Chevy Bolt - 200 mile range for $30k base price (after incentive)

[mtndrew1]

I think the Bolt Incomplete is a genius move. Fleet managers will absolutely gobble those cars up with their low running costs, infrequent maintenance stops, and easy connectivity. GM’s fleet sales network is extremely robust and I could see them moving a substantial number of Bolts. If done properly this model could eat into Transit Connect sales.

 

[McRat]

More details here: Distribution Updates

Knapheide is upfitter who puts utility boxes on trucks and vans.

This is most likely to be a requested configuration for a single large fleet, such as service trucks.

 

[bro1999]

Knapheide is upfitter who puts utility boxes on trucks and vans.

This is most likely to be a requested configuration for a single large fleet, such as service trucks.

So you think this stripped version of the Bolt was requested by some large company? So GM went ahead and created a commercial version for ordering?

 

[McRat]

So you think this stripped version of the Bolt was requested by some large company? So GM went ahead and created a commercial version for ordering?

Trucks and vans have always had this option. Due to their ladder/frame construction, it's almost a universal fitment. There is also a Guide for Upfitters for fleet sales.

With a unibody, this changes. It's not a 'drop-in' with existing wiring harnesses that you see in trucks.

So an educated guess is Knap has created a specialized body and harnesses and unique instructions how to safely attach a body.

I could be wrong. We will see.

It would be sweet to see a Van body fitment on a Bolt, but I'll be surprised if they can be ordered in small quantities.

 

[Saghost]

I think the Bolt Incomplete is a genius move. Fleet managers will absolutely gobble those cars up with their low running costs, infrequent maintenance stops, and easy connectivity. GM’s fleet sales network is extremely robust and I could see them moving a substantial number of Bolts. If done properly this model could eat into Transit Connect sales.

With right hand drive, these would be great for the Post Office. Minimal fuel and maintenance costs, and the limited (and optional) DCFC is completely irrelevant to their usage case. They could probably install a bunch of 120V circuits at the office and charge on them for most routes.

 

[bro1999]

Photo of the rear of the rear seat-deleted Bolt.

 

[ℬête Noire]

With right hand drive, these would be great for the Post Office. Minimal fuel and maintenance costs, and the limited (and optional) DCFC is completely irrelevant to their usage case. They could probably install a bunch of 120V circuits at the office and charge on them for most routes.

A rub here is that at this point GM has nixed the RH variant, right? I recall some UK-based angst about this.

 

[Saghost]

A rub here is that at this point GM has nixed the RH variant, right? I recall some UK-based angst about this.

That does add to the challenge level, if the decision stands.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

A rub here is that at this point GM has nixed the RH variant, right? I recall some UK-based angst about this.

Yes. Basically, GM all but pulled out of the European market by selling Opel/Vauxhall.
That meant it pulled out of the UK and Ireland.
GM also pulled out of India because of difficult market conditions* there
So, no UK or Ireland, no India and Japan's would be a tough market to break.
Not really worth the effort for a low volume BEV.

It leaves Nissan rubbing its hands, since that means no big competitor for the new Nissan Leaf in the UK.
Now Nissan also owns Mitsubishi, so it'll almost certainly have the two biggest-selling plug-ins in the UK in 2018. Nissan's already selling 3-4k Leafs per month in Japan and has high demand in Europe.

And there are people who keep insisting that Nissan should drop CHAdeMO in Europe because it's dead. 8-|

* Difficult market conditions = >_100%_ whopping import tariffs on cars. Taxes are 15% or 25% on domestic luxury cars. This is why I have repeatedly noted that I'm not interested in the Jaguar iPace: Jaguar-Landrover is owned by the Indian company Tata Motors.

 

[bro1999]

Yes. Basically, GM all but pulled out of the European market by selling Opel/Vauxhall.
That meant it pulled out of the UK and Ireland.
GM also pulled out of India because of difficult market conditions* there
So, no UK or Ireland, no India and Japan's would be a tough market to break.
Not really worth the effort for a low volume BEV.

It leaves Nissan rubbing its hands, since that means no big competitor for the new Nissan Leaf in the UK.
Now Nissan also owns Mitsubishi, so it'll almost certainly have the two biggest-selling plug-ins in the UK in 2018. Nissan's already selling 3-4k Leafs per month in Japan and has high demand in Europe.

And there are people who keep insisting that Nissan should drop CHAdeMO in Europe because it's dead. 8-|

* Difficult market conditions = >_100%_ whopping import tariffs on cars. Taxes are 15% or 25% on domestic luxury cars. This is why I have repeatedly noted that I'm not interested in the Jaguar iPace: Jaguar-Landrover is owned by the Indian company Tata Motors.

