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Chevy Bolt EV Mom

When Chevy announced it was dropping the price of the Chevy Bolt EV by $6,000 earlier this year to $25,600, it went from a good EV option to a great one. This is a 5-star-safety-rated sporty hatchback EV with 259 miles of real range, lots of space inside, and a great interior.

So good, in fact, I decided to do the unthinkable: buy one for my 70-something mom. Here’s how it went.

As a background, I’ve owned mostly Teslas (S, X, 3, Y) since 2013, and one of the things I like most about that experience is not having to deal with car dealers. I leased a 2017 Chevy Bolt from 2017 to 2020 and loved the car, but again, didn’t love the dealership experience on either end of the Bolt ownership. I went over this in my Bolt ownership retrospective.

With Chevy’s help, we identified a Bolt that was being sold for MSRP on its way to Serpentini Chevrolet in NE Ohio. I remember their ads from growing up – “American, and prooooouuuud of it!” – and even though the name sounds like “snake” in Italian, they’ve been around for a long time.

I spoke with a salesperson there about my requirements. “Just the car, please. No upgrades. No maintenance plan. No nothing.” We were very quickly on the same page. One nice thing about not being nearby was that I didn’t have to go into the dealership and deal with waiting, paperwork, and of course, the upselling and haggling.

After some minor delays, the car arrived on the lot. After taxes, destination, and other typical miscellaneous charges, the $26,500 Bolt EV price had grown to over $28,692.04. Backward Ohio doesn’t have any EV incentives and, in fact, charges an extra $200/year on registration for disincentivizing EVs. This kind of thinking is indicative of the governance that sends forward-thinking people packing for the coasts – I digress.

I wired the money to the dealership’s bank account and told my mom and brother that it was plated and ready to be picked up the next day. After calling the insurance company and having it added to their plan, they went to the dealership the next day.

Dealerships suck

Did I mention dealerships suck? They almost universally do. I had almost forgotten how bad my experience was in New York when I picked up mine in 2017. The salespeople there in Ohio decided to hit my 70-year-old mom, who doesn’t know much about cars, let alone EVs, with a bullshit maintenance plan upsell. (Free oil changes!) According to her, it wasn’t an option – it was just a choice between that one and a more expensive one. She wrote a check for almost $2000 even though I had already paid for the car and told them I didn’t want any of their BS maintenance plans. My brother called me and told me what was happening.

I picked up the phone and started screaming at those $%#* cockroaches because, apparently, a customer who wanted to buy a car sight unseen with cash wasn’t enough of a gift – they had to try to steal a few weeks of retirement money from a widow. I’m not still mad, I swear.

To their credit (?). they did quickly tear up my mom’s check and apologize, and I guess they have a system in place that incentivizes this behavior. Also, Serpentini did originally offer the car at MSRP, which was decent in those times. Shoutout to Chris there for the help.

After the remote scene I caused, they gave my mom and brother a quick rundown of the car. My mom drove the car home timidly but figured out the car pretty quickly. She’s coming from a 2010 Prius, so it wasn’t night and day different.

Qmerit charger install

One genuinely genius move that Chevy made was offering either $1,000 of EVgo fast charging credit or $1,000 toward a Qmerit home EV charging unit install as part of buying a Bolt. That’s going to get new EV owners off on the right foot, and I was excited to get a Level 2 charger installed in my childhood home.

Unfortunately, Qmerit never responded to the order request, and again, almost a month after the car purchase, I had to intervene. I called Qmerit, and they said the dealer never approved the work order. I called the dealer again, and they said they sent the order to Qmerit. I rang up the Chevrolet concierge to hopefully mediate, but everyone just kept pointing fingers at each other. Finally, I did a three-way conference call and told them all that the call wasn’t going to end until someone took responsibility for this.

Finally, I got a guy at Qmerit to take responsibility and project manage the operation. He got approval from the dealership manually and found an installer near the dealership but 30 miles from my mom’s house. The first estimate was $2,500 (so we’d pay $1,500). That included a device necessitated because the 80A breaker box was nearly full. We had a decommissioned breaker for a hot tub that made this unnecessary.

