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

[sandpiper]

Without a gigafactory and a supercharger network, GM cannot put significant numbers of bolts on the road to challenge the Model 3. The battery and drive chain of the bolt are LG's and not GM's.

I may be wrong, but I suspect that GM is holding back their cards until closer to shipping. They know that the SC network is a huge issue for a long range vehicle. I believe that Tesla didn't announce the SCs until after the car shipped. If I had to guess, I'd speculate that GM is still working this out; do they negotiate with Tesla? pressure the government? build their own?

I simply cannot believe that they wouldn't have some sort of fast DC charging solution.

 

[santana338]

The Bolt never would have happened without Tesla. Heck, the Volt wouldn't have happened without Tesla.

Oh, and I would expect an established car company to get a mass market car into production before a new startup company. Why is this a surprise to anyone?

 

[Krugerrand]

Wrong question... how many people will buy this because they can't afford a Tesla? You have to give GM their dues. They are legitimately beating Tesla to the market with a low cost, long-ish range BEV. Good for them.

Umm...you do realize the base price of the Model 3 is expected to be lower than that of the Bolt, right? And that the tech in the Model 3 (and it's design) will be far superior.

But yes, yeah for GM for being 'the' first thanks to Tesla announcing what they were going to do over a decade ago and pushing the crap out everyone else to get with the program, releasing their patents and all that other silly stuff they did - just because. GM should TOTALLY get all the credit for being 'the' first.

 

[JRP3]

Seems to me that a 60kWh battery in such a small car like a Bolt should result in significantly more range than a Model S60, which is much heavier (but likely more aerodynamic so maybe that is a more significant influence).

That would be my guess.

 

[scottf200]

You can go straight to GM for the published specifications. It's a 60 kWh battery.
http://media.chevrolet.com/media/us.../us/en/2016/Jan/naias/chevy/0111-bolt-du.html

Image: http://i.imgur.com/nQuWaxR.png

 

[vdiv]

Wrong question... how many people will buy this because they can't afford a Tesla? You have to give GM their dues. They are legitimately beating Tesla to the market with a low cost, long-ish range BEV. Good for them.

Are they?! CPO Model S is now at $50k and falling. Add the supercharging network so you can actually use your 200-mile EV to get anywhere.

- - - Updated - - -

I mean, really?! A Bolt EV or this? 60 kWh Model S P41050 | Tesla Motors

 

[JRP3]

Battery pack is 138wh/kg, Tesla is around 160wh/kg I believe.

 

[Lanny]

I simply cannot believe that they wouldn't have some sort of fast DC charging solution.

The DC Fast Charging capability in the Bolt EV is going to be optional.

GM is not participating in the various partnerships to build out inter-city DC Fast Charging networks developed between other manufacturers such as the one BMW and Nissan announced in December. VW, BMW and ChargePoint also is cooperating to install an SAE Combo charging corridor on the east and west coasts.

Lanny

 

[WarpedOne]

Bolt is all fine and dandy. It is a bit weak on Fast Charging site, but that can be 'forgiven' due to 'low' price.

It boils down to only 30k pieces per year.
If that is mass-market, Model S already double-mass market as it is produced in 70k pieces per year.

There is no 'value' around low price If I am not able to buy it at all.
I expect the price to go up, if not the price of new cars, then resell. I don't see GM doing that.

 

[scottf200]

Still skeptical it will get the full 200 mile range. ...

Wait, do you realize it has a 60 kWh battery? Per official announcement: Drive Unit and Battery at the Heart of Chevrolet Bolt EV

 

[Chickenlittle]

Still skeptical it will get the full 200 mile range. Also, can the Bolt be called mass market if it doesn't outsell the Model S?

I can not recall tesla or musk claiming model 3 would have 200 mile range. I do not know where that number came from. Will be curious to see range. I would be very surprised if not more.

 

[Drucifer]

Questions I have:

1. Safety rating. Not GMs strong suit
2. Epa range. 200 on what test. Ideal or real?
3. Warranty. Dealers will love working on cars with no oil right?
4. Recall. GMs not good at this either but does it alot
5. Crash fire. Volts caught fire while parked and unplugged as I recall at the nhtsa.
6. Charging. That is really slow charging at 7.2 and even the DC is only 90 in 30. The S and X are twice as fast on an SC. Will that be good enough?
7. Model 3 timeframe? Will GM really stick to their late 2016 or will Tesla finally deliver ahead of schedule as they need to.

