2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV To Start At $37,495

15 minutes ago, Frisky Dingo said:

I think the car is pretty damn roomy myself. But I'm not fat.

It can haul people over six foot in the back seat, something that cannot be said of the Volt.  Big reason we went TDI rather than Volt was I have two sons whoa re about 6'2 apiece....

Just now, Frisky Dingo said:

I didn't say fun. I said 'fine'. As in competent. Competitive to it's peers. 

 

Anyone who'd say the new Prius is awful to drive is just full of $h!.

They can have their opinion, but it (current 4th generation)  is miles better than the previous version....

3 hours ago, dfelt said:

Click the pink box for checking charging locations in your area. Pretty amazing to see what Level 1, 2, or 3 Quick chargers are around.

...and it is only going to get better with time, hopefully.

15 minutes ago, Frisky Dingo said:

I didn't say fun. I said 'fine'. As in competent. Competitive to it's peers. 

 

Anyone who'd say the new Prius is awful to drive is just full of $h!.

Well again, the bulk of Pruis sales have been of the awful to drive type as the new one has only been out for a few months now.  The point that I was making was that the driving characteristics of that car clearly didn't sway consumer sentiment against it.  That it is at minimum as competent as a Corolla now may be a step up, but the bar was pretty low.  

It drives much better than the Corolla. Even the old Prius wasn't that bad. Just because it's boring and slow doesn't mean it drives terrible.

Also, nowhere did I say the Prius had driving dynamics going for it in the first place.

Anyone who has access to the ordering web site for GM, can you look to see if the dealers can order yet?

I know we have a few peeps here that can see if the BOLT is listed for ordering yet from the dealers.

Would sure love to see what the full cost is for a BOLT Premium edition and what few other options will be that are not part of the Premium package.

1 hour ago, Frisky Dingo said:

It drives much better than the Corolla. Even the old Prius wasn't that bad. Just because it's boring and slow doesn't mean it drives terrible.

 

Also, nowhere did I say the Prius had driving dynamics going for it in the first place.

On the old Pruis, the narrow low rolling resistance tires were the biggest contributor to its poor handling performance. However, the Civic Hybrid on similar tires felt much closer to at least industry average.

So found the following info on the web site Jalopnik, Bolt deliveries will start to dealers for December, pre-orders can be done starting in November.

http://jalopnik.com/chevy-bolt-ordering-delayed-by-three-months-report-1785668778

Also found on the web site Clean Technica a story that states by a GM executive that like Tesla, the BOLT will be the first GM auto to have software updates over the air, no more bringing it back to the dealer for updates. Lots of interesting stuff on the BOLT at their site.

http://cleantechnica.com/2016/09/09/chevy-bolt-feature-air-software-updates/

Well, the Prius to me doesn't look ugly anymore.

It's just another weird looking car, and almost every automaker has some kind of weird SOB. And there are different kinds of weird. Like Japanese comics. Anyways, I digress no further.

DFELT you're pretty tall, but otherwise the Prius is roomy as hell for the size of the car. And because it's a liftback you have much better cargo practicality, and unlike the Volt, atleast you have the tiny smaller window, which while being awkward...is still better than the insanely high deck of the Volt visibility-wise.

Not having to bring the car to the dealer is no perk really. It's just a common sense thing that makes sense for everybody. No one is seriously considering that as a perk, because sooner rather than later, it has to become the norm, the bare minimum expected.

2 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:

On the old Pruis, the narrow low rolling resistance tires were the biggest contributor to its poor handling performance. However, the Civic Hybrid on similar tires felt much closer to at least industry average.

The Civic Hybrid battery life was dismal.  I have lost a lot of the respect I once had for Honda.  Prius the older generations may drive like crap but they routinely pull three hundred thousand plus miles as Taxis in NYC now that the Crown Vic's are gone.

42 minutes ago, Suaviloquent said:

Well, the Prius to me doesn't look ugly anymore.

 

It's just another weird looking car, and almost every automaker has some kind of weird SOB. And there are different kinds of weird. Like Japanese comics. Anyways, I digress no further.

DFELT you're pretty tall, but otherwise the Prius is roomy as hell for the size of the car. And because it's a liftback you have much better cargo practicality, and unlike the Volt, atleast you have the tiny smaller window, which while being awkward...is still better than the insanely high deck of the Volt visibility-wise.