I had specced out the install with a local electrician who said it would cost $500, which broke down to about $250 in parts and $250 in labor. Inspection was separate.

I got a second installer from Qmerit to offer it for $1600, which would have still cost us more than just having our local guy do it. I showed the $500 estimate to the Qmerit project manager and finally got an under-$1,000 estimate that would be reimbursed with Chevy’s generous offer. Days later, the 240V plug was installed.

The post-mortem on Qmerit that I sent to Chevy:

  • Qmerit says that hundreds of new Chevy Bolt owners go through this same problem.
  • It sounds like the system that communicates between dealers and Qmerit often breaks down, and it is up to the customer to get everyone on the same page. Bad experience.
  • Qmerit needs a dedicated project manager to keep everyone in line. They obfuscated the situation and solution until they knew I was going to keep calling them. I imagine many give up.
  • The installers told me that plugs were dumb and wanted to do straight wire. I think this option is best for some but not all – should be some literature about that to help customers decide.  
  • Two installers told me that Qmerit takes a 20-30% cut, so they pass on the extra cost to the customer. So a real $750 install will use the full $1000 credit.

240V Level 2 charger standard on EUV, but only 120V in EV

So the dealer and Qmerit both dropped the ball earlier so it was my turn to fail. I was under the impression that the Bolt EV and EUV both came with 240V Level 2 charge cables (Webasto Go OEM). Turns out that the Bolt EUV comes with it standard while it is a $295 option on the EV. The Bolt EV comes with an old 120V Level 1 charger, so my mom didn’t have anything to plug into the 240V outlet like I had assumed.

She doesn’t drive much and was doing fine with the 110V charger, which puts on about 4 miles/hour of charge. That equates to about 60 miles in the 15 hours she’s not using it, more than she almost ever drives in a day.

240V Webasto Chevy Bolt

In the short term, I sent one of these adapters which allows the Level 1 charger that comes with the Bolt EV to accept 240V (x12A) and charge at almost 3kW, which means a full charge from dead (65kWh) can happen in 24 hours. I plan to have a proper 240V Level 2 charging option there by the end of the month. I have to wonder how much GM is saving by putting a Level 1 charger in the car vs. a $295 Level 2 charger option. I bet it is under $100, and I’m pretty sure people would rather pay extra for the better charger.

Mom loves the Bolt EV

Initial hesitation gave way to outright love of the little vehicle. Things she didn’t know she would love:

  • Always warm when starting. Can start heat in the garage.
  • Easy to get in and out. Hatchback easy to open and close.
  • Wireless CarPlay great for Music and Maps. Easy to make and take calls.
  • Headlights are brighter than the Prius. Easier to drive at night.
  • Loves rear view monitor when backing up. Small size makes parking/garage easy.
  • No more range anxiety after first few weeks.
  • Loves talking about it with strangers who ask about EVs.
  • “Smooth!”

Doesn’t like:

  • Wipers. They aren’t in sync, and they come from both angles, which is distracting.
  • Has left it on a few times because it is so quiet.

Electrek’s take

It wasn’t an easy journey, but it was worth it. The dealer experience is still broken in my opinion compared to EV players like Tesla, Lucid, and Rivian. I’m not even sure it is fixable. Ford and Volvo/Polestar are trying to spin off their EV groups so they can escape dealer headaches. Chevy and Ford have told me they are trying to eliminate and threaten dealers who do markups. But they still proliferate. My best advice to consumers is just hold your nose and get the dealer experience over with. Try to do as much over the phone or on email as possible and stick to your guns when picking up the vehicle.

But the final Bolt EV product is fantastic, even for someone like my mom who isn’t terribly interested in learning new technology or changing how she does things. Yes, the Bolt EV has slow 54kw DC fast charging, slippery FWD, and other minor shortcomings. But there are so many positives for every negative, and for my mom, who will rarely (if ever) go on a 250+ mile trip, fast charging is moot.

So my mom loves it, and yours probably will too.