As for Volt, your points are pretty far off - and that is the history that I can make comparisons from.

1. Volt is 5 star, very close to Model S at 5.4 star
2. Volt exceeds rated range regularly
3. Dealers hate Volt. That's OK, I don't like dealers
4. Volt just had it's first recall - due to a few owners being idiots and making the car more idiot proof. Tesla has a seat belt recall. I call it a push.
5. After being crashed and stored upside down for 3 weeks, it caught fire. Volt has I believe 1 fire in operation. Tesla has 3 plus 1 at a supercharger to my knowledge.
6. No it won't. It will suck for long trips. Maybe a regional out-and-back of less than 170 miles might be OK if you can charge at your destination before returning.
7. This car is production ready. It was near production ready a year ago. Very little chance of GM not sticking to their dates.

 

[apacheguy]

288 cells = 60 kWh? How did they do that? Model S has over 7,000 cells.

 

[trils0n]

60kWh is good news. Should do 200 miles pretty easily I'd think, seeing how Model S 60 got 208 EPA. Smaller (less frontal area) than Model S, so should be fine in the aero department, unless the Cd is bad (it looks good, but I haven't seen official numbers). And skinnier low rolling resistance tires should help. Hope they do well with this car -- seems like it could be a winner.

 

[FlasherZ]

Bolt is all fine and dandy. It is a bit weak on Fast Charging site, but that can be 'forgiven' due to 'low' price.

It boils down to only 30k pieces per year.
If that is mass-market, Model S already double-mass market as it is produced in 70k pieces per year.

There is no 'value' around low price If I am not able to buy it at all.
I expect the price to go up, if not the price of new cars, then resell. I don't see GM doing that.

You have to get there somehow.

I'm not going to bash on GM's work here - they now have a true local daily driver that's all-electric, that's a critical first step. Even if it's only 30,000, I think that's pretty good for a company that has been resisting for years. Tesla started with 2,500 units, then built from there several years later.

What will be important for me is not quantity, but rather how they approach the sales. If they relegate it to the compliance car pile, I'll be saddened. Anything else is going to be wonderful.

 

[dhanson865]

60kWh is good news. Should do 200 miles pretty easily I'd think, seeing how Model S 60 got 208 EPA. Smaller (less frontal area) than Model S, so should be fine in the aero department, unless the Cd is bad (it looks good, but I haven't seen official numbers). And skinnier low rolling resistance tires should help. Hope they do well with this car -- seems like it could be a winner.

shorter cars have worse aero, offsets the lower frontal area. Still if the average joe can get 200 on it, I'd be able to get 250 miles.

 

[FlasherZ]

I WAS WRONG! I called the battery at 50-55 kWh. 60 is huge for a smaller, lighter car. Should go EASILY above 200 miles...maybe even 230-240.

Chevy appears to have a much lower Wh/kg number than the Model S does. I was originally thinking they'd have a 50 kWh pack @ about 225 Wh/mi EPA. Given the published specs, I think it's probably going to be 210-215 miles on a full charge. They're likely going to be just as conservative with headroom in the cells - they know they get one shot to make a good first impression and hopefully have learned from Nissan. They can always open it up later for a magic range increase (or degradation suppression through hidden capacity).

 

[doug]

288 cells = 60 kWh? How did they do that? Model S has over 7,000 cells.

Larger cells...

 

[apacheguy]

Makes sense. Although it's interesting they decided not to go with 18650. Anyone have more details on the LG tech they are using in the cells? Cycle life, heat tolerance, resistance to thermal runaway, etc.

 

[eye.surgeon]

Good for GM. The Bolt looks like a quality product. The only major advantage I see the M3 having over the Bolt is the supercharger network. You could argue the gigafactory is a another advantage for Tesla but it's also a huge investment, one that will take many years to recoup and one that GM for now is allowing suppliers to make. Time will tell which is smarter.