 

Not having to bring the car to the dealer is no perk really. It's just a common sense thing that makes sense for everybody. No one is seriously considering that as a perk, because sooner rather than later, it has to become the norm, the bare minimum expected.

The seats fold flat in the newest Prius making it almost a vehicle you could sleep in if pressed to do so.  Interested to see the actual interior layout of the Bolt.  Think it will be really well designed and functional.

On 9/20/2016 at 7:04 PM, surreal1272 said:

Is there a reason why you assume you're the only salesman in the room?

I always wonder this as well. I've been CLOSING for damn near 25 years myself. Everything from the street to the boardroom. 

Anyway.. I can tell U one selling point the Bolt could market and absolutely take the cake from anyone looking to munch on a Tesla.. The Bolt is good for 255 MILES in City driving. THAT SHIT IS HUGE!!!

14 minutes ago, Cmicasa the Great said:

I always wonder this as well. I've been CLOSING for damn near 25 years myself. Everything from the street to the boardroom. 

 

Anyway.. I can tell U one selling point the Bolt could market and absolutely take the cake from anyone looking to munch on a Tesla.. The Bolt is good for 255 MILES in City driving. THAT SHIT IS HUGE!!!

Could you imagine how much money you could save in a year if your operated a fleet of these?  Huge is an understatement.  My sister and brother in law run a catering company, and they sue vans and mini vans to deliver.  Their fuel bill is enormous....with the Bolt they could cut out an enormous amount of their overhead.

Or think of being a Taxi operator with a bunch of cabs in NYC....what would your fuel savings be.

Not to mention everyone's lungs at loading docks, if delivery vehicles were Bolts or Bolt esque.

From a corporate philosophy standpoint, GM is probably the smartest operator in the business.  Not that they don't make plenty of mistakes, but they are getting it right in comparison with all of the other players.

Per what I posted in the thread on the 238MPe EPA rating:

Just as an example, Washington state has some of the cheapest if not the cheapest electrical rates in the country. We have level 1 to 3 chargers all over and the cities are pretty much letting you charge for free at this time to get people to convert over.

BOLT, 238 miles on their 60 KWh battery, at 6 cents per KW equals $3.60 cents to fill up the battery. At 1000 miles per month, you have $15.12 per month energy cost to drive that 1000 miles.

That compared to my trailblazer at $2.25 per gallon, getting an average of 14 miles per gallon, costs just over $400 per month to fuel.

EDIT: Before anyone says anything, yes my wife drives much more than the 1000 miles, but I used that as an example of how much sense this BOLT makes as a commuter car, daily driver.

I can take my paid for Trailblazer SS and just enjoy it on road trips, weekends but also buy the BOLT and still come out ahead in local driving.

Gotta Love the Video's Chevy is doing on the BOLT! 

 Love the fact that this little CUV is 128 MPe City and 110 MPe highway.

Just an example of my wife using our Trailblazer SS @ 14MPG average, she is spending $400 a month on all her crazy driving.

Now with a Bolt, that goes to $37.63 per month / $451.56 per year cost. A savings of $362.37 per month or savings of $4348.44 per year on fuel by switching to electric.

Yes, I know that means using plenty of Level 3 Quick chargers, but the life of the battery and the savings over time is huge still and worth it to me.

If you're contend driving something small and efficient for the savings why would you be driving a Trailblazer SS to begin with? I don't understand that part...

44 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

If you're contend driving something small and efficient for the savings why would you be driving a Trailblazer SS to begin with? I don't understand that part...

I do not understand why someone cannot love a variety of vehicles.  I love Asian, European, American, vintage, modern, the gamut.....

...and also, he says in his post that he is spending a silly amount of money on fuel....400 a month in fuel savings is nothing to sneeze at.

21 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

I do not understand why someone cannot love a variety of vehicles.  I love Asian, European, American, vintage, modern, the gamut.....

...and also, he says in his post that he is spending a silly amount of money on fuel....400 a month in fuel savings is nothing to sneeze at.

No I understand that. I don't love just one brand/style of vehicles either. What I was getting at was if you are currently willing to downsize your vehicle for the sake of saving a lot of money on fuel why are you driving a Trailblazer SS right now anyway when you could cut that fuel bill in half(on the easy side - not too difficult to find something to get 28mpg compbined) and drive something still probably larger and roomier than the Bolt.

And I understand that still leaves you with a fuel bill much much much higher than the electricity would cost for the Bolt.

