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Chevy Bolt - 200 mile range for $30k base price (after incentive)
- Thread starter FredTMC
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- bolt chevy Electric Vehicles review
jgs
Active Member
The video thing is cute but I don't see it as a replacement for actual rear visibility. I was just noticing the other day that (for me, anyway) the reverse camera on my MS is no substitute for the mirrors. Why? Depth, lack of. Depth perception works with a mirror. Everything is flattened on a video display. Mind you, it's a fine supplement and much better than nothing.
AMPUP
Member
Same old GM. Pretty decent car and all they can do is try to attack Tesla. 'We believe in the 3000 dealers', 'we believe in not having to travel out of state for service'.. Dig dig etc etc... Why do they do this, its just puts a sour taste in my mouth and I owned and loved a Volt at one time ....
JRP3
Hyperactive Member
I might as well if Tesla wasn't building the 3. I can wait, maybe pick up a used LEAF in the meantime if the base Model 3 looks to be significantly delayed.
JRP3
Hyperactive Member
Only if your think Tesla is going to reverse their trend with the Roadster, S, and X, and suddenly not build a compelling vehicle.
Breezy
Member
Yes, the digs at Tesla are annoying and unnecessary. Not that Elon has been entirely innocent of such things in the past.
Jabs at a PR event is one thing, but causing a problem at the dealer board and legislative level is another. GM has been actively fighting for the antiquated dealership laws, in some cases harder than th dealerships themselves to try to thwart Tesla. That is what really bothers me.
The digs are not annoying, just stupid, because it sets up Tesla to point out the restrictive states laws again.
I am (reasonably) sure that if GM thought Tesla was a wedge that could be used to get the industry out from underneath mandatory franchising laws, it would adopt a different stance. The problem from GM's perspective is that because it is politically impossible to get the entire industry exempted, Tesla is going around the laws in some states and getting exceptions that apply basically only to Tesla.
I mean, if you were in management at GM, how would you react to that?
Krugerrand
Meow
That all depends on who I am as a person, where my moral and ethical compass lies, and how motivated I am by the almighty dollar. Elon Musk (and many others before him) have proven that you don't have to be selfish to succeed in business or life, it's just sometimes (often?) harder to put someone or something else before you and trust that you'll be rewarded in due time.
There are so many ways GM management could go. Among other things, they lack creativity and guts.
green1
Active Member
By joining the fight and trying to push to fix the laws for all automakers... Tesla is getting individual exemptions not because they want to be the only direct sale auto maker, but because it's much easier when you don't have the kind of clout that the big boys do. If you are one of the big boys, you should help do it properly instead of taking the opportunity to use laws to block your competition.
3PHASE
3PHASE
So, my comment on the dealer front is the following.
As an owner of a Spark EV and potential Bolt and Model 3 owner (hey, why not make a reservation), I can see the value of a service center that is closer. I had an issue with my Spark EV which was eventually resolved (not a critical problem, but they had to replace a part related to some warning lights). The problem was not all dealers service/sell the Spark EV, so I had to drive about 35 miles to have it serviced. They put you in a rental or loaner which is not as nice as a Tesla loaner, for sure. My dealer only has 2 techs. that service both the Volt and Spark. One time I had a service reservation only to be told to turnaround, go back home, and bring the car back at a later time because they were working on a couple of Volt problems (communications problems at the dealer - they should have called me before I drove over). Nice!
Now, I live in So. MD. In my area, the Chevrolet dealers gave up on the Volt. They just don't sell them or have very little inventory (1/none). How are they going to push the Bolt out to ALL dealers if some of them gave up on the Volt and don't have the service chops anymore. I expect some dealers won't carry it unless something changes. There's no difference in driving 30 miles to a Tesla service center or dealer, so that argument doesn't carry water unless EVERY dealer carries the Bolt in volume.
