My open letter to the Chevy Bolt, from a Tesla fan.

[WannabeOwner]

I am terrible at backing into public parking spaces, so I am not looking forward to that at all.

Parking with the review camera is a breeze ... except ... every time when I then get out I am surprised how I managed to park at 45-degrees given that the rear view camera perspective looked perfect! 99% of S's that have parked alongside me at superchargers did the whole back-and-fill thing ...such that I don't feel such a plonker any more!

I think increasingly the supercharger stalls are front loading / drive through? (perhaps to accommodate X's towing trailers?), but I'm only going by a few of Bjorn's videos that I have seen, all UK stalls that I have stopped at were reverse-parkers

 

[strykeroz]

The no RHD Bolt announcement this week makes the car instantly irrelevant to me. At least that simplifies the question somewhat!

 

[McRat]

I'm sorry. Just look at the cutaway view of what's under the hood in a Bolt. Looks like an abomination of wires, tubes, and metal taking up the exact space an ICE engine would go in one of their other.. oh.

That's nothing. You should how packed everywhere is on on modern cars. Sounds like a 1950 Ford is in your future.

 

[Skotty]

There is really no reason to be negative about the Bolt. Aside from Tesla, it is far better than any other manufacturer is offering or going to offer for awhile. That said, there is nothing wrong with pointing out where it falls short, the obvious first item being there is no coherent fast charging network for it.

GM has a real chance here to leapfrog other manufacturers on this. For example, this is my subjective opinion, but Ford has been consistently making better gasoline cars that Chevy for awhile now, but Chevy has a big lead over Ford in EV technology. Ford is still limping around throwing batteries in trunks to give 20 miles plug-in range, while Chevy has the Volt and the Bolt which are both way superior to anything Ford has conjured up.

Nissan is still somewhat of an unknown to me. They had some serious commitment with the Leaf, but it feels like they have since stalled out a bit. Not much happening. Perhaps they think they were a little early to the race and are stalling intentionally. Or maybe they are just not in the best financial condition and don't want to take on any big risks right now. Or maybe they have stuff in the works I just don't know about yet.

 

[rxlawdude]

BMW i3 and VW e-Golf also have charging port in the back.

Given they are both AC and DC, shouldn't they have charge ports

That's nothing. You should how packed everywhere is on on modern cars. Sounds like a 1950 Ford is in your future.

Sorry, no room for a 1950 Ford. The point is, Tesla somehow figured out how to provide storage space in both the trunk and frunk. Already limited storage in the Bolt reduces its utility in this area. And that cutaway makes the Bolt look like a dealer (service) favorite.

 

[Kandiru]

I don't mind the looks of the Bolt. It seems fairly practical. I'm not going to buy one though. There's no fast charging network in this part of the country. The nearest CCS charging station is even further away from me than the nearest Supercharger. The nearest Supercharger is out of range to me than the range of any Tesla Model S.

I'm not a luxury car kind of guy really.

Very practical, you will see it will become a population control tool, look at thin panels and limited side and rear crumple zones.

 

[mknox]

Very practical, you will see it will become a population control tool, look at thin panels and limited side and rear crumple zones.

Perhaps we should wait for actual crash testing results before resorting to wild speculation. Recent new GM models have actually done very well in this area.

 

[Jeff N]

Very practical, you will see it will become a population control tool, look at thin panels and limited side and rear crumple zones.

The Bolt EV is sometimes compared (pejoratively) to the small Chevrolet Sonic sedan or hatchback which was also designed in South Korea by GM.

Here are its 5 star crash test ratings:

2017 Chevrolet Sonic 5 DR FWD | Safercar -- NHTSA

It only gets a 4 star rollover rating (like gas many cars) but that would be fixed by the low center of gravity in the Bolt.

 

[Jeff N]

In case people aren't familiar with the Sonic it looks like this:

 

[rxlawdude]

In case people aren't familiar with the Sonic it looks like this:

Yep. Looks like an econobox like those from Hyundai, Kia, Toyota and Nissan.

Undistinguished at best.

 

[mknox]

Yep. Looks like an econobox like those from Hyundai, Kia, Toyota and Nissan.

I think there are those who value form over function and others, like me, who value functionality over form. I have never liked small sedans, no matter how good they look, because they are just too impractical for my tastes. Tiny little trunks and no ability to carry larger loads. IMHO, a hatchback design is far more desirable on a small car. I'm sure the speculated Model Y will address this, but personally am sorry that Tesla didn't introduce the Y first.

 

[McRat]

...
Sorry, no room for a 1950 Ford. The point is, Tesla somehow figured out how to provide storage space in both the trunk and frunk. Already limited storage in the Bolt reduces its utility in this area. And that cutaway makes the Bolt look like a dealer (service) favorite.

