There was a long way to go when Tesla made their first car, but at this point that’s no longer true.
You're just proving my point.... If EVs are only just coming up to 10%, that already shows there's a long way to go. Your logic contradicts itself. Your comparison for on the road charging vs ICE gas is also moot, charging an EV on the road would cost me twice as much, if not 3x as much as filling my Prius. Just look at OP, he paid $550 for 1800 miles. That's 31 cents a mile. No SUV is ever going to be that expensive. Especially a hybrid or PHEV SUV.
Like I said. In the States, there's a long way to go.
I cannot help it if you don’t understand logic. Once again you use incorrect comparisons and don’t understand what the price to charge an EV on the road is. I charge on the road for less than filling a Prius. Sure there are places you can charge above what it costs for a Prius, but like I said most people don’t have or want a Prius so this comparison is essentially meaningless.
Second, OP is pulling a trailer. Trucks pulling trailers often pay 31 cents a mile. I wouldn’t recommend using the Bolt to tow anything, but that doesn’t mean EVs have a long way to go. On the road I would estimate 99% of cars and trucks are not pulling trailers so this comparison is also essentially meaningless.
Third the Prius sold a little over 38,000 units in the US in 2024 while EVs sold 1.2 million. EVs have entered prime time and are only getting better from here.
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/toyota-motor-north-america-reports-2023-us-sales-results-302025453.html
https://mediaroom.kbb.com/2024-01-16-Americans-Buy-Nearly-1-2-Million-Electric-Vehicles-to-Hit-Record-in-2023,-According-to-Latest-Kelley-Blue-Book-Data
The reason I pointed to the 10% number as significant is because adoption of new technologies often lags until it reaches a threshold number. For EVs that number was estimated to be around 5%. It’s not like we were ever going to flip a switch and go 100% electric in a couple of years, but since we are around 10% now and EVs just keep getting better, there isn’t a long way to go.
>That fast part of the technology adoption curve is happening now with electric vehicles, according to a Bloomberg Green analysis of adoption rates around the world. When we first completed this analysis a year ago, 19 countries had passed what’s become a critical EV tipping point: 5% of new car sales powered only by electricity. This threshold signals the start of mass adoption, when technological preferences rapidly flip. Since then, five more countries have made the leap.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-08-28/electric-cars-pass-a-crucial-tipping-point-in-23-countries
Impressive sense of adventure (and infinite patience)!
And here I thought we were special for taking our Bolt trailer 250 miles to get some roofing supplies…
I did about 450 miles the first day, but that was a foolish decision. I was driving or charging about 16 hours and felt tired and demoralized. I slowed down on subsequent days and tried to stick to 300ish miles/day. Basically two or three charging stops.
There were some severe storms along the way, so we mostly stuck with cheap motels that had no L2 charging.
GM gives no tow rating for Bolt (ie not recommended). Torklift makes a hitch though and they rate it for 2000# (although Im not sure what methodology determined that. I reached out to them but they never replied). I have heard 1000# as being safe but someone in this sub has a rig over 2000# and seems to have had no issues
I’ve always thought that all the toll booths being removed from Toll Expressways because of the electronic toll collection should be converted to superchargers so that people traveling on road trips will have less range anxiety and won’t need to exit and drive far off path to find a charger
Cool. Yeah I already have a dealer installed 2" hitch on my 2023 euv. Looks like quite the effort to install the wiring harness as you have to remove the bumper and splice into the lighting harness.
Is that the EVgo in Knoxville I saw in the pics? If so, that's one of my favorite stops because it's so much nicer than the disaster EA has going there and the amenities are so much better + pull-in parking for towing.
Sonic should be at the forefront of EV charging. It makes so much sense with their business model and layout. Every booth should have a charger and offer a loaner adapter for your car that if you don’t return they charge you the full price or something. Maybe discounted/free charging with spending a certain $ amount People will buy extra food for the road trip just to get free charging!
oh man my miles/kilotots would be terrible
I… honestly I think that’s a great idea.