I had a chance to drive her Bolt EV when I drove through town (with the absurdly big in comparison Ford F-150). It was an absolute pleasure, especially for city driving and parking. So much so, I think I might get one of my own.

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New EV Totem from Blink could solve electric fuel’s biggest problem

Published

9 hours ago

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August 13, 2025

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New EV Totem from Blink could solve electric fuel's biggest problem

View of Breezewood, Pennsylvania from the northwest end of the commercial strip. I-70 is visible in the foreground.

EV charging is everywhere now, and it’s reliable, accessible, and affordable. There thousands of public chargers are already out there – and, in some places, you’ll find more plugs than pumps. But if you don’t drive electric, you’d never know it. That’s because gas stations don’t just exist, they announce themselves with giant, illuminated signs that can be seen for miles, while EV chargers tend to just sort of sit, nestled away in the back of the parking lot.

That’s why the new EV Totem from Blink Charging is such a big deal. It doesn’t just charge your car, it stands tall, lights up, and tells the world: electric fuel is here, now.

If you were on a road trip, and your tank was low, how confident would you be in your ability to find gas if you were greeted by the sight of Breezewood, PA, above? We might shake our heads at late adopters of EVs, we might dismiss the things we don’t notice ourselves, but the fact remains that my father-in-law can drive some sea-to-shining-sea of this still (relatively) great country with no plan, no map, and no app, and feel pretty secure in his ability to find gas.

Can you honestly, before spirits of Henry, Lee, God, and the DSM-V, look at that picture and believe that your parents would have similar confidence in their ability to find charging?

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Now, imagine that all those thousands of EV chargers that you and I both know are out there. Imagine they were Blink EV Totems. Twenty feet tall, fully illuminated, and proudly proclaimed that here, weary traveler, was a place that you could – if you had an EV – simply pull up and plug in. Just like the gas stations out there have been proclaiming for nearly a hundred years.

Do you think they’d feel better slipping behind the wheel of an EV then?

No need to imagine

Co-developed by Blink Charging and Universal Media, the EV Totem concept combines Blink car chargers with elevated, 55″ screens to help maximize their eye-catching visibility. It’s a clever solution, and, while we’ve seen chargers with screens before, lifting the screens up above the cars in a parking lot makes them significantly more visible.

But because it’s 2025 and everything is terrible, instead of the EV Totem’s screens simply announcing the availability of reliable EV charging nearby or educating consumers about off-peak savings and duck curves, they’re designed to serve non-stop ads while collecting data that, “provides real-time insights for brands and property partners.”

“The EV Totem is designed to transform EV charging into a smarter, connected platform — one that delivers value for drivers while unlocking new opportunities for brands, property partners, and communities,” said Todd Cohen, Co-founder and CEO of Universal Media LLC, without even the slightest hint of remorse.

Blink’s EV Totem units are available now, with the first units already in service at Mountain View Village, a retail and lifestyle destination (read: strip mall) in SLC.

Electrek’s Jo’s Take

Electrify America gets it, via Electrify America.

Visibility matters, and electric charging stations are almost totally invisible in real life. What that means for most drivers is that, unless they’re in a Tesla or using a third-party app, they might have a tough time seeing public charging stations, even if they’re relatively close as the crow flies. Even if they’re plentiful.

The reality is that all those signs advertising gasoline create confidence on a subliminal level that gas, snacks, and restrooms are everywhere. Meanwhile, the EV charging signs (where they exist at all) are just too small, too bashful to be effective. EV charging is invisible to generations of ICE drivers, and we – as EV ambassadors – need to put ourselves in those drivers’ shoes, meet them where they are, and demand that the electric fuel industry do a better job of selling that same institutional kind of confidence.

SOURCES: Blink, Universal EVX; featured image by Ben Schumin, under Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 2.5 Generic license.

If you’re considering going solar, it’s always a good idea to get quotes from a few installers. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them. 

Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.

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Tesla lawsuits pile up as EVs enjoy their 2nd best US month EVER!

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12 hours ago

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August 12, 2025

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Tesla lawsuits pile up as EVs enjoy their 2nd best US month EVER!

