I've driven the Bolt but not the 3. The Bolt is a dog and no fun to drive. The Bolt has superior build quality internally vs. my Model S internally, however.
I’ve driven a Bolt for 12 months and 24,000 miles including multiple ~1000 mile road trips between SF and LA, a trip from SF to central Utah, and a trip to central Oregon.
I’ve driven a Model 3 for about 2 hours and near 100 miles in a variety of road conditions.
You say “Bolt is a dog and no fun to drive” but I greatly enjoy driving my Bolt. With 0-60 mph of ~6.5 seconds and winning track times at Laguna Seca raceway it’s obviously not “a dog”.
The long range version of the TM3 has better acceleration and excellent drivability on curvy mountain roads. Hairpin twisty turns are almost magical in the TM3. It’s helped by its grippier MXM4 tires whereas the Bolt comes with Energy Saver A/S tires tuned entirely for low rolling resistance.
Both cars are tuned for sportier firm rides although the Bolt tends to buck a little on some roads with choppy pavement.
A couple weeks ago I rode in a Bolt on a 150 mile round trip (back seat there, front seat on the way back). The back seat was not comfortable at all! I am glad the other guy offered to ride in the back on the way home. The front seat wasn't much better. Maybe it's ok that this car can't be used for a long trip, because who would want to?!
Obviously the Bolt can be used for long trips if charging is available as it is in many parts of California and other coastal areas.
I find the front seats firm but okay overall. They are a bit on the narrow side with substantial bolstering so they tend to hug you in place. In contrast, the rear seats are more bench-like and flat. For context, I have a very typical overweight American body shape and size. I have not been in the backseat of the Bolt on long drives but my passengers have and I didn’t hear any complaints.
I read that GM loses $9,000 on every Bolt sold, and it is mostly a compliance car to allow for other, more profitable, ICE cars to be sold.
GM is bringing out 2 more BEV models based on the Bolt platform in the next 2 years and then additional models based on a new BEV platform beginning after 2020.
These “$9,000 loss” claims should be put into context but the initial reports of these types of numbers often seem to arrive in poorly written articles that do not characterize under what assumption the number was calculated.
It’s unlikely that GM is incrementally losing another $9,000 every time they build and sell another car. More likely, that number includes the total Bolt program R&D costs spread across some unstated but assumed number of car sales. How many car sales? How many years of sales? Does it include the planned sales volume of the 2 additional near-term models based on the Bolt platform (which thus spread the cost of the original R&D)? Since we don’t know the context for this loss number it’s a partially bogus number.
Better camera on the Bolt? maybe... but screen angled and matte finish that creates a glare in certain lighting that makes the rear view camera useless
Nonsense. I’ve had almost no glare issues with the screen and thus the rear view camera is not “useless” at all. A few owners have complained about glare issues generally from interior color scheme choices that include a lighter-colored dash. My car has the darker dash.
Have you used that rear view mirror camera? It doesn’t even fill up the whole mirror, which is already a small mirror. I didn’t measure but I’d guess the measurable screen is 5” x 1.5”. I couldn’t use it while I drove it because it was so different from an actual reflection.
When it is in camera mode, the rear view mirror/display loses a slight amount of its verticle screen dimension but it’s no big deal.
It is not an unusually small physical mirror. Although I didn’t measure it, the rear view mirror in the TM3 looked smaller than the one in the Bolt.
The experience of using it in camera mode is different due to the change in focal length but people seem to get used to it after a few weeks of use. I always use mine in camera mode during daylight hours because it gives an unobstructed view and it shows a wider angle of view. I flip it to be a regular auto-dimming mirror at night because the camera cannot compete with human vision on dynamic contrast for night vision.
The Regen braking on Teslas are specifically limited on the brake pedal to give better brake feel, which is why the Bolt is dinged for "spongy brake feel." It's a design choice.
The Bolt has excellent one pedal regen along with an occasional assist from the regen paddle on the left side of the steering wheel when I need a little extra regen braking. I almost never use the vestigial brake pedal.
The TM3 has regen similar to a Model S. The regen is smoothly modulated but fades to a glide once you get down to 3-4 mph so you essentially always need to use the brake pedal when coming to a full stop. That’s so old-fashioned....
