When Chevrolet rolled out the ‘Bolt’ EV concept car, there was a fair deal about the curious little city car that had us scratching our heads. Not least among these things was the car’s name, which – when spoken aloud by our staff – caused more than its fair share of miscommunication.
Thankfully, as The Detroit News reports, General Motors is perfectly open to changing the name by the time the electric city car reaches production around 2017. GM North America President Mark Reuss told the outlet, “It’s a concept name. End of story… The name by itself is very good, but when you put it with Volt you know — is it too confusing for someone? We’ll find out.”
The automaker plans on listening in on what the press and public have to say before making a call. To the name’s credit, by both rhyming with “Volt” and being similarly steeped in recognizable electric connotation, “Bolt” does immediately communicate a relatively accurate set of expectations about what the concept is.
But for the sake of sparing dealers any unfortunate mix ups, we hope Chevrolet can manage to draft up something better.
Comments
I would hope so. De contented ones would be stripped Bolts. Just kidding.
Yes the name is too close to Volt and would get confused easily. I have already seen that just in Detroit already.
I think that Spark would have been a good name for this vehicle. It has the electric theme while being different enough not to be confused with the Volt. Too bad that name is already taken by a gas model (yes, I know there’s an EV version but only two states get it).
They could try something like Ampere.
That’s what they call the Vauxhall Ampera.
I like Sparky.
Volt – EREV sedan/hatch as we know it
CrossVolt5 – ‘Bolt’
CrossVolt7 – 7 seater larger ‘Bolt’
Ion – Electric or EREV coupe
Ampera – electric Volt or similar sedan (name for north america only as it obviously interferes with Vaux/Opel)
All of these models could be given a small “+” symbol as an exponent after their name for models will larger battery capacities
I believe the Ampera has been cancelled in Europe.
Yes Bolt and Volt can be confusing for some.
I suggest “uBolt” or “REVolt”.
“uBolt” could be promoted alongside Usain Bolt?
I think it would be a mistake to rename. Bolt and Volt exemplify the difference between the two cars.
If they decide to not put a range extender on Bolt, it allows GM to say “Volt can use gas – Bolt is electric-only.”
It isn’t just David Letterman that didn’t know Volt can use gas. I still talk to people regularly that think it’s a pure EV.