2 hours ago, ccap41 said:

If you're contend driving something small and efficient for the savings why would you be driving a Trailblazer SS to begin with? I don't understand that part...

I love my SS and have no plans to get rid of it, but the wife is tired of filling it up and wants a car with no gas smell, clean and easy to just drive. She is very OCD and as such has containers of antiseptic wipes in each auto so you can clean your hands after filling up.

This will be her auto to drive, not mine. As she says, all the current auto's I own are in my name, my choice and she really likes the BOLT and likes the idea of just driving home, plugging in the charging cord and going inside to do her thing. This is her choice to go fueless. Yes we could have gotten a different American CUV that would cost less on gas, but the SS is paid for, no other cost than insurance and gas. Based on the savings / monthly cost of the BOLT, she will have what she wants. An auto that does not smell when fueled, quiet, preferred parking in Seattle and it will be her quick lighting fast CUV!

This car will be her car in all things chosen and in name. Me, I will enjoy all my SUV's I own and drive around like a bat out of hell.

2 hours ago, ccap41 said:

If you're contend driving something small and efficient for the savings why would you be driving a Trailblazer SS to begin with? I don't understand that part...

Forgot to mention, that I had bought her an Escalade ESV to drive and she then went to college and found it hard to park in the UW parking garages and asked me for a smaller awd SUV. I then bought the Trailblazer for her which she has loved for the performance, but is tired of the rumble of the exhaust and the gas smell from fueling.

2 hours ago, A Horse With No Name said:

I do not understand why someone cannot love a variety of vehicles.  I love Asian, European, American, vintage, modern, the gamut.....

...and also, he says in his post that he is spending a silly amount of money on fuel....400 a month in fuel savings is nothing to sneeze at.

Never apologize for what you choose to drive. You owe an explanation of why to no one (referring to dfelt but applies to anyone). 

6 hours ago, dfelt said:

Forgot to mention, that I had bought her an Escalade ESV to drive and she then went to college and found it hard to park in the UW parking garages and asked me for a smaller awd SUV. I then bought the Trailblazer for her which she has loved for the performance, but is tired of the rumble of the exhaust and the gas smell from fueling.

Tired of the rumble of the exhaust?!?!? lol Sounds like a typical woman.. That's the one thing probably none of here would get tired of. 

I understand where you two are coming from more now. Thanks for the clarification, dfelt. 

Really

I don’t know, there is still not much money being saved with a vehicle in the Bolt class, which is compact with near mid-sized space, relative to a similar sized Cruze.  The $38K Bolt base price is actually over $40K with taxes.  You then deduct the tax credit of $7500, which puts you at $33,500 cost to you.  A nicely loaded Cruze with tax is around $24K, and can often be found with discounts putting you around $22K.  Figure fuel and oil change costs of about $1050 per year (15K miles, 33mpg, etc.) for the Cruze means it will take a long time over 11 years to start actually saving money with the Bolt, and that is without calculating your electric bill increases.

I am glad to see the option for BEV, but let’s not get all excited about all the instant savings we are supposedly getting with a vehicle that still is limited to around town use only.

1 hour ago, Wings4Life said:

I don’t know, there is still not much money being saved with a vehicle in the Bolt class, which is compact with near mid-sized space, relative to a similar sized Cruze.  The $38K Bolt base price is actually over $40K with taxes.  You then deduct the tax credit of $7500, which puts you at $33,500 cost to you.  A nicely loaded Cruze with tax is around $24K, and can often be found with discounts putting you around $22K.  Figure fuel and oil change costs of about $1050 per year (15K miles, 33mpg, etc.) for the Cruze means it will take a long time over 11 years to start actually saving money with the Bolt, and that is without calculating your electric bill increases.

 

 

 

I am glad to see the option for BEV, but let’s not get all excited about all the instant savings we are supposedly getting with a vehicle that still is limited to around town use only.

 

On the west coast, the states do not charge any sales tax for the purchase of an EV auto.

So the Bolt is $37,495 - $7,500 = $29,995 and I am not spending $4348 on fuel since my electrical rates are so cheap, so as you state, I also do not have the oil charge cost. For me this is still a much better deal and the wife does not deal with fuel, smell of fuel, she also gets preferred parking in Seattle when she comes into the city, most of the time, I will save closer to the full $4800 fuel cost since all the chargers in washington state that are not privately owned are free, so I can charge up for free. Road trips, no problem as all the chargers along I5 from Vancouver BC to Baja California are also free. Pretty much if you look at the Electric Highway web site, you will see that there is no problem getting all over with an EV, not just city use only. No emissions, no gas smell, quiet as all get out, wife happy. This still beats the cruze.

