General Motors continues to prepare for the next chapter in the company’s EV program with the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV. And Chevrolet is eager to beat Tesla to the punch with an affordable, all-electric vehicle for the masses.
Chevrolet isn’t being coy about this car either. Normally, automakers go through great care to keep projects hidden and out of public sight. Instead, Chevrolet has even published an official video showing the 2017 Bolt EV testing. But, today’s spy shots come courtesy of SEMA.
SEMA and SpiedBilde captured the EV prowling the proving grounds done up in full camouflage. From what we can tell, the shape is staying true to the concept’s quirky hatchback form, something that should be easier to swallow than the first-generation Volt’s divided design. But, many of the show-car hues have faded away in form of production-spec design.
The mirrors seem to be production ready, and the headlights ditch the skinny style for a standard, road-ready design. At least that’s what we can see.
General Motors has already committed to producing the 2017 Bolt EV at the Orion assembly plant in Michigan. Production should begin in 2016 as the EV is introduced as a 2017 model.
Comments
Bring it on! The concept seated 4 – Surely the finished product should seat 5 comfortably.
This is not the “Tesla Model III Killer” everyone says it is. What it is = a hedge against Nissan or Tesla owning the affordable 200 mile New Energy car market. At a projected 30,000 total production number, the Bolt won’t change the world. Bolt is being developed whilst GM simultaneously creates yet another gas-burner CUV to fit between Traverse and Equinox. Name this GM’s little “side project” unless they seriously get to work adding plugs to each sedan, CUV and truck model they make.
Instead of “dealing with the devil”, like Britain did with the Nazis prior to WWII – Why don’t we tell Iran to shove their oil where the sun don’t shine by selling the entire free world electrically-motivated, New Energy cars and trucks?
What and immediately watch sales volume drop from 10 million units down to under 2 million overnight. As much as the idea of Volt, Bolt, Leaf, I8, Model 3, etc. is great they simply do not sell well enough to take over the market (yet ).
I really like that last line as it relates to Iran’s oil! alw
Looks like the Chevy Spark…maybe slightly stretched.
Lets be honest. It can’t beat Tesla in terms of customer service, it cant beat Tesla i terms of prestige, it cant beat Tesla in terms of performance, value, looks.
Anyone who disagrees needs to pull their head out of their ass
Why? Are you keeping your head up yours?
Lets be honest if you are spending at minimum $75,000 vs what I suspect is going to be at or under $30,000 you aren’t going to get a BJ from the company. Watch as when the cheaper Tesla’s ship that famous service drops correspondingly as does performance, and value.
I’m kinda getting a little sick of people comparing a luxury car brand vs a car that is targeting your average, albeit high end, consumer. Anyone who thinks that a $35,000 car can be compared to a at minimum $75,000 (But realistically $85,000) car needs to pull their head out of their ass.
I was talking towards the Tesla Model 3 lineup that will [just] undercut the price of the Bolt, actually. Which again with sensibility, anyone with a shred would have made that connection. Come on.
Customer service at their dealers is the best there is.
And based off the new software they are releasing the Model 3 will trounce the Bolt.
Looks, Tesla.
Prestige, Tesla.
Where is the confusion??
No matter how much you are a fan of something (this being a GM community) anyone with intelligence realizes weaknesses in what they love, that is unless your a Mustang driver.
95% of my vehicles have been GM, I drive a LTZ ‘Rado now, and owned an LS2 V and a 3.6 CTS Coupe. 2016 SS Camaro is likely going to be in my driveway on a 3 year lease. I like GM vehicles as much as anyone else here, but I’ll call a spade a spade.
Once again, cranial rectal inversion pits the Bolt over the Tesla.
the only people who need a reality check are teslaphiles who think they have magic pixie dust when it comes to ev’s. there is nothing special about tesla. the rest of the industry is going to bury them when it makes financial sense. right now, unlike tesla, they are too busy making money.
That may be true, but they are the hot ticket item right now, here, in the present. And that’s what counts. The Model S is a great car that can do incredible things, I hate the look of the infotainment (though very functional), and the Model 3 is going to be another massive hit for them, as is the Model X.
There is no denying any of that, there really isnt.
There is room in the market for many players and frankly, I’d rather buy North American than foreign. Elon is sharing his patents because he wants to electrify the auto industry. Don’t knock GM for trying to do the right thing and don’t assume Tesla is everybody’s taste.
AND YOU ARE A BULLSHIT BECAUSE YOU SHOULD PULL YOUR BULLSHIT HEAD RIGHT OUT OF YOUR BULLSHIT ASS!
This is the deal here. This is still a slow growth segment no matter the cost. GM will have a very strong lead here as Tesla say their will follow soon after but their track record has been very poor. The SUV Tesla is 3 years late and counting and there has not even been a running prototype of the 3 yet let alone a running show car. I am sure they will get to it but many others will beat them there.
