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

[Saghost]

Her company is actively fighting Tesla's ability to sell direct and service direct, including the lock out of Michigan.

Yeah, I was kinda disappointed that she made that comment after GM and Ford and all worked with the dealer associations to make sure it would be the case.

 

[MacroP]

Did anyone see the drive options for the Bolt anywhere? Front, rear or all wheel drive options?

I am 99.99% confident that this will be FWD only.

 

[hockeythug]

What starts the clock on the federal tax credit phase out? Does the Volt count towards that 200,000? Or is just for BEV's?

 

[JRod0802]

Did anyone see the drive options for the Bolt anywhere? Front, rear or all wheel drive options?

In this video here, the Pam Fletcher (Executive Chief Engineer from Chevy) says that the motor is up front:
Chevrolet's Bolt is an electric vehicle for the masses - and we've driven it | Ars Technica

 

[Saghost]

What starts the clock on the federal tax credit phase out? Does the Volt count towards that 200,000? Or is just for BEV's?

All EVs from a manufacturer, do the Volt definitely counts against GM's total. The clock starts when they sell the 200,000th eligible car - after which the finish the quarter and then get another quarter at full value, then two at half value, I believe. So presumably both GM and Tesla will try to ramp production as much as they can right after hitting the critical car to build as much as possible in those next few quarters - assuming Congress doesn't change the rules in the next year or two.

 

[asudan]

No frunk.

View attachment 106699

That's kind of disappointing. Inelegant.

This is what you get when you have "ICE" engineers create an EV. If I didn't know this was an EV I would swear it was an ICE.

 

[anticitizen13.7]

This is good, likely better than the mediocre LEAF and not absurd like Faraday's "bat mobile". The BEV revolution is moving forward. This is going to make Nissan feel the pressure to freshen up the stale LEAF salad.

 

[JRP3]

All EVs from a manufacturer, do the Volt definitely counts against GM's total.

I think there is a minimum battery size requirement, so plugin hybrids such as the Volt only make it if their pack is large enough, which the original Volt just made it, (by design). Other plugin hybrids may not qualify. And of course only US sales count.

 

[techmaven]

Chevy isn't building enough to worry about the tax credit anytime soon.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

I think there is a minimum battery size requirement, so plugin hybrids such as the Volt only make it if their pack is large enough, which the original Volt just made it, (by design). Other plugin hybrids may not qualify. And of course only US sales count.

If you get a tax credit, it counts. Nobody's made a plug-in that doesn't qualify, as far as I know.

 

[Saghost]

I think there is a minimum battery size requirement, so plugin hybrids such as the Volt only make it if their pack is large enough, which the original Volt just made it, (by design). Other plugin hybrids may not qualify. And of course only US sales count.

The original Volt is just big enough to qualify for the full $7500. The minimum to qualify for the Tax credit is 5 kWh, which gives a $2500 credit, after which a car gets $417 per kWh up to the maximum of $7500 for 16 kWh:

Plug-In Electric Drive Vehicle Credit (IRC 30D)

Every PHEV and EV I'm aware of qualifies, and therefore all of them reduce the numbers available to their manufacturers.

 

[Drucifer]

So we have a few more specs.

0-60 under 7 seconds
Up to 25 miles of range per hour, 9 hours to charge using a 32 amp charger (7.7 kW), meaning 225 miles of range
That means likely 60 kWh of battery (7 kW making it to the battery, 9 hours including some taper).

Of course, 225 miles in that shape likely is "ideal range" and not EPA range. They only need to hit 200 in UDDS range.

Originally in the Bolt's website, it was 80% in 45 minutes, which is about on par with Tesla's 80% in 40 minutes. With the NMC chemistry, I expected that they would be able to handle a higher charging c-rate, maybe going for 80% in 25-30 minutes, even if few CCS chargers can deliver that kind of power. At 80% of a 60 kWh battery in 1 hour, that's 48 kW making it to the battery. That's kinda of terrible.

Much more likely a 50 kWh battery. 32 amp is closer to 6.6 kW 6.6 x 9 hours x 90% charging efficiency with a taper = 50 kWh

Most CCS chargers are 50 kW, so getting 80% / 40 kW into the battery in an hour also is about right, as it will need to start to taper after about 30-40 minutes.

