Chevrolet Bolt Requires Almost No Maintenance For First 150,000 Miles

One of the benefits of owning a pure electric car is that routine maintenance is significantly less than that of a comparable gas/diesel automobile. That's immediately apparent when you take a look at the maintenance schedule for the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt.

According to the 2017 Bolt EV owner's manual (which one can find the 360 handbook in PDF form here), the EV requires tire rotations every 7,500 miles, cabin air filter replacements every 22,500 and a coolant flush every 150,000 miles. Beyond that, any other maintenance required would fall outside of the "routine" umbrella. Oh, brake fluid replacement is recommended every 5 years, regardless of mileage.

So, what's it cost to maintin the Bolt for the first 150,000 miles?

Let's say you're a "do-it-you'reselfer", and that a cabin filter can be purchased for approximately $20. Tire rotations are free (DIY...remember). Six filters will cost you $120. Two brake fluid swaps (5 years x 12,000 miles per year = 60,000, so two fluid changeouts will be required in the first 150,000 miles) over 150,000 miles will set you back no more than $30 (DIY...only paying for cost of fluid). Lastly, that coolant swap. that's listed at 150,000 miles, so we won't calculate it into the eqaution here.

So, in the first 150,000 miles, routine maintenance for the Bolt will set you back a whopping $150! Or approximately the same as filling an average gas car's fuel tank 4 times...

Bonus:  The good fellows over at PlugInConnect sent us this comparative chart (below) between the Chevrolet Bolt EV and the Chevy Cruze to demonstrate the 'ease of ownership' of a BEV over traditional ICE vehicle.

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