1 hour ago, Wings4Life said:

I don’t know, there is still not much money being saved with a vehicle in the Bolt class, which is compact with near mid-sized space, relative to a similar sized Cruze.  The $38K Bolt base price is actually over $40K with taxes.  You then deduct the tax credit of $7500, which puts you at $33,500 cost to you.  A nicely loaded Cruze with tax is around $24K, and can often be found with discounts putting you around $22K.  Figure fuel and oil change costs of about $1050 per year (15K miles, 33mpg, etc.) for the Cruze means it will take a long time over 11 years to start actually saving money with the Bolt, and that is without calculating your electric bill increases.

 

 

 

I am glad to see the option for BEV, but let’s not get all excited about all the instant savings we are supposedly getting with a vehicle that still is limited to around town use only.

 

It's not always about saving money..... no one buys a Tesla to save money.  It's about saving a different kind of green.

I would hardly call the Bolt limited to around town.  It will get me from my house in Pittsburgh to the Renaissance Center in Detroit (295 miles) with one 30 minute stop at a Walmart in Central Ohio to top up the battery.  Plug in, Stop in at El Patron for food, pee, get back on the road. 

34 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

It's not always about saving money..... no one buys a Tesla to save money.  It's about saving a different kind of green.

I would hardly call the Bolt limited to around town.  It will get me from my house in Pittsburgh to the Renaissance Center in Detroit (295 miles) with one 30 minute stop at a Walmart in Central Ohio to top up the battery.  Plug in, Stop in at El Patron for food, pee, get back on the road. 

It's like some people don't understand the pure convenience factor of a car like the Bolt. Oh and let's not forget to mention, no oil changes EVER. 

Drew,

Obviously the green image is a factor, I was only addressing someone’s expectations for lots of money saved, which is not true.  Not for a long time anyway.

And range anxiety is there, regardless. Load up the bolt for a trip using some AC along the way, and you will not be getting far less than claimed range, and do you really want to get there with a couple miles to spare, arriving on ZERO.  Don’t think so, hence, anxiety.  Cruze can get 42 miles on the highway, which can do that trip and head back, and then not have to wait 8 hours for a full charge.  Hence, zero anxiety.  And let’s be clear, the Cruze pollutes like a tiny bird.  Hardly destroying the planet, and that’s before account for the well to wheel factor.

And defelt,

Where do you live where annual fuel costs so much?

3 minutes ago, Wings4Life said:

Drew,

 

Obviously the green image is a factor, I was only addressing someone’s expectations for lots of money saved, which is not true.  Not for a long time anyway.

 

And range anxiety is there, regardless. Load up the bolt for a trip using some AC along the way, and you will not be getting far less than claimed range, and do you really want to get there with a couple miles to spare, arriving on ZERO.  Don’t think so, hence, anxiety.  Cruze can get 42 miles on the highway, which can do that trip and head back, and then not have to wait 8 hours for a full charge.  Hence, zero anxiety.  And let’s be clear, the Cruze pollutes like a tiny bird.  Hardly destroying the planet, and that’s before account for the well to wheel factor.

 

 

 

And defelt,

 

Where do you live where annual fuel costs so much?

 

I'm not an over the road trucker... By the time I get to Detroit, I'm ready for a long nap.  It doesn't take 8 hours to charge the Bolt on Level 3 which is what you'll usually be doing on a trip like that anyway.   For 99% of the driving public, the Bolt's range is more than sufficient.  Range anxiety is a red herring.

Drew,

If you travel, where can one find fast charging? 

Heck, if I am traveling, I get anxiety if I am below a ¼ tank and I don’t seen another station.  So yeah, range anxiety is absolutely a thing.  Especially knowing you have to drive it like a granny the whole way.  I tend to want to hit about 75-85mph on open highways.  Try that in an EV, and see how much range you have.  And again, you have to think about where to charge. Gas stations are everywhere.  Sorry, BEV is useful around town, and can be used farther if you plan it out carefully and have lots of time to spare charging.  I can fill my tank in the time it takes me to go in and get a red bull.  Zero anxiety.

2 minutes ago, Wings4Life said:

Drew,

 

If you travel, where can one find fast charging? 