Hey, don't knock Tata! They made the original Bolt EV afterall!
Never Minding the Chevy Bolt EV, Tata Shows Off Its Own Bolt EV in the UK - HybridCars.com

 

[bro1999]

GM increasing Chevy Bolt production in a step toward all-electric future: CEO Mary Barra

 

[diamond.g]

GM increasing Chevy Bolt production in a step toward all-electric future: CEO Mary Barra

Yay? Are the other EV's they are making going to be on the same line? Specifically the nearest two that they are coming out with in 2019/2020?

 

[ℬête Noire]

GM increasing Chevy Bolt production in a step toward all-electric future: CEO Mary Barra

"The United States still draws roughly 30 percent of its electricity from coal-fired power plants, so many plug-ins still rely on a major contributor to global warming to charge up."

Obligatory "Long tailpipe" reference.

DRINK!

 

[diamond.g]

"The United States still draws roughly 30 percent of its electricity from coal-fired power plants, so many plug-ins still rely on a major contributor to global warming to charge up."

Obligatory "Long tailpipe" reference.

DRINK!

Almost as if the electricity to pull oil and refine it to gas comes from Unicorns or something, right?

 

[ℬête Noire]

Yay?

Better late than never? I mean they're making a call for a real network build-out now, they're at a minimum 3 years behind the curve here, and organization is going to be tough when whoever is doing that build-out is [justly] going to want a piece of profit action reasonably quickly. But at least they're publicly acknowledging what's going to need to happen, so baby steps it is.

Are the other EV's they are making going to be on the same line? Specifically the nearest two that they are coming out with in 2019/2020?

"GM will increase production of the Chevrolet Bolt later this year at its Orion Assembly plant near Detroit..."

That suggests to me this is over-and-above whatever plans they already had for other variants under other badges and with other lines.

 

[ℬête Noire]

Almost as if the electricity to pull oil and refine it to gas comes from Unicorns or something, right?

It's almost as if they still can't shake themselves out of the FUD nonsense that was very dubious 10 years ago before coal usage started serious decline.

At the time Union of Concerned Scientists put out a regional map to address the misconception, it was only close to true in a few areas of the country. They had TX here listed around 50ish MPG equivalent for CO2. Their last map update in 2014 had it just below 60MPG equivalent, and that's all using average Wh/mi of the total US fleet. It wasn't really close true in any region, definitely not the ones where most of the EVs were. Now with the newer vehicles and continued evolution of electrical generation it's even better, and U of CS switched to a ZIP code & make-model level tool.

How Clean is Your Electric Vehicle?

For my TX ZIP they have my Bolt coming in at 84MPG equivalent, the M3 LR at 90MPG equivalent.

 

[RobStark]

* Difficult market conditions = >_100%_ whopping import tariffs on cars. Taxes are 15% or 25% on domestic luxury cars. This is why I have repeatedly noted that I'm not interested in the Jaguar iPace: Jaguar-Landrover is owned by the Indian company Tata Motors.

GM had TWO auto factories in India.

Now they sold 1 and have 1 for export only.

They were not paying a Whopping tariff on very many of their cars sold in India.

100% tariff is for luxury cars only.
24% for standard cars
13% for commercial vehicles.

 

[Jeff N]

FYI, I just posted a deep-dive article comparing the I-PACE and Bolt EV battery packs on my new EV news blog.

Jaguar and Chevy have LG in common

 

[scaesare]

Informative article, thanks @Jeff N .

 

[jejusoul]

FYI, I just posted a deep-dive article comparing the I-PACE and Bolt EV battery packs on my new EV news blog. ...

That's an interesting article you just posted. Interesting to see that the Jaguar I-Pace seems to have favoured a cell chemistry that allows greater power as opposed to the Bolt EV that seems to favour greater energy density.

But on some parts I'm not convinced.
Here is a description of the Bolt EV battery by Gregory Smith, Bolt EV battery pack engineering group manager.
"With this cell design and chemistry we were able to deliver a battery system with 160 kilowatts of peak power and 60 kilowatts hours of energy .... The cells are arranged in a “landscape” format and each measures in at only 3.9 ins. (100 mms) high and 13.1 ins. (338 mms) wide..." from Drive Unit and Battery at the Heart of Chevrolet Bolt EV

The cells in the Chevy Bolt EV are not the same size as the ones you found listed on Alibaba.