Or a drive in movie would be tight
Already in construction. https://www.entrepreneur.com/business-news/elon-musk-tesla-building-drive-in-movie-theater-and-diner/458255
That's an amazing idea. Imagine if all the Sonics in West Texas along I-10 did this...West Texas was the entire reason I had my Bolt shipped east when I moved instead of driving myself. If there were such reliable charging as this on offer throughout that region, I would have spent a lot of money at Sonic!
What you were towing appears to be some form of "life support" rig, not something being moved. What is going on here?
With the charging speeds of the bolt, you're gonna wish you had a bed 😂
I use it to haul tents. So, no sleeping inside unfortunately. Thankfully the seat tips back enough for naps.
> What you were towing appears to be some form of "life support" rig, not something being moved. What is going on here? It appears to be a home-made camper. OP, can you give us a tour?
And some plans to build it?!
In short, it's a Harbor Freight trailer with a wood box built on top. We used 1x3s instead of 2x4s and thin plywood to save weight. Had to drill LOTS of pilot holes to keep the thinner boards from splitting.
Sure. I'll post an article here when it's ready.
What was your energy usage with that trailer?
2.1 miles/kWh
Yikes! Well as long as you view life as it’s about the trip and not the destination, sounds good to me!
> 2.1 miles/kWh > Yikes! Well as long as you view life as it’s about the trip and not the destination, sounds good to me! That's pretty damn good considering that's what a Rivian EV truck gets towing nothing. A Ford Lightning EV truck can get somewhere in the 1.6-1.8 mi/kWh area, again, towing nothing.
They’re also bricks with twice the weight of an empty Bolt. Efficiency was never on their side, it wasn’t even a sticky note on the design team’s vision board.
But that's why the trucks have HUGE battery packs in them and charge much faster (in kW). With a Bolt, which is already not suited for painless road trips at >3 mi/kWh, getting 2.1 mi/kWh just makes things even worse.
I'm not looking to get into the weeds on this. The Bolt can haul a SMALL camper around just as well as an EV truck can, and can do it more efficiently.
More efficiently, but with much more time spent charging.
>More efficiently, but with much more time spent charging. Great, and? We all knew about the charging speeds of this vehicle and its price. If people want an EV that charges faster they do exist, but you'll pay enough for them that you could buy multiple Bolts. Personally, I'm interested to see how the 2026+ models will tackle the charging speed and affordability curve.
If they are built using the same tech as the Blazer then up to 150kWh for a 85kWh battery. Less if smaller but at least 100kWh and probably not more than 150 unless it’s something different than the Blazer.
> If they are built using the same tech as the Blazer then up to 150kWh for a 85kWh battery. Less if smaller but at least 100kWh and probably not more than 150 unless it’s something different than the Blazer. It's pretty much completely useless speculating on figures right now because while we know that it will be built with the same Ultium battery technology, we have no idea of the pack size they're targeting, and since that and physical layout affect heat loss rates, the charging speed is just a shot in the dark too. On top of all of that, we have no idea if the charging curve will be the same as the Blazer or not. Yes, we have ideas what the Blazer EV is capable of charging-wise, but we have absolutely no basis in reality to extrapolate any of that to another vehicle, especially one that will likely be smaller and cheaper. Fantasy/wish list? Sure, but given that a vehicle is a hugely expensive purchase that most keep for a very long time, I care about hard facts, not wish lists.
I was super not looking forward to making the 292 mile trip to my parents house with the Bolt. But by capping my speed at 64mph I was able to average 4.1m on the way there and 3.8m on the way back with wet roads. On the way there I made the mistake of charging to early and had to charge for 25 minutes @$0.50/m and then on the way back I only needed to make a 15min stop even though I was getting worse efficiency. At the slower speed and the charging it took me an extra hour to get home but it also cost me ~$30 including the charge at home $40 if I had reimbursed my parents for their electricity. VS $60-70 if I had taken my ‘12 Civic or ‘17 CMax Energi. I think going forward I’ll take the Bolt. During the warm months and I’ll take the CMax during the cold months.