 

Heck, if I am traveling, I get anxiety if I am below a ¼ tank and I don’t seen another station.  So yeah, range anxiety is absolutely a thing.  Especially knowing you have to drive it like a granny the whole way.  I tend to want to hit about 75-85mph on open highways.  Try that in an EV, and see how much range you have.  And again, you have to think about where to charge. Gas stations are everywhere.  Sorry, BEV is useful around town, and can be used farther if you plan it out carefully and have lots of time to spare charging.  I can fill my tank in the time it takes me to go in and get a red bull.  Zero anxiety.

 

Weeeelll... there's an app for that. Plugshare for Android - Plugshare for iOS 

There are others as well, but they tend to be brand specific, like for Tesla or Nissan Leafs or for a specific network of chargers. Plugshare gives you all of them and you can deselect the ones you don't want to see.

There are 131 charger en route between Pittsburgh and Detroit. 

Pittsburgh to DC 300+ Chargers

239 between Detroit and Chicago.

So..... no, the Bolt is not limited to in town use.  Range anxiety is just a red herring.

1 hour ago, surreal1272 said:

It's like some people don't understand the pure convenience factor of a car like the Bolt. Oh and let's not forget to mention, no oil changes EVER. 

Gotta Love the minimal maintenance, tires, brakes, cabin filter change at every 22K miles. What is not to love about this CUV!  

1 hour ago, Wings4Life said:

And defelt,

Where do you live where annual fuel costs so much?

Trailblazer SS uses Premium Fuel, I live in WASHINGTON State, one of the states with the highest gas taxes around. We are in the top 5 states for gas tax. Such as our gas is always much higher than most other places.

You can see it here, but 61.0 cents per gallon is the gas tax.

http://www.gaspricewatch.com/web_gas_taxes.php

http://taxfoundation.org/blog/state-gasoline-tax-rates-2016

41 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

239 between Detroit and Chicago.

So..... no, the Bolt is not limited to in town use.  Range anxiety is just a red herring.

 

A huge red herring for folks who don't do their research. Five years ago, this would be a legitimate gripe but the landscape has changed in just a short time. Folks hanging on to these old notions of range anxiety better catch up with the times or get left behind because this is where the industry is headed eventually. 

58 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

 

Weeeelll... there's an app for that. Plugshare for Android - Plugshare for iOS 

There are others as well, but they tend to be brand specific, like for Tesla or Nissan Leafs or for a specific network of chargers. Plugshare gives you all of them and you can deselect the ones you don't want to see.

There are 131 charger en route between Pittsburgh and Detroit. 

And we are seeing a crap ton installed here in Columbus.

2 minutes ago, surreal1272 said:

A huge red herring for folks who don't do their research. Five years ago, this would be a legitimate gripe but the landscape has changed in just a short time. Folks hanging on to these old notions of range anxiety better catch up with the times or get left behind because this is where the industry is headed eventually. 

And this is why Diesel is pretty much dead...

The PA Turnpike has already committed to installing chargers at every single rest stop on it's network. 

79 chargers between Pittsburgh and Columbus, but the Bolt wouldn't need any of them because it could cover the 185 miles with 65 miles range left to spare.

Many more chargers than I thought, but still, there is the time needed.

Cruze can go nearly 600 miles on a tank, that only needs 5 min to fill again.

Nuff said there.

Dude, EVs make a ton of sense once they reach 250+ miles of range. 

Oh, and I wonder how long one has to wait for others to finish their charges with what is certainly very limited plugs, before they can plug in.  I imagine quite a bit, once EV becomes more popular.  

And I have a bladder that never quits.  I drive frequently to Chicago from Detroit, do it in 4.5 hours on average, and I arrive with over 1/3 a tank of gas, driving around once I get there on the gas I have.  I fill up on my way back, grabbing a coffee or such.  In and out baby, no waiting for charges.

5 minutes ago, Wings4Life said:

Many more chargers than I thought, but still, there is the time needed.

Cruze can go nearly 600 miles on a tank, that only needs 5 min to fill again.

 

Nuff said there.

A person who mostly uses their car around town never has to fill up. They just plug in each night.  Volt owners already experience this and that only has 50 miles of EV range.  My friends up in Michigan who own one fill up 4 times a year.... only because the regenerator runs just to keep the gas fresh. 

1 minute ago, Wings4Life said:

Oh, and I wonder how long one has to wait for others to finish their charges with what is certainly very limited plugs, before they can plug in.  I imagine quite a bit, once EV becomes more popular.  

