Op-Ed: Chevrolet Bolt Makes 200-Mile, $30,000 Electric Car A Reality – Sorry Tesla

[dmckinstry]

Well, the author is getting it from the comments in the article, so the InsideEVs readership seems to understand the reach that the author went for in his article.

I'm all for GM doing this for real. But this isn't for real yet.

What's puzzling is the anti-Tesla bias in several "green" publications. Maybe they're just tired of talking about Tesla all the time?

I think that there are those inside GM that believe they should produce the Bolt and do it right. However, 10-15 years ago there were believers within GM in the EV1 and it still got crushed. It remains to be seen if the current believers can pull it off. I hope they can. Even if GM does produce 100k plus Bolts each year and it is successful, there is still plenty of room in the potential market for Tesla to sell all they can make.

 

[Danal]

Hmmmm... the Bolt seems to support the Uber idea:

Allow ride-sharing management, including reservations, vehicle location, digital key and even payment processing via the smartphone

 

[Chop110]

Assuming the concept vehicle has the tech to evolve into a 200 mile production car and they actually follow through with it, I say 'Good job, GM!'. But honestly, this car is really a threat to the Nissan Leaf and maybe the BMW i3. Tesla is now synonymous with "performance and understated tech elegance'; which the by the looks of it, the Chevy Bolt is not. After all, Elon stated that this car would be in the same league as a BMW 3 series (Again), which by the looks of it, this GM offering is not. The media is clearly enamored with the idea of an automotive space race and is speculating way outside the box.

I truly hope that they do build this as I believe there will be a market for this gem (Note the Nissan Leaf sales). But I don't see most people cross shopping a Tesla Model 3 with a Chevy Bolt any more than people who would cross shop a high end Toyota Camry (Great car for one market type) with a BMW 3 series (Also a great car for a different market type).

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I think that there are those inside GM that believe they should produce the Bolt and do it right. However, 10-15 years ago there were believers within GM in the EV1 and it still got crushed. It remains to be seen if the current believers can pull it off. I hope they can. Even if GM does produce 100k plus Bolts each year and it is successful, there is still plenty of room in the potential market for Tesla to sell all they can make.

Ditto!

 

[Kipernicus]

Agree, Chop110.
But in line with competing against 3 series, Model 3 will not start at $35k. Tesla should never have made that claim, and if they do eventually push one out at that price point it will be just so that they can say "we keep our promises" but will be quickly discontinued. See: Model S $50k starting price claim and 40kWh cars.

Regardless, I'd consider a Bolt as a secondary "county" car at that price.

 

[Merrill]

I hope they do this and are successful we need all the BEV's we can get, would I buy one probably not. After driving a Tesla, not sure I will ever own another car of any kind. At some point I hope I can purchase the Model X and sell my ICE cars.

 

[GoBlue88]

Yes, but media types tend to be liberals first and foremost. GM manufactures autos primarily in the $25-$50K range, with only a few more expensive than that range. Tesla only manufactures autos in the $70-130K range. So, ironically right now some media types are siding with David (GM) vs. Goliath (Tesla.) They are pulling for the underdog in this endeavor. They perceive Tesla (the company) and us owners as elitist and wealthy even though we all know that is not necessarily true.

The Model 3 may not be available even until 2018 for various reasons, but once it is under production and on the road, the bucket of Bolts that Chevrolet is selling won't matter. Then the green media will change their tune.

In this particular case, however, Mr. Norby is a huge BMW slappy and a field test driver for BMW. He also claims to be a conservative, and has run for office in San Diego county as a Republican.

So while I agree there is a bias there, I'm guessing that his anti-Tesla bias is far more likely due to his BMW love/affiliation than to being a "liberal media type".

 

[doug]

Tesla is always good for clickbait (=$).

O

This.

 

[GoBlue88]

Also, if this car is going to compete with a 200-mile range Model 3, wouldn't it absolutely crush Mr. Norby's beloved 80-mile range BMW i3? Strange that isn't mentioned in the article - which makes me agree with others here that the "Sorry, Tesla" headline is clickbait.

