In order to get the maximum total vehicle range, the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt is offering motorists a customizable one-pedal driving experience which allows the vehicle to get a tremendous amount of energy back due to the regenerative braking. The way the regenerative brakes works is the that it catches spare energy from the deceleration and sends it to the Bolt EV battery pack thus increasing the vehicles range. Certain driving conditions even allow the driver to stop the car without using the brake pedal thanks to regen braking.
The four driver selectable modes for regen braking for the Bolt EV are:
Running in Drive and easing off the accelerator.
Running in Drive and using the Regen on Demand paddle on the back of the steering wheel.
Running in Low and easing off the accelerator.
Running in Low and using the Regen on Demand paddle in tandem.
Mode 1 is the lowest level of regen braking while 2-4 are all increasingly stronger and allow the operator to stop the vehicle without using the brakes in certain instances. It should be mentioned that the one-pedal mode does not negate the use of the brake pedal altogether and should definitely be used in emergency situations.
Through simulation testing that put the Bolt EV through heavy stop and go traffic, engineers have found that the regen braking can add up to 5% of range to the vehicle. The Bolt's 60 kWh battery pack can be maximized thanks to regen braking and brings the vehicle to an estimated EV range of 320 kilometres.
The 2017 Chevrolet Bolt's reconfigurable instrument cluster allows the driver a selection of several layouts to present vehicle information.