Like many of you, I haven’t been going out much lately, not like the way I used to, but I still have errands that need to be done. Yes, even in this crazy year.
Also like many of you, most of my routine errands and family activities happen within a few miles of my house. The grocery store I like, “my” Target store, even the park where we have picnics, are all close to where I live.
Driving a gas-powered vehicle for short trips like that has always seemed wasteful and made me feel guilty, so when I was offered the Chevy Bolt EV for a week, I very happily agreed.
Bye bye, guilt!
Local Errands and Activities
“Car trips of under a mile add up to about 10 billion miles per year,” according to the 2009 U.S. National Household Transportation Survey (NHTS).
And this is essentially true for me when you take a peek at my errands and activities for the week, although the distances are closer to 2 miles, but you get the idea: I didn’t have to drive 20 miles to do any of these things.
I needed to go to Target to do a quick return and of course just take a look at whatever new arrivals they have…
My Target is 1.95 miles from my house.
Then we needed to get our weekly groceries from Trader Joe’s, which managed to fit very nicely in the hatchback area.
The Trader Joe’s we always go to is 1.21 miles away.
My son needed to practice his chipping, driving, and putting so his golf game doesn’t get rusty during distance learning (we have fingers crossed for a Spring season 2021)…
The local municipal golf course is 1.85 miles from our house.
I did my monthly trip to Costco to stock up on groceries and household supplies.
My Costco is 1.25 miles away.
And we wanted to get a little family fun in the mix, so we decided to have a picnic at one of our nearby parks. It was a lovely day, the sandwiches were good, and we had a nice family break.
Picnic Park is 1.35 miles from my house.
What if we could do those trips with an electric vehicle like the Bolt instead? Think of the savings in gas money, not to mention how much better it would be for the environment.
Related: Disconnect to Reconnect in the Chevy Bolt EV
The Chevy Bolt EV
The 2020 Chevy Bolt EV comes with loads of standard features, like an electric drive unit, lithium-ion battery, electronic transmission, teen driver settings, keyless start/push button, all with a 200 horsepower engine and a 259 mile range on a full charge.
It’s a 4-door hatchback and the one I drove was painted Cajun Red. My whole family thought it was comfortable, no matter what seat they rode in. The air conditioning was robust and kept us cool during the recent heat wave, and there was a lot of room in the trunk/hatchback space.
I thought the driver’s seat was super comfortable, and I really enjoyed driving the Bolt EV. There is great visibility, and the dashboard screen is big and easy to read. Of course it also came with a Sirius XM radio subscription (which comes as a free trial standard), navigation, Bluetooth and Apple Carplay, so I could connect my phone and listen to my favorite podcasts.
Related: Taking the Chevy Blazer to the LA County Fair
It looks like it’s a small car, but the interior is surprisingly roomy. My husband is 6’2” and he didn’t feel cramped at all. He even felt the front seat leg room was more than he needed, which doesn’t happen often. It’s shorter in length than my Camry, so it fits into more parking spaces and there’s room at the end of my driveway.
Plus the Chevy Bolt EV is zippy. It’s a characteristic I look for in a car and when I find it I’m very happy. Although to be clear, I am not a speed demon; I want to be able to go fast enough to get around the bus and merge without fear, and this car does the trick.
Given the fact that the Bolt EV makes me feel good about driving it, and that I really enjoyed driving it, makes me want one of my own.
Sarah Auerswald is the co-Founder of MomsLA.com. She was loaned the Chevy Bolt EV for a week.