 

[jkliu47]

Also, if this car is going to compete with a 200-mile range Model 3, wouldn't it absolutely crush Mr. Norby's beloved 80-mile range BMW i3? Strange that isn't mentioned in the article - which makes me agree with others here that the "Sorry, Tesla" headline is clickbait.

Actually his statement - "BMW gets design kudos here as well, as the Chevy Bolt drives much of its outward appearance from the BMW i3. I would have guessed it to be the BMW i5 if this car had rolled down the isle with badging from BMW. You know what they say about imitation!" shows his bias and the ironic 'comparison' to the i3 looks. i5 indeed! Horrors :scared:

 

[GoBlue88]

Actually his statement - "BMW gets design kudos here as well, as the Chevy Bolt drives much of its outward appearance from the BMW i3. I would have guessed it to be the BMW i5 if this car had rolled down the isle with badging from BMW. You know what they say about imitation!" shows his bias and the ironic 'comparison' to the i3 looks. i5 indeed! Horrors :scared:

Good LORD. I didn't originally see that there was more to the article below the graphic and missed that part. Holy cow.

 

[SteveG3]

Holland can produce enough battery cells for either 60k Volts or 20 Bolts.

If they continue selling roughly 20k Volts per year that means 13.3k Bolts per year.

The Holland plant was intended as the first "module" too. The plan back in 2008 was for Volt to be selling at 60k per year by now and build a second module to expand production for Volt 2.0.

If the Bolt/Volt sell out in 2017/18 I take it a new module could be built rather quickly.

Without a Supercharger type network I would never consider buying a Bolt. Then again I am amazed at how well the LEAF is selling.

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Rob, thanks for the details on GM's original plans. Looking at what you wrote, unless the second module you mention has the capacity to be larger than the first, the numbers suggest GM could get up to 27-40K Bolts. In my estimation that's not even in the same ballpark of commitment to a mass market EV as Tesla has made. While we haven't seen a Model 3 prototype, what's been done with the Gigafactory is a vastly larger demonstration of intent than today's display of a concept car. Not a knock on GM, good that they did this, it's just not the same level of commitment as Tesla.

 

[bluenation]

i agree that mentioning tesla gets easy clicks. at least the article sounds too clickbaity and bluzzfeedish. I still like insideev.com, but they are hilariously slow to update with new news, and a bit amateur blog-ish.

Yes, but media types tend to be liberals first and foremost. GM manufactures autos primarily in the $25-$50K range, with only a few more expensive than that range. Tesla only manufactures autos in the $70-130K range. So, ironically right now some media types are siding with David (GM) vs. Goliath (Tesla.) They are pulling for the underdog in this endeavor. They perceive Tesla (the company) and us owners as elitist and wealthy even though we all know that is not necessarily true.

The Model 3 may not be available even until 2018 for various reasons, but once it is under production and on the road, the bucket of Bolts that Chevrolet is selling won't matter. Then the green media will change their tune.

if TMC userbase is any indication, i think it may be true. The kind of money alot of you haul around easily makes you guys, at least from normal ppl's perspective, part of the 1%.

And im sure alot of you guys are cool in real life but some of the comments i see here, for example, towards oil changes or ignition sounds or some other ICE characteristics just seem straight out of the World Guide of Acting Like Upper Class Snobs.

But maybe it's just me.

Um...the car is not made yet. So we might want to save the 'well done' part until they actually do make the car, it gets 200 miles per charge, AND offered for $37,500 (before incentives).

Yeah, massively biased. GM really hasn't done anything. They've shown an empty shell concept car that doesn't actually drive, and probably won't bear much resemblance to their production model.

Tesla has working 200 mile EV technology in the real world. GM doesn't. Tesla is aiming for the 3-series. GM is aiming for a Kia hatch.

Kudos to GM for taking this one. But writing Tesla's obituary is very premature!

Tesla has shown far less than a "concept car", which btw we dont know if Bolt is.

And the last time i checked, Kia hatches sell more than the 3 series.

Model 3 is just words. You can't see a picture of it. You can see a picture of the Bolt. There is not guarantee the Model 3 will be built.

i think you said it better than i could.

