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Random Bolt Sightings

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I find the C to be the most visually appealing of all the Prius models. I still have a Gen 1 Prius, which I consider homely but lovable (like the original VW Beetle). However, I find the newest Prius to be an aesthetic affront. Not as bad as the Mirai, but still ghastly.

I liked the Second Gen styling, and I really like the Buck Rogers taillight treatment of the new Prius. Looks great at night.
 
If the Model 3 was available, who in their right mind would choose a Bolt for the same price?

Oh, I dunno. A hatchback is pretty darn practical. I am not even sure if the Model III could accommodate my large R/C airplanes, which even my Fiat Panda can. I can put a solid one-piece 2m/7 foot wing in that car without any problems. I just wish Tesla would offer a station wagon version of the Model III, that would be perfect.
 
If the Model 3 was available, who in their right mind would choose a Bolt for the same price?

Well if you wanted a 200+ Mile EV for about $40k and wanted it now so you could take advantage of Federal EV incentives before they expire. The Bolt would be your car. Realistically if you put down a deposit right now for a Model 3, you are probably going to be lucky to get it end of 2018 maybe 2019. If you didn't want to worry about when you would get your car, the Bolt would be your car. If you had concerns about Service, the Bolt would be your car. Last week my wife took our Nissan Leaf in for the annual battery check and get the tires rotated, total time about 90-minutes and completed while she waited. Apparently Tesla takes a couple of days for a annual check on the Model S and X. If you had concerns about Tesla releasing a vehicle with numerous faults that needed to be fixed in the future (Model S and X), the Bolt might be your car. If you had concerns about Musk over-promising and under-delivering the Bolt might be your car. There is a lot of very good reasons to buy a Bolt over the Model-3.
 
I did qualify it by saying say "if the model 3 was available". I'm pretty sure I couldn't just go out and buy a Bolt right now either, if I wanted to. Annual check? I can do a daily check myself. If it's running fine then no need to take it in. I don't do annual checks on my ICE car. I'm not going to start now. Even if Elon is over-promising by a couple of magnitudes, it's still going to be a much better car than the Bolt IMO. To me the Bolt doesn't seem much better than a long range Leaf. A lot of people seem to to think the Model 3 is going to be a better car than the S. It's good to see someone with a little more realistic expectation.
 
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I just watched this Bolt review. As I was watching, I was thinking how ridiculous it is that this car is being compared to the Model 3. Then at about 2 minutes in the reviewer expresses my sentiments exactly. If the Model 3 was available, who in their right mind would choose a Bolt for the same price?

You might notice that even though test equipment for measuring performance is now cheap, under $100, CR did not bother. Even though they know the metrics of the BMW i3, they ignored it as a competitor, nor did they quantify anything but price. They avoided putting their tall driver in the rear seat on the video. Whatever strengths the Bolt has from an engineering standpoint, CR completely avoided testing of.

Read the Motor Trend or Car and Driver reviews instead. Both those rags have no love for Chevy, trust me. CR's relationship is not as accommodating to GM's as MT and C&D.

CR is the same company that says the best features of the New Prius are the pretty lights on the dash and excellent handling. No mention of lackluster performance, or the fact the handling is actually normal for the segment, not better. If anything, compared to the 2017 offerings it's still behind the curve, which is "excellent"?

I suggest you drive one and see if you agree it's a mountain road weapon.
 
Saw another on SB M-53 just over a week ago. Kind of strange how they're already starting to compete with how often I see Teslas.

2016-12-23_bolt_sighting.png
 
Saw another on SB M-53 just over a week ago. Kind of strange how they're already starting to compete with how often I see Teslas.
Guess that makes sense since the Bolt is manufactured in Michigan and the Tesla is not allowed to be sold there. I haven't seen any Bolts out here yet even though California is one of the two initial states where the car is sold. I was hoping to get to the SF car show over Thanksgiving week to see a Bolt first hand but, unfortunately, didn't make it there.