First Wild Bolt Spotted

[N5329K]

Saw my first Bolt on the street today and unfortunately for the Bolt, it was being tailed by a P85 Model S.
While I applaud GM's long-awaited achievement of finally building an EV with greater range than its ancient EV1, the Bolt is as many have observed here, not a competitor to the Model 3 in any way other than they both have four wheels and four doors. It is a city car, and perhaps a very good city car. But it reads like the kind of subcompact econobox you get saddled with at the airport rental desk when they lose your reservation.
The field is wide open for Tesla. All its competition is either not competitive or largely imaginary (VW has so many concept EV's you'd think one might accidentally make it into production, but no).
The game is entirely Tesla's to win now.
Robin

 

[AnxietyRanger]

Well, actually... Bolt has five doors.

That said, I agree its appeal may be limited for reasons mentioned - it may be too much of an econobox, but not cheap enough for that. We shall see.

 

[McRat]

Saw my first Bolt on the street today and unfortunately for the Bolt, it was being tailed by a P85 Model S.
While I applaud GM's long-awaited achievement of finally building an EV with greater range than its ancient EV1, the Bolt is as many have observed here, not a competitor to the Model 3 in any way other than they both have four wheels and four doors. It is a city car, and perhaps a very good city car. But it reads like the kind of subcompact econobox you get saddled with at the airport rental desk when they lose your reservation.
The field is wide open for Tesla. All its competition is either not competitive or largely imaginary (VW has so many concept EV's you'd think one might accidentally make it into production, but no).
The game is entirely Tesla's to win now.
Robin

Have you driven a Bolt?
Pretty sure you haven't driven the Model 3.

 

[NeverFollow]

Saw my first Bolt on the street today

In fact the Bolt use the second generation Aveo (201-2011) called Sonic (2011-present) body frame.
Chevrolet Aveo - Wikipedia

It's a kind of practical 5 doors sub-compact, but nothing really new to look at, and not build from scratch.

 

[N5329K]

Have you driven a Bolt?
Pretty sure you haven't driven the Model 3.

Not yet, MCRat, but I will soon. I doubt it will change my mind though. If I drove a Fiat 500e I would be looking very hard at a Bolt. It has proper back seats and a place for cargo, to name two advantages. Add range and who wouldn't ditch the little Fiat (except that you can buy the 500e very, very, very cheaply right now).
Is the Fiat competition for the Model 3? Uh uh. For me, neither is the Bolt.
Glad the Bolt is being built, but I think that for the long range, intermediate cost EV moment, unless you're OK with driving a spud, the Model 3 is the only player on the field.
The other teams never showed up.
Robin

 

[Jeff N]

In fact the Bolt use the second generation Aveo (201-2011) called Sonic (2011-present) body frame.
Chevrolet Aveo - Wikipedia

It's a kind of practical 5 doors sub-compact, but nothing really new to look at, and not build from scratch.

That's not literally true. The Bolt is larger in all dimensions including wheelbase and the "platform" underpinnings have been radically altered during the process of designing-in the under-the-floor battery pack. The Bolt does, however, share a roughly similar overall body shape.

 

[Btrflyl8e]

I drove the Bolt recently. While not a stunner in the looks department, it was roomier inside than I expected. It drove pretty good, a little too loose under much acceleration from a stop, but otherwise ok. With all having a range of 238 miles, and with all options it maxes out around $43k, I think it will appeal to some over the Model 3. Likely only for brand recognition reasons. Chevy had been around a lot longer than Tesla, and most people don't like change.

 

[McRat]

Not yet, MCRat, but I will soon. I doubt it will change my mind though. If I drove a Fiat 500e I would be looking very hard at a Bolt. It has proper back seats and a place for cargo, to name two advantages. Add range and who wouldn't ditch the little Fiat (except that you can buy the 500e very, very, very cheaply right now).
Is the Fiat competition for the Model 3? Uh uh. For me, neither is the Bolt.
Glad the Bolt is being built, but I think that for the long range, intermediate cost EV moment, unless you're OK with driving a spud, the Model 3 is the only player on the field.
The other teams never showed up.
Robin

I waited until the CT6 PHEV was released before I drove the Bolt. While the cars are priced wildly different, and totally different applications, both are on my list of choices.

The Bolt EV was pretty much what I expected out of a car with $20,000 worth of battery in it (~64kWh) when everybody else in the sub $60k market is only installing $10,000 worth (30kWh ish). To really highlight the budget constraints, I drove a 2017 Volt and 2017 Cadillac CT6 PHEV the same day.