Also Tesla will find it difficult to compete in this segment. Profits will be leaner and the need for much more volume even more exacting. Lets face it no where as difficult to sell a $120,000 car in low volumes. They did show there was a segment there that few though would support it but the 3 segment is going to be much more challenging. The SUV model will also be a trend but they will learn some lessons there too with price and those rear doors are going to be cool but will be an issue in the snow when you open them and the snow on the roof falls in the seats. California people don’t consider this.
To be honest I really do not see these cars in this segment so much as competitors. In the end it will be a match of the Survivors. Nearly all companies will enter this segment and not all of the models will survive. Right now this is a grow segment and the challenge is more to get people to adapt their lives to these cars as you have to plan your day around an electric car not the other way around. Also the in structure is still in need. This area Tesla has a lead but GM is already working on dealers with charging stations that should help them catch up fast as others install chargers.
As of now these are not cars for everyone and if you buy one you have to adjust the way you travel or have two cars if you plan long trips for the most part if you want no delays.
As for F Iran I am all for that but the truth is we get no oil from Iran at this point. Now that we sold our Nuke Soul to them we may see some but not much, Most of the oil in this country comes from here and Canada. Only limited areas get oil from the middle east and most is from Saudi Arabia.
The thing most people miss is Oil is a traded commodity and supplies no matter where it is from control price. The fact is we have centuries of oil here in North America but our supplies are limited much due to drill restrictions and the lack of needed pipe lines.
Iran will dump much of their oil on Russia and Europe and it will drive prices down some but they will control the flow to control the price. We do it too. the global economy is oil bases and has been since the early 70’s and electric cars will not change that.
As for Tesla I commend them on what they have done but it only gets tougher from here on out. While they have sold a lot of electric cars the real total number of cars is small compared to the larger companies. That will give them the leverage to commit more to the electrics as time goes on and make it much more difficult for Tesla to compete. It is easy to beat companies who have been treating this segment as a niche but when they put their size, volume and investment abilities behind it they will really become much more difficult to challenge.
Fan or not that is how it works in the industry and how it will pan out. Tesla may or may not survive it. They will have to hit a home run with the 3 and not be too late with it. They will have to really start to move volume to pay for the battery plant that they have invested in. They will have to continue to come up with new models and not just keep adding new bits to the S model. They will need to really replace the S soon as it will age out before long.
Musk may do well or this all could come crashing down like his landing rockets have done so far.
For the best interest of all the companies it is best if Tesla keeps pushing them as we will get faster segment growth if they are challenged. If not this could slow development for the future.
Note I am not a big electric car fan but I want them to grow stronger. I feel the more of these they sell the more likely it will help keep the gas performance cars in play that I love. I have driven electric and Hydrogen cars and was impressed with the performance but I still do not like the refueling or charging times on either yet. I know with more investment this too will improver.
I got my initial look at a tesla last week, and with all the hype that goes along with it, I was completely disappointed. As I made an around the car inspection, I saw a lot of things that I did not like. I am not excited with the design, the wheels look very cheap, I might be wrong but they look like they are painted plastic, the appearance of the car looks like 90% of theodels out there.
The interior also looked like it was missing something. Very bland in my opinion.
The best thing about the car is its wild performance. It is very , very fast. Only thing about that is you will be invited to spend a couple days, and nights at the nearest gray bar hotel, or a casket for ever.
On the whole, I would not trade my ELR even, or with a bonus of $25,000.
The price starts about even with the caddy, but by the time you add all the options on the tesla, that come as standard equip on a Cadillac, the price of a tesla goes right on by the cadillac by about $30,000.00
This gentleman paid $85,000 for his car, and mine cost right at $50,000.
That is &35,000 more for a car with less options on it.
Sorry gents, I will keep my “top ten” most beautiful car sold in 2015, as listed by car& driver magazine.
There were no other American, japanese, or Korean cars on that list.
The other 9 were european
Glen I love the ELR styling but the fact is it and Tesla are really not in the same segment. They both cost a lot and they both have electric motors but the Tesla was just a way some inside GM decided to leverage out more sales on the Volt platform. They used the show car styling and it just did not work out the way they would have likes price wise.
Now for those who do not thing Cadillac can do a smaller car than the ATS the ELR proved they could and do it with style. Now if they would have made it all gas and lowered the price below the ATS they would have sold a lot more of them.
I expect with the next gen we will see a much more improved model for the segment. The present administration has a better idea moving forward and will bring a more significant model in. This time it will not share as much with the other car. I could see what they were trying to do but it just did not work for what they offered at the price they were asking.
This was a case where it was a good car with great styling that just was not priced right and not much could they do about it.
As for Tesla they are not selling it as much as a car but more like an Apple product. They are trying to generate excitement like Apple does with new features and teasing media releases on new coming product. But unlike Apple that teases for 6 months Tesla teases going on 3 years on the X model and the 3 who knows how much longer.
To repeat what they did with the S model is going to be difficult and the lower the price the more cars they need to sell. That too will be difficult. Impossible no but no where as easy.