The other negative with any of the traditional dealers (I also have a Fusion Energi) is that the techs. get into your car and they get grease on things. I had an internal component related to the keyfob that needed to be replaced. When they removed the headliner, they dirtied up parts of the light colored headliner with their greezy hands.
I'm always impressed with the cleanliness of the Tesla service centers.
As an owner of a Spark EV and potential Bolt and Model 3 owner (hey, why not make a reservation), I can see the value of a service center that is closer. I had an issue with my Spark EV which was eventually resolved (not a critical problem, but they had to replace a part related to some warning lights). The problem was not all dealers service/sell the Spark EV, so I had to drive about 35 miles to have it serviced. They put you in a rental or loaner which is not as nice as a Tesla loaner, for sure. My dealer only has 2 techs. that service both the Volt and Spark. One time I had a service reservation only to be told to turnaround, go back home, and bring the car back at a later time because they were working on a couple of Volt problems (communications problems at the dealer - they should have called me before I drove over). Nice!
Now, I live in So. MD. In my area, the Chevrolet dealers gave up on the Volt. They just don't sell them or have very little inventory (1/none). How are they going to push the Bolt out to ALL dealers if some of them gave up on the Volt and don't have the service chops anymore. I expect some dealers won't carry it unless something changes. There's no difference in driving 30 miles to a Tesla service center or dealer, so that argument doesn't carry water unless EVERY dealer carries the Bolt in volume.
The other negative with any of the traditional dealers (I also have a Fusion Energi) is that the techs. get into your car and they get grease on things. I had an internal component related to the keyfob that needed to be replaced. When they removed the headliner, they dirtied up parts of the light colored headliner with their greezy hands.
I'm always impressed with the cleanliness of the Tesla service centers.
That's a huge knock against the Bolt - the dealerships. Maybe independent EV repair shops need to pop up?
I don't know what kind of dealers you have in the usa, but my dealer in Europe went beyond and above, when on Friday afternoon my Ampera's steering column lock failed and the car became a paperweight in an underground garage, where it couldn't be towed out. Dealer's tech came to my home on Friday afternoon and fixed the car.
Also, they always kept my car clean (they wrap the steering wheel and the driver's seat) and never would they move the seat position, which I hate if they would.
Oh and by the way, you also don't have to wait to get the car serviced for 3-4 months, like Models S owners in Europe have to.
Also, they always kept my car clean (they wrap the steering wheel and the driver's seat) and never would they move the seat position, which I hate if they would.
Oh and by the way, you also don't have to wait to get the car serviced for 3-4 months, like Models S owners in Europe have to.
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dhanson865
Well-Known Member
because there are very very few CCS rapid chargers in place, they don't want to highlight that 99% of the US won't have access to that style charger.
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Is there any indication of the sales volume they plan for the Bolt and in which markets yet? I remember getting excited about the new Toyota Rav4 EV powered by Tesla only to discover it was being sold exclusively as a compliance car in California. I read an article about how they designed the Bolt for an Uber like car service needs. Will Bolts at first only be sold to alternative taxi services? I am sure this has been discussed, but how many cars can the LG battery plant supply? I have a feeling in the years to come a lot of the discussion between the Bolt and Model 3 will be about battery supply.
With a 200 mile car, Chevy has the opportunity to do it the same way Tesla did -- sell the car as a local daily driver and then watch the network get built. You can't do that unless you have a car that works for a majority of the people a majority of the time (local driving only) without a lot of anxiety. 200 miles gets you that, something the Leaf really didn't have with only 73 miles range.
Peter_M
Member
Thanks for the correction. 30,000 cars is a start and maybe their advertising and brand profile will help get people thinking about buying EVs. I just hope they are serious about it, and that would mean planning for massively expanded battery production.
That would be interesting, roughly 8x the cell size of a Tesla. I wonder what that will mean for battery longevity. A single cell that fails would have 8x the impact that a cell failure in Model S. I wonder what degradation will look like there with that particular cell size.
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