The floodgates are open following a landmark $243 million ruling against Tesla in a wrongful death suit in Florida, and now that same lawyer is thirsty for more. He’s not alone, either, and America’s leading EV brand seems to be dodging court issues in California and even from its own shareholders! We’ve got all this and more on today’s ruinous episode of Quick Charge!

We’ve also got some killer deals on J.D Power award-winning 2026 BMW electric and plug-in hybrid models and a massive, 82 MW community solar project happening right here in Chicago.

Today’s episode is brought to you by Retrospec—makers of sleek, powerful e-bikes and outdoor gear built for everyday adventure. Check out Retrospec’s viral city ebike, the Beaumont Rev 2, made with a vintage-inspired frame design and modern electric features, all for just $999! Electrek listeners can get 10% off their next ride until August 14 with the exclusive code ELECTREK10 only at retrospec.com.

Prefer listening to your podcasts? Audio-only versions of Quick Charge are now available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn, and our RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.

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New episodes of Quick Charge are recorded, usually, Monday through Thursday (most weeks, anyway). We’ll be posting bonus audio content from time to time as well, so be sure to follow and subscribe so you don’t miss a minute of Electrek’s high-voltage daily news.

Got news? Let us know!
Drop us a line at tips@electrek.co. You can also rate us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or recommend us in Overcast to help more people discover the show.

If you’re considering going solar, it’s always a good idea to get quotes from a few installers. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them. 

Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.

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Anker SOLIX F2600 expanded bundle at new exclusive $1,799 low + PowerCore Reserve 60,000mAh station $80, Segway ZT3 Pro $900, more

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14 hours ago

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August 12, 2025

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Anker SOLIX F2600 expanded bundle at new exclusive ,799 low + PowerCore Reserve 60,000mAh station , Segway ZT3 Pro 0, more

Today’s Green Deals are almost exclusively about solar power, except for our lone EV deal. Headlining this edition is the exclusive $1,700 savings we’ve secured for our readers on the Anker SOLIX F2600 Portable Power Station with an expansion battery at a new $1,799 low. There’s also Segway’s special promotion taking its ZT3 Pro Smart All-Terrain Electric Scooter down to its second-best price of $900, as well as Anker’s PowerCore Reserve 60,000mAh Power Bank Station down at $80. From there, we also have Anker’s SOLIX C300 DC 90,000mAh Portable Power Station returning to its lowest price and a special EcoFlow promotion dropping 220W and 400W solar panels (as well as multi-bundles) to their best prices to date. Plus, all the hangover savings are at the bottom of the page, like yesterday’s first cash discount on Velotric’s new Breeze 1 Cruiser e-bike alongside bundled gear, Navee’s Back to School e-scooter sale, and more.

Head below for other New Green Deals we’ve found today and, of course, Electrek’s best EV buying and leasing deals. Also, check out the new Electrek Tesla Shop for the best deals on Tesla accessories.

Save an exclusive $1,700 on Anker’s SOLIX F2600 power station with an expansion battery at a new $1,799 low

We’ve secured an exclusive deal from Wellbots on the Anker SOLIX F2600 Portable Power Station with a BP2600 expansion battery for $1,798.56 shipped, after using the exclusive code 9TO5F2600 at checkout. You’d normally have to shell out $3,499 for this bundle at full price, which we’ve seen go as low as $2,399 in the past. You’re looking at a combined 49% markdown that cuts $1,700 off the tag in all, giving you the best price we have tracked on this expanded backup power solution.

A successor to the F2000 model, Anker’s SOLIX F2600 power station starts at an increased 2,560Wh LiFePO4 capacity that is then doubled thanks to the expansion battery inclusion to 5,120Wh. There are twelve output ports (including a TT-30 port for RV support) to connect devices and appliances, with the unit delivering up to 2,400W of continuous power that can surge as high as 2,800W – all within a convenient suitcase-like design complete with wheels for easier transport.

