Where to begin.... I'll just run down the list of various comments on this thread in no particular order.
0. Direct sales and legislative lobbying
GM is unable to do direct sales under present laws and doesn't see this as likely to change anytime soon. They see Tesla becoming a serious potential market threat. Thus, they do not want Tesla to have a direct sales advantage. GM wants a level playing field. This is not particularly surprising or evil. Yes, the state automotive dealership laws are outdated and counterproductive.
1. Price
The Tesla website is ambiguous about pricing but my interpretation is that the $35,000 price of the Model 3 does not include the freight delivery charge (which is $1,200 for the Model S).
The $37,500 price of the Bolt EV listed on the Chevrolet website explicitly includes the FDC.
So, the real price difference is likely about $1,500 or so rather than $2,500.
Someone said the price of the Bolt EV should really be around $19,000. Others said the Bolt was overpriced. In reality, the 30 kWh Nissan LEAF is only $3,500 less than the Bolt for 107 miles of range. Next year's BMW i3 will be 114 miles and as far as I know the base price will still be around $41,000. At least for 2017, the Bolt EV will be a real bargain compared to its then selling competitors.
2. Rear seating
At least a couple of folks think the Bolt's rear seating is too cramped. In reality, it has more headroom and legroom than the Model S. Do you really think the smaller Model 3 will do better?
The S has better hip and shoulder room but those are single measurements that span across the across the entire rear seating area which nominally assumes 3 people. In other words, 51-55 inches or around 4.5 feet wide for all 3 people, rather than ~54 inches for each American-sized ass.
With only two people typically sharing the rear seating area they will hardly notice the difference between the Bolt and S hip and shoulder room. Both cars have relatively flat rear bench seating. If three people are in the back seat they will each have an extra inch of seating width in the S versus the Bolt EV. And the Model S is an unusually wide car. Again, the Model 3 will be a bit narrower and likely so will the rear seating widths.
A Bolt vs Model 3 interior spec comparison is here:
Chevy Bolt - 200 mile range for $30k base price (after incentive)
3. Highway range
In truth, we don't yet know what the highway EV range will be for either the Model 3 or Bolt EV. My guess is that the Model 3 will get 215-235 miles on the highway and the Bolt EV will get somewhere between 185-210. If correct, that's a noticeable but not a huge difference.
4. Charging rate
Some people seem to expect the 170 miles in 30 minutes rate that Tesla claims on their website for the Model S. Big batteries charge faster. The base Model 3 seems likely to have a slightly smaller battery than the S60 but be at least 20% more efficient at highway miles.
Based on the faster S60 charging rates I've seen plus the efficiency improvement I would guess the Model 3 can go from 30-185 highway miles in 40 minutes.
Based on what I know today about the Bolt EV, I'll guess it can go from 30-150 highway miles in 55 minutes.
It's very likely that the Model 3 will charge faster but that is somewhat mitigated since most people road tripping will usually arrive at the charger with at least 30 miles in reserve range. The charging rate differences between the two cars are greatest at the lowest battery states of charge.
They will both charge at around the same voltage but the Model 3 can likely start off charging at up to 325-350A while the Bolt EV may be limited to 150-200A or almost half that rate. However, both cars will be charging near or under the Bolt's likely ~150-175A current limit for about the last half of their charging time and so will roughly be at about the same rate during that time.
5. Safety
It's seems very likely that the Model 3 will have excellent safety scores. The Volt has overall 5 star "top safety pick" scores as well. I expect the Bolt EV will also do quite well in spite of its shorter front and rear crumple zones with its mixed aluminum and high strength steel. The flip side is that the Bolt EV will be shorter and that's a win in urban parking areas. We will have to wait for the crash test results.
The Model 3 will have semi-automated driving with radar cruise control and automated steering options. Both will have automatic braking, forward collision warning, blind zone lane change warning, and rear side zone warning, automatic high beam headlights, and lane keep alerts.
6. Charging locations
The Model 3 clearly wins for interstate fast charging locations spread across the country. It can also charge a bit faster on AC although it will often need a J1772 adapter at public locations and those public locations often max-out at the Bolt's AC charging rate of 32A AC.
The Bolt EV doesn't need the adapter. DC charging is slower and less reliable with often only one plug per location. CCS chargers are, however, usably spread out along the west and east corridors where most plugin cars are owned and driven and more will be added with faster peak DC rates over the next 2-3 years as other longer range CCS cars come on the market from multiple makers.
Here are public CCS charging locations for the coastal areas according to PlugShare:
