The 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV will enter production and become available towards the end of this year, but some of the biggest news with Chevy’s affordable electric vehicle has surrounded Lyft.
There are autonomous variants planned, coordination with the ride service and more underway, but the latest news comes from Inside EVs. The report states it is possible to rent a 2017 Bolt EV for $0. Nothing. For free. However, you want to put it.
Alongside the announcement of General Motors and Lyft expanding its Express Drive program to San Fransisco, Los Angeles and Denver it was made known the 2017 Bolt EV would be included in the ride-sharing fleet. Lyft itself will reportedly offer the Bolt EV at just $99 per week in rental costs.
But, if 40 rides per week are completed, the cost drops to just 20 cents per mile. If you complete 65 rides or more per week, the cost is free. Granted, this is not for personal use, and only for Lyft drivers, but it’s a heck of a deal if it’s proper, efficient wheels you seek.
Comments
From what I have read GM is only planning to sell 25,000 Bolts in year 1.
a.) IF they do, in fact, have a >200 mile range;
b.) IF they do, in fact, come with with an MSRP at $37,500 and plenty of volume left eligible for the Federal $7500 tax credit (so the “net” price is $30,000 for a reasonably equipped car, perhaps going to $38,000 fully loaded)
c.) If they do, in fact, start deliveries in Q4 2016
THEN, I can’t understand why they would target such a low amount. I would also think they could work something out with dealers to install a network of charging stations that would cover the country, with the dealers getting the tradeoff of lots of additional “traffic” in return for the real estate this might take up. JMHO
It’s pretty easy for one of the big three US auto companies of any of the German or Japanese companies to copy what Tesla has done and sell a low cost electric car. Tesla has to make a significant profit on their cars cause it’s all they make. While GM or BMW or the other big companies can sell at cost or a loss for a long time to get “environmental cred” given the low volumes selling now. Not that this is a bad thing. Tesla’s stated goal is to drive EV innovation the accelerate the move to cleaner driving.
The big missing link though is Tesla’s supercharger network. With that you can go an unlimited distance at the drop of a hat with 15-30 minute charging/eating/bathroom breaks every 3 hours. Nobody else has anything like it and without that the Bolt or Leaf or BWM electric car are nice but still can’t be your only car. And if you have to have a second car then it’s hard to justify $35k for an electric…
I drive less than 30 milesa day so any EV will do for me. I have a Level 2 EVSE so I can plug in and charge while asleep.
Don’t generalize everyone just because you can’t drive an EV!
I’ll keep this constructive. With you only needing 30 miles range you should look at the 2012-2013 Nissan Leafs. You can get a low mileage one in the 7-9k range so it’s a real bargain for a nearly new car. Also a used Volt in really cheap and at 30 miles a day you’d never need to put gas in it.
Not sure what you mean about me generalizing everyone but in general(haha) range anxiety has been a big reason the EV market hasn’t taken off already. Some people want to be able to occasionally travel longer distances which is what the Volt can do with it’s generator and what the Tesla Supercharger network allows.
Finally, I do drive an EV, it’s my ONLY car, so not sure what you mean by me not being able to drive an EV.
I just hope it will be available in Georgia
Lyft have a lot of offerings that are not available here. I think most of us that live in GA are missing out.