Interior look, feel, comfort? Caddy, Volt, Bolt. Yes, the Volt is nicer inside than the Bolt. The Caddy is nice, very nice.
High Tech? Caddy, Bolt, Volt
Acceleration? Bolt, Caddy, Volt. Note: Powerbraking the Caddy in Sport mode yields a pretty quick launch, far quicker than the Bolt. But who powerbrakes in traffic?
Handling response? Ehh... Tough, very close. Bolt, Volt, CT6. Need track time to figure it out. The CT6 did not have the Summer tire package, the Volt has performance summer tires on it.
Ride quality. CT6, CT6, CT6. Different planet. It's a Cadillac and rides like one when set to Tour. The Bolt has a firm ride, and you cannot adjust it. I like it, but I'm a Z06 kinda guy. The Volt is in the middle, but the Cad is quite a bit better for the biscuit and tea crowd.
Road/wind noise. CT6, Bolt, Volt.
Sound system. Even with the proletariat class Bose instead of the 34 speaker Panaray, the Caddy sounds much better.
Parking. Tie, CT6 and Bolt. While the Bolt might be a lot smaller, the CT6 is very easy to park with all the digital assistance.

Styling? None of them were ugly. All three had me turn back to look at them when I parked and walked away. Fit and finish on all three was excellent.

 

[RobStark]

There is also a large price overlap.

Bolt EV
$37,500- $45k

Model 3
$35k-??? with a median price of $42k.

GM very much intended to make Bolt EV a Model 3 competitor but missed the mark.

In the hart of densely populated a significant number of new car buyers will prefer Amerpera-e to Model 3 but not much beyond that.

 

[arnis]

BTW smaller sedans are actually for shorter driving distances. Similar to small hatchbacks.
Tourings and vans are for longer distance trips.
more cargo room = longer distance.
bigger/longer vehicle = longer distance
smaller vehicle = shorter distance, city
smaller turning radius = shorter distance, city
Model 3 will be much more city friendly compared to Model S/X.


This is touring.

 

[BluestarE3]

I saw my first "wild" Bolt last week parked in a supermarket parking lot. Although GM has said they won't invest in a charging infrastructure, I've seen Bolt-branded charging stations at a couple of shopping malls here. They took over a parking space at the end of an aisle in the open parking lot and installed an EV charger along with a pylon advertising the Bolt. IIRC, there's one at the same mall where the local Tesla store is located (probably no coincidence).

 

[hockeythug]

I take it you live in California, Washington, or Oregon?

 

[hill]

Tesla has GM beat for long haul infrastructure. But when I read how many times Tesla owners (expecially the X) continually have to go back in to the service department for 'issues' - I don't hear of nearly as many GM owners having to trek back for such things.
Seen a couple already. Not much to look at, but I'd be hard pressed to say how lame it looks after purchasing one of the 1st US Leafs (vin 000659). It's ugly too.
.

 

[BluestarE3]

I take it you live in California, Washington, or Oregon?

Yes. Norcal = Northern California

(Assuming your question was directed at me rather than the OP)

 

[Btrflyl8e]

Tesla has GM beat for long haul infrastructure. But when I read how many times Tesla owners (expecially the X) continually have to go back in to the service department for 'issues' - I don't hear of nearly as many GM owners having to trek back for such things.
.

Keep in mind people aren't coming to forums to report "another month, haven't had to take my car in for service!". Also, a pretty good % of S and X owners are a bit less forgiving of what most people would consider acceptable...not passing judgment, just noting what I've observed.

 

[hockeythug]

Yes. Norcal = Northern California

(Assuming your question was directed at me rather than the OP)

Anybody who has seen one I guess. Just a little joke on GM's deployment "strategy"

 

[RobStark]

But when I read how many times Tesla owners (expecially the X) continually have to go back in to the service department for 'issues' - I don't hear of nearly as many GM owners having to trek back for such things.

If you read Tesla forums you tend to hear about Tesla problems and not about others.

Problems, Bugs, Weird Stuff, Glitches, Concerns Here - Chevrolet Bolt EV Forum

And this forum only has about 13k total post.


Besides hearsay is unscientific.

Model S has average reliability which is better than MB S Class but worse than Lexus LS.

Model X has worse than average reliability according to Consumer Reports but not their "worse" rating.

Tesla has said door problems on early Model X are resolved. We shall see in next years reliability ratings.

Historically Chevy is a bit below average, first generation Volt was above average but Volt 2.0 was average. We shall also see next year when 1st year of new generation issues shake out next year.

 

[Jeff N]

....If you read Tesla forums you tend to hear about Tesla problems and not about others.

Problems, Bugs, Weird Stuff, Glitches, Concerns Here - Chevrolet Bolt EV Forum

And this forum only has about 13k total post.

Most of the issues mentioned there are bugs in the center infotainment screen and, as noted in a recent post there, a software update it available now that addresses them. Cars built during the past couple of months already have the fix.

The "grinding noise" when shifting to 'park' was likely the electric parking brake being automatically engaged. The other issues look like minor new owner confusion about how the climate controls work etc.

 

[BluestarE3]

Anybody who has seen one I guess. Just a little joke on GM's deployment "strategy"

Ah, gotcha!

 

[johnnyS]

The Bolt looks like an average subcompact, not a $40,000 car. It is easy to miss since it looks like the other very inexpensive subcompacts. One parks near my office--I wondered if it was a Bolt so I walked over and sure enough it is. Most people will not notice them on the road or understand the significance.