So a VW Beetle is handier than an E350 Cargo Van because a Van only has rear storage?

The Tesla has a long "Jaguar" hood so it will look like a V8 ICE sedan. This is fashionable.

Since there is no range extender, you can put stuff where the V8 goes.

The Beetle and 911 put the engine in the rear so they have "frunks". Neither can haul large objects.
The prototype for the Model 3 will not permit large objects either. It's not a hatch.

So the inability to haul large stuff is feature? I suppose.

In any case, people aren't going to be buying Model 3's to haul stuff unless they turn it into a hatch somehow.

Trivia - On modern cars, many of them are designed for the driveline to be removed from underneath. This is why the K-member is removable in most cars.

 

[rxlawdude]

Rat, let's agree to respectfully disagree. I'm sure the Bolt will find buyers. I hope it's as or more reliable with the average GM product. I wouldn't buy one, but that's just me.

 

[Menifeer]

I think there are those who value form over function and others, like me, who value functionality over form. I have never liked small sedans, no matter how good they look, because they are just too impractical for my tastes. Tiny little trunks and no ability to carry larger loads. IMHO, a hatchback design is far more desirable on a small car. I'm sure the speculated Model Y will address this, but personally am sorry that Tesla didn't introduce the Y first.

Same here.

I also expect the more upright Bolt to be easier to enter/exit and provide a better view of the road (due to a higher seating position). Its drag coefficient suffers, of course, but if its range is adequate, that won't matter. Tesla's Model Y dimensions and CD will likely be similar to the Bolt.

 

[EinSV]

Same here.

I also expect the more upright Bolt to be easier to enter/exit and provide a better view of the road (due to a higher seating position). Its drag coefficient suffers, of course, but if its range is adequate, that won't matter. Tesla's Model Y dimensions and CD will likely be similar to the Bolt.

No, CD of the Model Y will be much, much better than the Bolt. CD of the Model X is reported to be 0.24.

2016 Tesla Model X Preview

 

[SΞXY P100D]

Here's a nice video describing why General Motors can never be and will never be Tesla Motors.

 

[mknox]

No, CD of the Model Y will be much, much better than the Bolt. CD of the Model X is reported to be 0.24.

If true (and have no idea how you know this) the cargo capacity will suffer. Even the Model X with its sloped rear hatch limits how much cargo you can carry in the back. Sure, it's more aero, and maybe even better looking, but not really as practical.

 

[EinSV]

If true (and have no idea how you know this) the cargo capacity will suffer. Even the Model X with its sloped rear hatch limits how much cargo you can carry in the back. Sure, it's more aero, and maybe even better looking, but not really as practical.

Model X has a CD of .24 and the CD for Model 3 is predicted to be about .21. There is effectively a zero chance of the Model Y CD exceeding the Bolt's terrible .32 CD IMO. Chevy Bolt EV is ‘a disaster for aero’ says lead designer, has a drag coefficient of 0.32

Better aerodynamics do not necessarily mean less practical. Boxy vehicles often have quite a bit of space that serves no useful purpose, especially interior space. Also, attention to aerodynamics and wind tunnel testing can yield significant aero gains from design choices that have no effect on interior space at all.

The Y will be designed to outcompete vehicles like the Audi Q5 and BMW X3. The Bolt is not close to being competitive with these vehicles and others in the same class except for customers who rank having an EV as their first and perhaps only priority.

IMO the Bolt is designed to serve a small niche and without major design changes that is all it will ever do. That is why I am more critical of the Bolt than some on this thread -- I think GM could and should have done much better. But that won't happen unless the GM board and executives decide to make BEVs a higher priority. I hope for the sake of my native city of Detroit that they do that soon. But I'm not holding my breath.

 

[McRat]

Here's a nice video describing why General Motors can never be and will never be Tesla Motors.

And here's a nice video explaining why no other car company is Chevrolet.

 

[Jbailey]

According to Car Talk, Chevrolet gave us "the second worse car of the millennium", the Vega (Yugo was the worst) The Chevy Cavalier, Chevette and Monte Carlo were pretty bad also.

A few quotes from car talk:

"As near as I could tell, the car was built from compressed rust. "My Chevy Vega actually broke in half going over railroad tracks. The whole rear end came around slightly to the front, sort of like a dog wagging its tail." "Burned so much oil, it was single handedly responsible for the formation of OPEC."

From another site:

"the suspension, the bushings of which were apparently made of toilet paper, based on the speed at which they broke down. Or the recirculating-ball steering that broke when the car was less than 3 years old and almost killed my stepmother. Or the brakes that failed and caused me to rear-end my buddy's car in the school parking lot."


However, we need to give them a break since after the American taxpayers bailed them out of bankruptcy, they seemed to have improved