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Passenger space, passenger headroom, aerodynamics.
More cargo space means sacrifices must be made elsewhere. This isn't a hatchback, and it's not a car that squeezes the passengers either. You can only do so much with a mid-sized sedan given their design priorities.
And smart cars have 78% as much storage space as the Model 3 does and the car is under 9 feet in length.
The hatchback vehicle design does absolute wonders for storage space. It comes with a whole host of drawbacks, though. A sedan version of a Prius would probably have less storage space than a Model 3, and a hatchback version of the Model 3 would probably have more storage space than a Prius.
SageBrush
REJECT Fascism
Indeed, no plans for a cohesive nationwide network of CCS (or CHAdeMO, for that matter) stations makes the Bolt (and others) not a great choice for long distance travel (or even medium distance if you aren't in CA). Here in WI, there are some DCFC for CCS & CHAdeMO, but they are poorly located and most are stupid expensive, not to mention the terrible reliability. Nobody wants to show up to a station and have it not work, and you're stranded -- an extremely rare occurrence on the Supercharger network.
Also, I hate to say it, but putting DCFC stations at dealerships seems easy, but in practicality is kinda terrible. Dealerships have limited hours and minimal amenities. Many seem to limit charging to customers. They block the stations with dealership vehicles (EVs or ICE) and don't care. Nobody wants to have salespeople trying to talk to them while they wait to charge. Locations are in cities rather than between them. Just read any of the Leaf message boards about dealership hosted charging in places like CA & Seattle and you'll see the issues pretty readily.
Waiting4M3
Active Member
I can think of a couple of drawbacks with hatchbacks:
structural stiffness, a hatchback would remove one cross member at the back of the car, it may affect handling and roll-over or impact safety
acoustic deadening, in a hatchback the rear wheel well is more exposed to the inside of the car, while in a sedan it's inside the trunk, so a hatchback is potentially noisier.
SageBrush
REJECT Fascism
SageBrush
REJECT Fascism
190 miles
Bolt range at 70 mph is ~ 190 - 2000 miles when new, if you draw the battery down to empty from 100%. Without A/C and no headwind. And remember that the last 20% of charging up the battery is at ~ 20 kW.
Sound like a drive you care to make ?
thelastdeadmouse
Member
You know what? I've seen the light. I now realize that it's been silly for me to enjoy the practicality of the hatchback on my Volt. Who on Earth buys a consumer vehicle for hauling items? That's why that whole SUV / Crossover / Truck thing never caught on in the first place. It'd be much better to arrange to rent a vehicle whenever I go to Lowes or to a garage sale. On second thought I'll just buy one of those $35k all electric pickup trucks with the giant charging network that's coming out this fall. I forget the name, someone want to post the link for that?
Foxhound199
Member
Look, we get it. It's a shame Tesla can't introduce a full line-up of 12 different models overnight. Obviously, there is a variety of car models in the world because different people have different preferences. For some, this is exactly the car they've been waiting for. For others, a different type of car would be a better fit. Hopefully other car makers take notice and start producing some real competition so that more people can find the car that best suits them. I just think it's completely pointless to hem and haw about what kind of car this will be.
You can charge up in Victorville at 14370 Bear Valley Rd and the next closest one in Las Vegas is at 11330 Southern Highlands Pkwy. That's a distance of 179 miles. The Bolt is rated for 238 miles combined EPA at 119 MPGe, but highway MPGe is listed as 110 MPGe, so it has a highway range of 220 miles. If the Bolt was fully topped off at one of the L3 chargers, that would leave 18.6% left when arriving to the next without speeding (the speed limit on that stretch is 70 MPH). That's not accounting for headwind decreasing range nor high A/C usage (the temps on that drive easily get over 115F in the summer), plus the top end of the charge slows down significantly on L3 chargers (and those CCS chargers only have 50 kW of power). In addition, each of those locations only has one CCS charger, so if it's down you're SOL, and if there are multiple Bolt owners doing the drive on the same day it would take forever to wait in line on one charger. Therefore for all reasonable purposes, you cannot currently drive a Bolt from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. And I'm not trying to bash Chevrolet, but the other manufacturers need to step up their game in terms of a reliable nationwide fast charging network.
SageBrush
REJECT Fascism
Yeah, I've read multiple times that sedans lend themselves to lower Cd. If true then I forgive Tesla ;-)
As a counterpoint though, the Prius Prime is an excellent hatchback (not including the raised battery *cough* *cough*) and has a very respectable Cd of 0.24. Would it be 0.21 as a sedan ?
garsh
Re Member
Yes, but you said:
A Model S is not a compact hatchback, and is a rather large vehicle.
JeffK
Well-Known Member
Luckily people have already done that trip in a Bolt it as described verbally in this video (40 sec in):
No need for hypothesizing
(granted, this video was posted in Winter.)
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Big one for me is rear headroom. Musk specifically stated that the rear crossbeam for a hatch would have taken away headroom in the back seat.
I don't need anything else. I've had smaller cars where no one wanted to sit in the back seat. Might as well have a two seater.
The car was also made more aerodynamic without the hatch, increasing range.
Range, efficiency, handling, performance, safety.
I've driven a smart car and it had more than enough storage space for me. I don't need to go to home depot and pick up 4x10s every weekend. I don't need to haul paintings around every day. I choose vehicles to transport myself, and sometimes other people.
Something like the Model S is perfectly fine for a hatchback for me, but you can't make the same design work on a smaller car like the Model 3 without other big drawbacks.
The Model Y is on the way for people who like hatchbacks, but personally I don't want to drive a "traditional" hatchback the size of the Model 3. At that point it's pretty much a cross-over.
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Two sets of clubs just barely fit in the trunk of my 328i but I think they might fit better in the Model 3 since there's no hinge intrusion. I'm sure at worst it will be no worse than my BMW.
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