- I bought a used car.
- And to gas, au revoir.
- This is favored, by far,
- By the energy czar.
- If the range is sub-par?
- Well, I don’t travel far.
- Not to Ulannbataar, or far-off Zanzibar,
- Just my local bazaar.
[Thumpity-thump.]
- So it’s no blazing star,
- No de-luxe Ja-gu-ar.
- I don’t know it from NASCAR
- Or races stock-car.
- So it’s not caviar
- With a Cuban cigar.
- It is more Hershey-bar.
- Middle-class avatar.
- But I set a low bar.
- Been no glitches so far.
- And it isn’t bizarre.
- Like some daft minicar.
[Thumpity-thump.]
- In mood most noire?
- Yearn for God’s abattoir?
- Then grab hold of the busbar.
- Forsake CPR.
- But for now, NPR
- And some padding lumbar
- Will together debar
- Good Saint Pete, registrar.
In prose
Bought a 2020 Chevy Bolt about a month ago. Just over 5K miles on it. Just under $19K with taxes and tags, should end up under $15K after the tax rebate.
It’s the best used car I’ve ever bought. But — trust me on this — that isn’t saying much.
Good:
- About 5 miles per kilowatt-hour, as driven. Much better than EPA, and almost on a par with my wife’s 2021 Prius Prime.
- Low C02. Where I live (and charge), driving 150 miles in this car produces about the same amount of C02 as burning one gallon of gasoline. I have years, paying back the C02 that went into making all those batteries. But in terms of operating C02 emissions, that’s quite low.
- Comfortable: Lot of front leg room, driver position is much higher off the ground than a Prius, which makes this easy to get into and out of, and gives good visibility (for a car, that is). The driver’s seat fits my frame (6′) well.
- Zippy. Very zippy when you need to zip. Lots of acceleration off-the-line.
- Plugs right into the wall. Level I (120-volt) charging works just fine. An overnight charge at 12 amps adds maybe 75 miles of range.
- Surprisingly nice sound system. I have what I’m pretty sure is the stock radio, and the sound quality is very good.
The neutral:
- Came with just one fob. That’s really an issue with buying it used. But, it was surprisingly easy to buy and in-the-car program some new fobs.
- No spare or jack. But, it was easy enough to locate and buy a jack and spare that should work with this car.
- All told, a couple-hundred bucks fixed both issues.
The not-so-good:
- Bumpy ride. Short wheelbase and tight suspension give it a jittery ride. I probably wouldn’t notice it but my own suspension isn’t all that tight, so I tend to jiggle more than I like, as I drive.
- Have to pay attention. This car has tight, responsive steering and a somewhat wide turning circle, both of which were a surprise, given how small the car is bumper-to-bumper. (This is a foot-and-a-half shorter than my wife’s 2021 Prius Prime, but has a wider turning radius.) Both of these mean that you can’t just rest a couple of fingers on the steering wheel, and cruise down the road. You actually have to grab the wheel and steer the car.
Summary
All my life, when faced with a major energy-using investment, I’ve opted for the most efficient thing I could reasonably get. And, so far, I’ve never been sorry I did that.
This car fits that pattern. As long as it doesn’t fail prematurely, I am more than satisfied with it. It’s all the car I need and it’s about as C02-efficient as a car will likely ever be in my lifetime.
I don’t think I’m going to look back, a few years from now, and say “oops”. For a used car, that’s about all I can ask for.
Plus, I can now sneer at all those old-fashioned hybrid cars on the road.