 

And I have a bladder that never quits.  I drive frequently to Chicago from Detroit, do it in 4.5 hours on average, and I arrive with over 1/3 a tank of gas, driving around once I get there on the gas I have.  I fill up on my way back, grabbing a coffee or such.  In and out baby, no waiting for charges.

That will certainly become an issue going forward.  Certain areas of California already have that issue and Tesla has already warned abusers of the Supercharger system who would leave their cars there all day. 

Fuel savings on an annual basis could make up for any long-trip range anxiety because you could rent a conventional car with a gas tank for any long-trip.

But that's just a recent thing too. In 5 years or less, the issue of charging should be made moot,

 because then it's a real what-if kind of scenario with someone driving 600 miles continuously. I get it, some people do it often, but I wouldn't thrash my personal vehicle to do THAT. Plus, recent drive tests of the Bolt have verified that it gets the range they claim, and that's driving as a normal person.

2 minutes ago, Suaviloquent said:

Fuel savings on an annual basis could make up for any long-trip range anxiety because you could rent a conventional car with a gas tank for any long-trip.

 

But that's just a recent thing too. In 5 years or less, the issue of charging should be made moot,

 because then it's a real what-if kind of scenario with someone driving 600 miles continuously. I get it, some people do it often, but I wouldn't thrash my personal vehicle to do THAT. Plus, recent drive tests of the Bolt have verified that it gets the range they claim, and that's driving as a normal person.

I love to drive... but anything over 400 miles is really my limit for a single day. I do 500 or 600 miles only when absolutely needed.

You guys enjoy your EV, nothing wrong with it at all.  But it absolutely does not fit my lifestyle, heck, mostly because of my driving style.  I can't hyper mile.  I just can't, tried it many times, and I certainly don't want to be forced to do it to avoid stopping every couple hours.  Heck, if anything, that is the biggest part, as I hate stopping. Hate it. And the fact that I would have to stop often with long stops, kills it for me.  

But hey, I will wave as I pass on by in my fuel efficient, clean gas saving car that did not cost far more.

2 hours ago, Wings4Life said:

You guys enjoy your EV, nothing wrong with it at all.  But it absolutely does not fit my lifestyle, heck, mostly because of my driving style.  I can't hyper mile.  I just can't, tried it many times, and I certainly don't want to be forced to do it to avoid stopping every couple hours.  Heck, if anything, that is the biggest part, as I hate stopping. Hate it. And the fact that I would have to stop often with long stops, kills it for me.  

 

But hey, I will wave as I pass on by in my fuel efficient, clean gas saving car that did not cost far more.

Are you daft? No has said you need to hypermile. The Bolt EV can be driven like a normal car, taking advantage of its 7 second 0-60 time, and you get more than the claimed 238 miles of range.

You're avoiding the main point. You save a ton of money on fuel costs. If paying for fuel is a convenience you must have for that very infrequent long trip, you don't have to go out of the way to rent a ride for long trips. 

22 minutes ago, Suaviloquent said:

Are you daft? No has said you need to hypermile. The Bolt EV can be driven like a normal car, taking advantage of its 7 second 0-60 time, and you get more than the claimed 238 miles of range.

 

You're avoiding the main point. You save a ton of money on fuel costs. If paying for fuel is a convenience you must have for that very infrequent long trip, you don't have to go out of the way to rent a ride for long trips. 

Daft?

Nice guy.

The point I was making, not 'avoiding', is that you have to spend a lot of money to get an EV over gas, before you can actually start to save all this money I keep hearing.  Point again, many will never get to that benefit.

And I never discussed 0-60 efficiency, just traveling interstate at what most people seem to drive, well over the posted limited.  Range suffers. Don't be fooled by what you read.

Clue is an awesome movie that I have seen at least 20 times.

200 miles is a lot of range.  99% of people don't drive 200 miles in a day.  238 miles would take easily 4 hours in the car to achieve, and that is at highway speed, in normal around town driving probably 8 hours.

If you drove 238 miles a day, 6 days a week, you'd drive 74,256 miles per year.  No one is doing that.  People with range anxiety at 230 miles are as insane as people that think they need a 4-wheel drive truck to drive on a gravel driveway or through 1 inch of snow.

