No AWD option and no reasonable long distance capability mean I cannot get this vehicle.
Okay. But, many car models do not have an AWD option. And, from what we know today, the Bolt EV is indeed capable of weekend getaways that involve an initial full overnight charge followed by one or two DC charges and perhaps an overnight destination charge.
At a minimum, GM says it can add 90 miles in 30 minutes or 160 miles in an hour when faster CCS chargers become available starting next year. They have declined so far to say what the peak charge rates are or what it might be capable of beyond that but we will know that as 200+ amp chargers become available for testing.
Car and Driver says they were able to drive 190 miles at 75 mph so the Bolt EV certainly has enough reasonable range (relative to today's Tesla standard) for long distance driving between recharges.
As far as the only other negative in my perspective is that it won an award and hasn't even seen a single delivery yet.
Like other cars preceeding it. Yes, you don't like the well-established award rules. Okay then.
1) They need to think of EVs as regular cars. That means they get normal design criteria, not "weirdmobile".
The Bolt EV is not a weirdmobile. It has a long-established and mainstream hatchback design form.
2) The car must be part of a comprehensive transportation plan for average families. The age of the 100 mile range EV is well over. It doesn't necessarily mean that they must make superchargers, but they need a plan for how they are going to achieve that functionality.
The reality is that BMW, Daimler, VW, and Ford announced last week a plan to install "thousands" of high-speed CCS chargers including 350 kW units at around 400 locations throughout Europe starting in 2017 in addition to the many which are already there. The Opel Ampera-e will be capable of charging at those stations.
In the US, VW is committed to spend an average of $200 million per year for the next 10 years on zero emissions infrastructure and related efforts as part of their dieselgate court settlement. Much of that will likely go towards highway corridor DC charging. VW has a self-interest in buiding out a nationwide CCS Supercharger-like network in order to compete when their first long-range capable Audi e-tron comes out in 2018 and is followed by a number of other big battery cars from the VW group. The Bolt EV will be capable of using these charging stations which are required to be brand neutral.
GM doesn't need to do anything in the US to enable a nationwide highway fast charging system. VW will do it for them. They just put their initial planning feedback site online today -- a high-speed highway corridor network and no initial investments in hydrogen stations! Also, metro area stations in 15 areas currently underserved and a CA "green city" model initiative.
Welcome to Electrify America | Commitment
3) The car needs to be made to succeed. Losing money on each, and making it up by 'haloing' or ZEV credits is not going to work. Nor will planning on only making 30,000 of them.
That story is based on anonymous sources and the underlying assumptions and basis for those claims were not described meaning that it is largely FUD. These claims may be based in part on amortizing fixed R&D and initial factory investment costs (robots, sheet metal stamping equipment, etc.) over an assumed number of vehicles and period of time. Notably, the story therefore does not claim that GM incurs increasing losses as more Bolts are manufactured.
GM has said on the record that their supplier agreements allow them to build at least 50,000 Bolts per year. New battery plants can be built or expanded within a 2-3 year timeframe. If demand for Bolts is strong there should be time to increase battery manufacturing capability within its first generation timeframe.
4) Battery guarantees should inspire confidence, not reduce it.
The impact of the 40% degradation warranty on buyers (vs the 30% on the Volt) isn't clear yet. More buyers may be reassured that there is a specific warranty rather than none. Many buyers will understand that warranties are design around the worst case scenario such as a heavy-footed Arizona driver who parks in direct sun. GM has a good reputation so far on plugin battery longevity.
