[Mapleev]

GM's trying to fix the worst part of buying an electric car by turning an old Target into a new kind of call center

One of the biggest barriers to EV adoption is a lack of education about owning a plug-in car. GM wants EV Live, its new call center, to solve that.

www.businessinsider.com

 

[Steverino]

"Hassani said the idea was to support dealers, not replace them. One GM dealer is even planning to install a large screen in the showroom where sales representatives can beam in the EV Live center for help, he said."

That seems like a decent idea.

I really hope the call center people are well trained and very knowledgeable and not the typical call center person who has no idea, they simply read from a script. First hand experience with an EV is hopefully part of their training.

 

[Mapleev]

My first question is can you replace the 21” wheels on the 3LT with smaller wheels at no extra cost?

Watching this video, which is a little technical, you have to ask yourself why are they putting larger wheels on the EV’s? Here's how tire and wheel choice affects electric vehicle range

The other question is the advertised range for the 2LT and 3LT different and if not, why not?

 

[Steverino]

Here's the video:

 

[Mapleev]

It makes you wonder why any car company would put big wheels on EV’s, just for looks?

And if it truly affects range the 3LT should have a lower range than the other LT’s.

 

[MaybeFutureBuyer]

It makes you wonder why any car company would put big wheels on EV’s, just for looks?

And if it truly affects range the 3LT should have a lower range than the other LT’s.

They might put tires with lower roll resistance on the 21", and then it evens out. The range is very minutely affected. But the ride comfort definitely is.

That's "small potatoes" though. The real story will be the price of all the trims above 1LT.

 

[PSU77]

My first question is can you replace the 21” wheels on the 3LT with smaller wheels at no extra cost?

Watching this video, which is a little technical, you have to ask yourself why are they putting larger wheels on the EV’s? Here's how tire and wheel choice affects electric vehicle range

The other question is the advertised range for the 2LT and 3LT different and if not, why not?

I did one of those Live sessions. It's not really a call center. You can see them and they can only hear you. They walk around and have displays to show you about electric cars and batteries. They can't answer questions about specific future cars. They can talk about charging electric cars, one pedal driving and the new battery configuration.

 

[CTAPRN]

That video was super helpful and makes me want to go back to school for engineering/physics haha. I'll be very curious to see (as other posters have commented) how the factory tires will differ from trim to trim and what their EPA estimates will be for 1/2/3 LT. I'm really hoping to stick close to 300 for 3LT, but if it drops to 260 due to the wheel/tire changes, I will very seriously consider the 2LT. I wish they gave you wheel size options like they do with Tesla. I would happily pay more for a smaller tires to get more efficiency/smoother ride. It will also really come down to price, too. Either way, even 1LT is a huge step up from my 2010 Prius 😂 (although I can't knock the Prius - 45mpg average over the past 5 years, very reliable).

 

[MaybeFutureBuyer]

Here's the video:

That video didn't really talk about the entire package (wheel+tire) being the same sectional height, it talks about the options on a Tesla. I don't know if that's what they do.

Chevy gave the same estimated range to all of the Equinox trims, so there's that. We'll have to wait and see.