- - - Updated - - -

What starts the clock on the federal tax credit phase out? Does the Volt count towards that 200,000? Or is just for BEV's?

Volts and Cadillac ELRs count.

- - - Updated - - -

If you get a tax credit, it counts. Nobody's made a plug-in that doesn't qualify, as far as I know.

There are plug-ins that don't get the full credit due to a battery size under 16 kWh. Ford Fusion Energi, CMax Energi, Volvo XC-90T8 and some others I believe get less than the $7500 tax credit, but each unit still counts against the 200k car limit per maker.

 

[nienco2]

Bolt:
What no FWD?:wink:

 

[eloder]

peppier than a 30 kWh leaf and longer range but what is the BMS like, how does it manage waste heat and reject environmental heat? Active cooling?

Will it be more reliable than a Nissan Leaf? Will the battery degrade slower?

wow, it must have a much bigger battery. Very open wheels (not aero friendly), tons of open grill space (all on the lower grill but still more open space than I'd expect for an EV).

She thinks dealer network is a plus and makes an anti Tesla dig about not being able to buy or service the car in some locations.

Sounds like they'll try to use MPGe in the dash data. God I hope you can switch it to something more relevant like miles per kWh or watthours per mile. I also hope they actually show SOC% on the dash.

I don't think they'll fail there, given their excellent track record on the Volt.

The vehicle definitely looks nicer than I anticipated, it'll be a pretty awesome city commuter. Definitely targeting a different segment than a Tesla Model 3. Good luck getting 80% charge in anything under an hour with real-world combo CCS chargers.

 

[Spidy]

This is what you get when you have "ICE" engineers create an EV. If I didn't know this was an EV I would swear it was an ICE.

So you want them to make the car bigger and heavier just so it has a frunk?


EVs don't need to have a frunk. The only reason the Model S has one is because they overall design (large sedan) leaves you with a lot of space in the front on an EV.

 

[TomServo]

Awesome news. My 2013 Volt has operated 93% electric. That's over 21K miles in 29 months of ownership as my DD. I will most likely trade in my Volt for a Bolt since I really need the utility of a CUV since my other car is a 2014 Stingray.

Since my Volt is paid for a $40K Bolt minus the fed $7500 and my equity and I'm OTD for $18K. I will be calling my dealer to see when I'll be able to order one.

 

[ggies07]

In this video here, the Pam Fletcher (Executive Chief Engineer from Chevy) says that the motor is up front:
Chevrolet's Bolt is an electric vehicle for the masses - and we've driven it | Ars Technica

Did anyone catch what she said about the buttons? She said the people they surveyed wanted buttons for things they used most......really!?! Or maybe they still wanted to keep the buttons because they're lazy. It's such an outdated feature. What's that saying from Ford? "People don't know what they want until you show them....."

 

[Drucifer]

Did anyone catch what she said about the buttons? She said the people they surveyed wanted buttons for things they used most......really!?! Or maybe they still wanted to keep the buttons because they're lazy. It's such an outdated feature. What's that saying from Ford? "People don't know what they want until you show them....."

Gen 1 Volt has touch capacitive "buttons" that were not well received. Given that and the small touch screen, I am sure Volt owner focus groups said that they would rather have physical buttons / knobs for the most common items (volume, HVAC controls, etc.)

 

[JRP3]

The original Volt is just big enough to qualify for the full $7500. The minimum to qualify for the Tax credit is 5 kWh, which gives a $2500 credit, after which a car gets $417 per kWh up to the maximum of $7500 for 16 kWh:

Plug-In Electric Drive Vehicle Credit (IRC 30D)

Every PHEV and EV I'm aware of qualifies, and therefore all of them reduce the numbers available to their manufacturers.

Do the smaller cars getting partial credit count as "1" of the 200,000, or less?

 

[Saghost]

Do the smaller cars getting partial credit count as "1" of the 200,000, or less?

Any car with at least 5 kWh of battery "qualifies" for the credit. The credit is phased out after 200,000 "qualifying" vehicles are sold. No fractions, no exceptions.