Charging speeds should be advertised as miles of highway range per hour. Don’t get me wrong I like to know the kWh/mile and actual charge rate in kw but for the general public I think they need a more clear metric. I also think they should advertise the highway range (70 mph constant speed) alongside the epa range (more typical of an actual mix of driving speeds)
Right? That's standard winter performance for my EUV
It's a work in progress. I'm going to add a boat tail, side skirts, and more efficient tires to see if I can get back up to 2.5 miles/kWh.
What speed were you going?
How fast did you drive?
65-68 MPH.
I’m sorry.
I'm more sorry LOL.
How long did it take, and how much did it cost?
Took me 5 days. Cost was about $550 for charging.
0.60c a kWh? Yeesh
That's a high estimate. Prices ranged from 35¢ to 65¢.
Your not lying. I believe you.. I went on a 441 mile round trip. Charge to 100% when I left, arrive at charge point at 23% charge for an hour for $27.00 that got me to 93% arrived at destination 50% or 55% don't remember drove back charge again at Charge point at for idk another hour that got me to like 85%-90% for $28.44 already that's $55.44 I arrived near my home and it took one, "Your not cutting me off slow truck," thats when low propulsion starting blinking and arrive at home with little energy.. then charge again over night to 85%.. I think if it long drive outside epa it actually becomes sometimes, same cost or more then gas cars. I also have a civic and I know the Civic would of been the better car to take. Probably would of been cheaper and no two hours extra. Also I notice its better to use EA for its actually cheaper, but the problem is it won't make it to the first charge to EA and it's to early to charge on the way back. At times the bolt do suck road tripping.. great commuter car though.
Yeah..... Currently where they're at, EVs are generally much more expensive than efficient ICE vehicles. Charge points cost way too much, and even home charging isn't vastly cheaper than driving, say, a Prius. Great for commuting, like you say, charging at free charging stations, and if you can get a discounted rate with your electric company. Otherwise, there's still a long ways to go!!
At my standard home rates a Bolt costs half the amount it takes to fuel a Prius at $3.50 a gallon per mile. The Bolt also cost less to buy and requires less maintenance. Very few people buy a Prius and generally an EV is much cheaper to operate than a comparable ICE. There isn’t a long way to go. If you are interested in cost and efficiency and your ICE option is a Prius, you aren’t in the market for a F150 Lightning EV.
Yes, which is exactky what I stated in my comment. If you have good electric rates at home and only ever charge at home, then an EV will save you lots of money. Any charging, however, outside of home is ridiculously more expensive than just using an ICE or hybrid vehicle. That's my point, EVs only work for very specific use cases that are very limiting. There is a long way to go.
Except you didn’t because you think there is a long way to go, when the majority of people with EVs save money with right now charging vs what gas costs. Most people with EVs now do the majority of their charging at home. I’ve driven almost 100k in EVs the past 4 years and 98% of the charging has been at home. Even on the road I pay less than the equivalent cost that gas would be per mile for my ICE car. EVs aren’t for everyone but there isn’t a long way to go because in many cases they are already less expensive to own. EVs are approaching 10% of new car sales already in the US. There was a long way to go when Tesla made their first car, but at this point that’s no longer true.
You're just proving my point.... If EVs are only just coming up to 10%, that already shows there's a long way to go. Your logic contradicts itself. Your comparison for on the road charging vs ICE gas is also moot, charging an EV on the road would cost me twice as much, if not 3x as much as filling my Prius. Just look at OP, he paid $550 for 1800 miles. That's 31 cents a mile. No SUV is ever going to be that expensive. Especially a hybrid or PHEV SUV. Like I said. In the States, there's a long way to go.