How is it that some people seem to be incapable of separating what suits them on the road with what suits everyone else? EVs with more than 200 miles range serve a great purpose for a lot of folks who do nothing but city driving and short to medium range trips. It is more common than some here understand and I have a feeling that the problem with the Bolt and others like it is that it doesn't come from the right maker. Just my opinion though.

36 minutes ago, surreal1272 said:

How is it that some people seem to be incapable of separating what suits them on the road with what suits everyone else? EVs with more than 200 miles range serve a great purpose for a lot of folks who do nothing but city driving and short to medium range trips. It is more common than some here understand and I have a feeling that the problem with the Bolt and others like it is that it doesn't come from the right maker. Just my opinion though.

Exactly. The Bolt would be an excellent second car for us for around town use, and yet would still be suitable for road trips (for the two of us) when needed. My partner has a 35 mile commute each way each day and rarely ever drives further than that.    The Bolt is probably a bit small for us to roadtrip with family, but that is a limitation we're finding in our Encore already... so it's not a factor of fuel but rather size. 

16 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

Exactly. The Bolt would be an excellent second car for us for around town use, and yet would still be suitable for road trips (for the two of us) when needed. My partner has a 35 mile commute each way each day and rarely ever drives further than that.    The Bolt is probably a bit small for us to roadtrip with family, but that is a limitation we're finding in our Encore already... so it's not a factor of fuel but rather size. 

I live in the Phoenix area and the Bolt would be a perfect second car for my work commute. All the towns here, like Scottsdale, Glendale, Chandler, etc are so close together with tons of charging stations, that cars like the Bolt are practically a no brainer. 

23 hours ago, Wings4Life said:

I don’t know, there is still not much money being saved with a vehicle in the Bolt class, which is compact with near mid-sized space, relative to a similar sized Cruze.  The $38K Bolt base price is actually over $40K with taxes.  You then deduct the tax credit of $7500, which puts you at $33,500 cost to you.  A nicely loaded Cruze with tax is around $24K, and can often be found with discounts putting you around $22K.  Figure fuel and oil change costs of about $1050 per year (15K miles, 33mpg, etc.) for the Cruze means it will take a long time over 11 years to start actually saving money with the Bolt, and that is without calculating your electric bill increases.

 

 

 

I am glad to see the option for BEV, but let’s not get all excited about all the instant savings we are supposedly getting with a vehicle that still is limited to around town use only.

 

Of course U weren't saying anything like this when the Focus EV first showed up.. Dude.. EV is the way of the future.. Its inevitable even if its eventually off the grid and charged up via the Sun. We are dinosaurs in the making... and the kids these days would rather sit in a chair and simulate driving than get out to the real track. Not all.. but a vast majority and growing. Having the ability to drive an emission free, non-gas using vehicle that doesn't require the type of maintenance a combustible engine requires has to be the end all be all. In terms of range... in just 6 years we have gone from 83 all EV miles to 240 in the mainstream... for under $35K. Shit is only gonna continue to improve.. and I'm betting on 400 Miles by 2020, or just 3 years away. At that point... range anxiety is dead.. or at least put on serious hold. Once they have a real EV Charging infrastructure available then we are looking at a true migration over to the tech. 

The problem exists as long as 168,000 gas stations are available vs 9,758 electric charging stations. The problem further extends when one realized that 5 cars can fill-up with gas by the time one Tesla, for example, can be half charged in 20 minutes. Talk about exacerbation. What that does is essentially reduce the availability of those charging stations down to 1951 at a given time waiting for the charge to get there.

It takes a complete infrastructural change to make EVs work for mainstream. It must be available and as easy as twisting the cap, squeezing the handle and hanging it back up in less than 5 minutes. I won't even get into the fact that the oil companies finally have awoken... and gas prices are as low at $2.20

Only one of these has a range of more than 120 miles (and in fact double that range). 

I think 300 mile range is plenty to quell any range anxieties and people can charge at home.  They don't need charging stations in mass when you have EV's with enough range for 6-8 hours of driving.   The EV marketers need to push the convenience of EV driving.  They should be selling it as look how much time you can save by not going to a gas station every week.  You can pull into your garage and plug it in, like you plug in your cell phone to charge over night.  Simple.

If you look at all the EVs on that list above and look at the price, there in lies the problem.  Focus, Leaf, Golf are all $20,000 cars that are $30,000+ in electric form.  Too much money for a compact car.   A vehicle like the Bolt needs to be $27,500 before incentives before electric goes mainstream.