Chevy Bolt Range Announcement

[Bob]

238 miles! This was above expectations, and may represent a threat to the Model 3 if buyers can get over the looks.

http://blog.caranddriver.com/2017-chevy ... -of-range/

[bill25]

It is very frustrating how ugly this is. Otherwise it seems like a real 3 competitor.

[bill25]

Seriously though. Great on GM's engineering, but this car is like a super ugly Honda Fit. The Tesla Model 3 pictures resemble a Mazda 3 styling, which actually has decent lines, and looks like a car. I have to give Tesla and Apple credit for at least one thing. They get that people care about what stuff looks like, and are willing to pay more for good looking "stuff". Someone send GM a letter.

[kevm14]

I am betting that GM market research resulted in this design on purpose. For some reason EV cars are supposed to have some kind of ugly look about them, which I blame on the first Prius for starting (and the Prius is still a sucky EV). Tesla, of course, does not subscribe to this theory at all.

[kevm14]

I think the Bolt will do pretty good sales.

And I found this comment interesting:

Thank you Tesla! For awakening a sleeping giant. It took 20 years but a very good EV1 follow up.

[kevm14]

Yeah it's going to be kind of a big deal, as they say.

Considering how many Volt owners are getting more than the GM stated EV range, I predict that the real world range for the Bolt could be up to 280 miles.

[kevm14]

Commenters actually seem to like the looks. So - the car is not for you then.

[kevm14]

Environmentally conscious customers with excess money were the first movers on electric vehicles. Tesla targeted the upper end of that segment with performance and party tricks. Many analysts feel that they will regret their free fast charging decision as we see than many Tesla owners only fuel at fast chargers, in fact much more than they were projecting. 2nd hand Model S is actually a great deal considering someone else has taken the depreciation (and tax write off) but you still get free fuel and little maintenance. In fact Tesla will not be offering the free charging on the 3 which is a direct competitor to the Bolt.

[kevm14]

http://www.motortrend.com/cars/chevrole ... 6AF53499B4

Without particularly trying, I’d covered 241.4 miles, averaging 4.6 miles/kW-hr with an estimated 38 miles of range left. According to a screen I can’t specifically talk about, I’d used 51.9 kW-hrs of the battery’s 60-kW-hr capacity. Chevy says the Bolt, supported by Level 3 chargers like the one I’d plugged into, can gain 90 miles worth of range in 30 minutes, 160 miles worth in 60 minutes, and a full 238 miles of range in about two hours.

Conservative, just as predicted. I hope GM's marketing conservatism serves them well in the coming years. Ford is taking a more bold approach and sometimes I think it bites them in the ass.

[Bob]

I think a realistic range >250 miles should be more than enough to calm range anxiety for most buyers. Let's face it - if you're taking a trip longer than that, you probably don't want to be driving something like this anyway.