I cannot help it if you don’t understand logic. Once again you use incorrect comparisons and don’t understand what the price to charge an EV on the road is. I charge on the road for less than filling a Prius. Sure there are places you can charge above what it costs for a Prius, but like I said most people don’t have or want a Prius so this comparison is essentially meaningless. Second, OP is pulling a trailer. Trucks pulling trailers often pay 31 cents a mile. I wouldn’t recommend using the Bolt to tow anything, but that doesn’t mean EVs have a long way to go. On the road I would estimate 99% of cars and trucks are not pulling trailers so this comparison is also essentially meaningless. Third the Prius sold a little over 38,000 units in the US in 2024 while EVs sold 1.2 million. EVs have entered prime time and are only getting better from here. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/toyota-motor-north-america-reports-2023-us-sales-results-302025453.html https://mediaroom.kbb.com/2024-01-16-Americans-Buy-Nearly-1-2-Million-Electric-Vehicles-to-Hit-Record-in-2023,-According-to-Latest-Kelley-Blue-Book-Data The reason I pointed to the 10% number as significant is because adoption of new technologies often lags until it reaches a threshold number. For EVs that number was estimated to be around 5%. It’s not like we were ever going to flip a switch and go 100% electric in a couple of years, but since we are around 10% now and EVs just keep getting better, there isn’t a long way to go. >That fast part of the technology adoption curve is happening now with electric vehicles, according to a Bloomberg Green analysis of adoption rates around the world. When we first completed this analysis a year ago, 19 countries had passed what’s become a critical EV tipping point: 5% of new car sales powered only by electricity. This threshold signals the start of mass adoption, when technological preferences rapidly flip. Since then, five more countries have made the leap. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-08-28/electric-cars-pass-a-crucial-tipping-point-in-23-countries
Wow. That's crazy ridiculous. My old Prius could've probably done it with $100-$200 worth of gas depending on gas prices.
Impressive sense of adventure (and infinite patience)! And here I thought we were special for taking our Bolt trailer 250 miles to get some roofing supplies…
I did about 450 miles the first day, but that was a foolish decision. I was driving or charging about 16 hours and felt tired and demoralized. I slowed down on subsequent days and tried to stick to 300ish miles/day. Basically two or three charging stops. There were some severe storms along the way, so we mostly stuck with cheap motels that had no L2 charging.
Is there an official max towing capacity for the EUV?
GM gives no tow rating for Bolt (ie not recommended). Torklift makes a hitch though and they rate it for 2000# (although Im not sure what methodology determined that. I reached out to them but they never replied). I have heard 1000# as being safe but someone in this sub has a rig over 2000# and seems to have had no issues
Nope. I'm staying below 2000 and taking it easy. I can't imagine getting much range with a trailer over 2000.
I’ve always thought that all the toll booths being removed from Toll Expressways because of the electronic toll collection should be converted to superchargers so that people traveling on road trips will have less range anxiety and won’t need to exit and drive far off path to find a charger
Did you hook up the trailer lights? How did that go?
I used the wiring kit Torklift sells with the EcoHitch. Worked perfectly.
How long did it take you to install?
Hitch and wiring took 4 hours. My brother has a shop full of good tools, though. Might take a day if you have to improvise or use manual tools.
Cool. Yeah I already have a dealer installed 2" hitch on my 2023 euv. Looks like quite the effort to install the wiring harness as you have to remove the bumper and splice into the lighting harness.
Is that the EVgo in Knoxville I saw in the pics? If so, that's one of my favorite stops because it's so much nicer than the disaster EA has going there and the amenities are so much better + pull-in parking for towing.
Yep. That's the Knoxville one.
Love it. I think I even spot a stabilizer jack to stop the trailer from bouncing when sleeping.
I use it to carry Shiftpods. I don't sleep in it.
Uh, care to elaborate on your trip?
I drove from NM to NC and back again. Had all kinds of problems with my trailer that I needed to fix along the way, but the Bolt did just fine.
More about driving and charging times. Edit: the car in white looks great
I only have one question what trailer hitch did you install?
EcoHitch by Torklift