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The two main ways to recharge Anker’s SOLIX F2600 power station are either by utilizing its max 1,000W solar input that can have it back to 80% in around two hours, or you can activate its HyperFlash mode to charge to 80% via an AC outlet in one hour and 40 minutes. It comes rated for a 10-year lifespan of continuous use, so using it less often just means extended support for your backup needs, and offers the full array of remote smart controls through its companion app that you would expect.

man riding Segway ZT3 Pro electric scooter through mud puddle on dirt trail

Segway’s ZT3 Pro e-scooter brings Apple Find My and proximity locking to all-terrain adventures for $900

Following right alongside a similar deal we saw on Segway’s new F3 Electric KickScooter that is still going strong through August 17, the brand is offering a promotional discount on its ZT3 Pro Electric Scooter at $899.99 shipped through August 31, after using the code ZT3AUG100OFF at checkout, beating out Amazon pricing by $100. This model carries a $1,300 MSRP directly from the brand, but keeps down at $1,000 normally over at Amazon. We saw it hit a new $850 low last month during Prime Day, with the deal here being the next-best rate that matches its preorder launch deal from September for the first time. You’ll be saving $100 off the going rate ($400 off the MSRP), landing it just $50 above the one-time low.

If you want to learn more about this newer and smarter model, be sure to check out our original coverage of this deal here.

woman carrying Anker's PowerCore Reserve 60,000mAh power station by handle towards car in front of lake

Tote Anker’s PowerCore Reserve 60,000mAh station through the rest of summer and beyond for $80

By way of its official Amazon storefront, Anker is offering its popular PowerCore Reserve 60,000mAh Power Bank Station at $79.99 shipped in both colorways, which comes in $1 under the brand’s direct website pricing. You’d normally have to spend $150 for this model at full price, though discounts have been regularly keeping the costs down between $110 and $90 on average, with some falls lower to $80, like today, and one previous drop to the $75 low during Prime Day. Aside from that one-time appearance, you’re otherwise looking at the best price we have tracked, which gives you $70 off the going rate and lands it $8 under our previous mention from three weeks ago.

If you want to learn more about this popular portable charging solution, be sure to check out our original coverage of this deal here.

man and woman inside tent lit by Anker SOLIX C300 DC power station pop-up light

Anker’s SOLIX C300 power stations are portable 90,000mAh backup companions that start from $150

By way of its official Amazon storefront, Anker is offering its SOLIX C300 DC Portable Power Station at $149.99 shipped, matching the brand’s direct website pricing. You’d have to pay $250 for this unit at full price regularly, though discounts in 2025 have seen it go as low as $150, which was last seen in July’s Prime Day Sale event, with things otherwise seen repeating to $170 since June. You’re looking at another shot at the second best price we have tracked, giving you $100 off the going rate that is only beaten by the $140 low we last saw during Black Friday and Christmas sales.

If you want to learn more about this model, be sure to check out our original coverage of this deal here.

man setting up EcoFlow 220W solar panel next to power station in field in front of tent

Score up to 61% total savings on EcoFlow 220W and 400W solar panels and bundles at lowest prices starting from $254

As part of its current Home Backup Sale running through August 17, EcoFlow is offering an additional 15% off promotion on 220W and 400W solar panels (plus dual panel bundles). Things start at their lowest with the NextGen 220W Bifacial Portable Solar Panel at $254.15 shipped, after using the code ASOLAR15OFF at checkout for the extra savings, beating out Amazon’s pricing by $75. It’s already down from its full $649 price tag thanks to the sale, with the price having stayed above $300 with discounts until today. Not only has the brand dropped the initial pricing from $329 to $299, but the extra savings make the deal all the sweeter, cutting a total $395 off the going rate for a new all-time low price, alongside the other lows we’re seeing on the 220W bundle and 400W offers.

To learn more about these solar panels or to view the full lineup of solar panel deals, be sure to check out our original coverage of this promotion here.

Best Summer EV deals!

Best new Green Deals landing this week

The savings this week are also continuing to a collection of other markdowns. To the same tune as the offers above, these all help you take a more energy-conscious approach to your routine. Winter means you can lock in even better off-season price cuts on electric tools for the lawn while saving on EVs and tons of other gear.

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