As General Motors continues its race against Tesla to release the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV before the Model 3, the Orion, Michigan manufacturing plant begins to build prototype vehicles for testing, an indicator that the Bolt EVÂ will be upon us soon enough.
“We’re at another critical and important point in the development of the Bolt EV,” said Josh Tavel, 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV chief engineer to Ars Technica. “We’ve moved from working in math and building cars by hand to building Bolt EVs on the line. We’re now testing the tooling used in the plant so that we deliver high-quality, 200-plus-mile EVs that our customers are eagerly anticipating.”
The 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV will carry a price tag of $37,500, which drops to $30,000 flat thanks to federal tax incentives. The combination of competitive pricing and an estimated efficiency of 200 miles per charge makes the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV a highly anticipated vehicle.
Comments
Similarities between the Bolt and the Model3: price, electric drive
The Bolt is great and all, but come on, no matter what GM says, it isn’t up against the Model3. GM’s biggest thing going for it is it’s dealer network (and will all even be able to sell and service it? probably not). GM pushing the competitiveness of it shows they know it’s isn’t, if it was actually an open-eyed class rival then big GM shouldn’t worry about raining on Tesla’s parade.
The Bolt is an awkward looking hatchbatch. The Model3 is a sleek and sexy sedan-hatch with prestige behind it. That’s not an opinion either, anyone with eyes can see that.
What model 3? It hasn’t been revealed yet. We don’t know what it looks like. There is no established performance data. It’s vaporware until it hits the pavement and normal humans can drive / assess it. Therefore, for now, GM is winning the 200 miles EV race even if it is a 1 horse race for the time being.
I came across this really good article on the Bolt and Model 3. It discusses the merits and difficulties for both.
I agree with the article. It’s a good read;
http://www.thedrive.com/article/2078/the-chevy-bolt-is-a-huge-win
GM and Chevy already won the race against the TM Model 3:
First to present a concelpt vehicle in January 2015
First to present the fnal production design in January 2016
First to supply real working units for test drives by the press at the CES
And now first to actully begin building the vehicle. These are “pre-production”, not “prototypes”! The prototype was shown last year.
Sorry, Elon! You may be a EV pioneer, but this time you are behind by over a year! Only TM fans will be so foolish to post money for a product that will not be in their hands for two more years. And what happens when you cannot guarantee a price below $30,000 ( or at $37,500 without the Fed tax rebate)? Will you accept your defeat and return the money?
We have seen this a half dozen times before….
One small scale start up after another, establishes the fact that there “is” a market for an electric vehicle.
Each time is slightly different… the batteries get a little better, the range gets longer, the average speed gets better – the recharging characteristics get better…
It never get close enough to the economic sweet spot.
So, they never come close to dominating the market.
But, ever so dependably – the watchful eye of the big automakers study the on going process.
Every now and again, one maker or another will decide to “do this electric car thing” right.
And, with great fan fare they ramp up an assembly line.
It cranks out a substantial number of units (which the small start up can not compete against).
They dump them on the market at a significantly lower price.
This in no way brings the new technology into the fore front.
The speeds are still a bit low.
The range is still a bit short.
The re-charging is still an issue.
and,
Probably the biggest factor – the price is not the same as an equivalent hydrocarbon vehicle – and, certainly not cheaper, even with incentives and subsidies.
So,..
What does this exercise accomplish?
Exactly what it set out to do – squash the nearly successful small start ups like bugs.
After the truly innovative and committed manufacturers are disposed of, the “real” automaker finds convenient reasons to shut down their assembly lines.
Then we are back to square one… until the next new battery technology comes along or a better electric motor.
ITIMAMOBIWW, your comment doesn’t really make sense. The only startup to establish the validity of the EV market is Tesla. Why would GM and others not step into the market if as you said it is valid? Elon has said publicly multiple times that this is what he wants in order to help EV’s gain critical mass, something that is as important for Tesla as it is for the rest. Whether or not Tesla can compete in the volume marketplace remains to be seen but if the market is there, and the vacuum exists, competition should drive more into the market.
As for your performance comments, what you see here is the state of the art today. I get you might want it all right damn now, but in the last 5 years range has more than doubled for the $30-40k vehicle class and in Tesla’s case the cost is dropping by a factor of 4. So, in 5 more years range will probably best and ICE vehicle and cost will be lower. Progress takes time, have some patience.
I may be biased but I like the Volt. best of both worlds. Classy and sexy, Electric and gas back up
hey guys, I have a ’13 volt, & couldn’t be happier. I’m almost exclusively on electric around the local area, & drive from fla. to western n.y. & back each year, achieving 42 mpg on gas. not much fault to find with that at least in my use of the car. I will probably buy a ’17 when I can get one.