(Hamtramck). Point is that it's not clear that GM has spent any money on it, other than build a show concept, while Tesla's already borrowed money for and is spending money on the Gigafactory, and has Panasonic signed up for it. GM couldn't even be bothered to put a fake DC charging port on the concept to show that it can charge on DC. And by saying $30k with incentives, they aren't being positive on the Volt either, because if they actually sold as many Volts as they can make, the incentives would be used up by the time the Bolt was released.

to be fair to GM, tesla has a very solid record of understimating the price they end up selling for. So that's why i have so little confidence in a 35k base, unless it's hideously underequipped. which i think is kinda unlikely, but who knows.

i do agree GM should set up a batt factory, but "needs" to? eh...

 

[vinnie97]

I'm poor as dirt but badly want a Model 3.

 

[Reykjavik]

The headline should read "Op-Ed: Chevrolet Bolt Makes 200-Mile, $30,000 Electric Car A Reality – Congratulations Tesla".

Chevy making a 200 mile range EV for $30,000 dollars is exactly what Tesla wants to happen, it is the reaction they have been working to catalyze since the roadster. Elon doesn't care about the market share of Tesla, he cares about the market share of EVs.

 

[gregincal]

I really hope GM comes out with the car and I really hope that it inspires other car manufacturer to also produce longer range cars. There's a lot of untapped room in the EV market. Here's the thing, though. I have no idea when Tesla is coming out with the Model 3, and it probably will be more expensive than expected, but I'm pretty sure when it comes out that it will be a car I really want. The Bolt definitely is not. I had hoped that BMW would come out with an EV I really wanted, because I've liked their cars in the past. They did not. I'm still waiting for any manufacturer besides Tesla to announce something I'd be remotely interested in.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Actually his statement - "BMW gets design kudos here as well, as the Chevy Bolt drives much of its outward appearance from the BMW i3. I would have guessed it to be the BMW i5 if this car had rolled down the isle with badging from BMW. You know what they say about imitation!" shows his bias and the ironic 'comparison' to the i3 looks. i5 indeed! Horrors :scared:

Wait a minute. Maybe it's satire.

 

[neroden]

if TMC userbase is any indication, i think it may be true. The kind of money alot of you haul around easily makes you guys, at least from normal ppl's perspective, part of the 1%.

Oh, I definitely am in the 1% (I checked the stats). Though I'm not part of the 0.1%, the million-a-year crowd who can afford to buy Congressmen with petty cash. Mostly luck that I ended up in this class, really. Like Warren Buffett says, our society for some reason rewards his talents far more than the talents of great scientists, healers, engineers, artists, etc. He considers that to be arbitrary luck.

I have found that nearly everyone who wants an automobile wants a Tesla. To the many who can't afford it, I say "Tesla is trying to make cheaper cars, but they needed to sell to the top of the market first in order to have high profit margins to pay for R&D, factory construction, etc." And people seem to get that.

I wish GM the best of luck, but this is another piece of vaporware. I'll believe it when I see it. FWIW, Elon Musk also wants all the other car companies to be producing popular electric cars; he only started Tesla when he realized that they'd cancelled their electric car programs. For every real competitor he has, he's going to cheer, but in the meantime, he's focused on staying 5 years ahead of the competition. He's doing very well at that and every other company is playing catch-up (Nissan is closest behind).

For an interesting contrast, I analyzed the electric *bus* market recently and discovered that the bus manufacturers have had a *very* different attitude from car manufacturers. They are practically *all* building battery-electric buses and they are *all* certain that this is the future of their industry. You don't get any of the carmakers' "ICE attitude" from them.

 

[bluenation]

buses, tho, are very predictable, have set routes, no need to look or sound sexy, completely utilitarian, and all massive. they are all about carrying ppl, no emotion. so i can understand them being different from car makers.

here in vancouver for example, has had 'electric buses' for...maybe a decade? except instead of expensive, super heavy batteries, they really on these wires above, which im sure had their own, super expensive investments. And they snag pretty often...

 

[igotzzoom]

I'm poor as dirt but badly want a Model 3.

+1 :smile:

 

[JohnQ]

India's Tata Motors targets younger drivers with new Bolt model | Reuters

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