G. David Felt

That is awesome, I was averaging 30-40K a year for 4 years straight on my Escalade, then got a job in the city and the company paid me to use mass transit. I have put only 15K miles on it in the last 4 years. Parked in my garage so safe, dry and clean, taking it on a 5 day road trip starting tomorrow. Love the Escalade for long distance road trips. Going from Seattle to LA and Back.

This totally rocks as the day of EV is coming upon us. I can so see them doing a battery pack to compete against Tesla, so 300+ is what I consider a requirement in the Ultra Luxury segment like this.

Wonder if that will be a 2018 add on?

In reviewing the Packages, The BOLT I would buy is the Premier with the Infotainment Package, Pass on the Driver Confidence II package. no need for all those damn nanny safety crap.

http://www.chevrolet.com/bolt-ev-electric-vehicle.html I see that Chevy has also posted all 8 colors that are available for the first year and you can click on each one and see it. They also list the two packages, LT or Premier.

This is AWESOME and really rocks and now we also have 350+ mile EV Buses too @Drew Dowdell I agree that Nissan Leaf has a bigger name recognition with the Leaf, but the BOLT will be out much longer and if Chevy does the right thing in marketing, this should have no problem selling big time. American Products have allot more respect then they did back at the start of the Prius days or even the Leaf days.

G. David Felt Staff Writer Alternative Energy - www.CheersandGears.com 600 Mile, Single Charge, Proterra EV Buses! PROTERRA All-electric zero-emission that can finally replace all petro powered buses in North America was unveiled at the Annual APTA (American Public Transit Association) meeting in Los Angeles. Proterra which is known to have launched the first fleet of alternative fuel buses has pushed American engineering with over $130 million in private equity funding to produce a true replacement for all diesel / alternative fuel buses. The Catalyst E2 bus series hit the new milestone at the Michelin's Laurens proving grounds. A 600+ mile passenger free track run translates into 350 miles of continuous real world driving according to Proterra's CEO Ryan Popple. Proterra states that bus fleets said they could fully replace fossil fuel buses if they had buses that could cover routes for a single day up to 350 miles fully loaded with people. Proterra achieved this challenge by using carbon fiber and increasing energy density in the buses battery pack. Proterra battery packs come in choices of 440 KWh to 660 KWh size. The base model bus with a 440 KWh battery pack is what was used to set their new world record for electric distance in a bus. These battery packs are 6x more than the recently announced Tesla S/X P100D. These batteries can handle sustained quick charging plus they can also use the industry standard J1772 CCS plug-in chargers. Check out the video to see Proterra's Quick Charger system. Very cool in terms of being able to quickly charge and be on your way for a bus. The first 34 buses are scheduled to be delivered to Foothill Transit Authority in Los Angeles County this fall. Reno, Nevada and 11 other cities including Seattle, Washington will follow in 2017 with taking delivery of these pure long distance electric buses. In All the west coast is expected to take delivery in 2017 of 300+ of these buses and even more as Proterra ramps up manufacturing of the buses. Safety first was more than just a slogan at Proterra, with this guiding principle, the Catalyst bus was engineered from the beginning as the battery packs are located outside the passenger compartment. The are liquid temperature controlled and incorporated with both active and passive safety features. They are also ruggedized with reinforced enclosures and a safety barrier between the batteries and the passenger compartment. The buses are also build with Mobileye crash avoidance technology and using plenty of impact absorbing carbon fiber materials. Proterra's main competitor is a Chinese company with production facilities in California like Proterra who has stated they also will deliver 300+ buses by the end of 2017 to various cities in California. BYD buses will only have a range of 160 to 200 miles compared to Proterra's buses with a 350+ real world mile range. California has help fund both Proterra and BYD development, with the requirement that the engineering and production of the buses be done in California. Both companies have complied to make this happen. Having pointed to the Volkswagen emissions scandal as a reason that cities are no longer wanting diesel buses and are ready to dump their diesel addiction now that VW engineers are being indicted for the software cheating scandal. They also point out that the public is asking for much cleaner transit solutions. Proterra states that customers want a environmentally friendly bus, that does not smell, has much reduced noise pollution and makes for a more comfortable trip. Their $740,000 buses depending on configuration was a hit at APTA with many transit authorities asking for more information especially on the east coast which has lagged behind moving to cleaner alternative energy buses and runs some of the oldest bus fleets in the country. An example of how quiet these buses are, the Proterra Catalyst is only 57 dB in comparison to normal conversation at 60 dB, Diesel Bus 72 dB, Formula 1 Racecar 115 dB, and a Jet plane taking off at 140 dB. Per Proterra own web site, efficiency is the goal and with that you have proof in the cost to run an EV bus as follows: Proterra Catalyst - 21.4 MPGe @ average of 19 cents per mile CNG - 3.27 MPG at 74 cents per mile Diesel - 3.86 MPG at 84 cents per mile Hybrid - 4.58 MPG at 63 cents per mile. Quoting Mass Transit Mag who was at the APTA meeting: Compelled by a total cost of ownership significantly lower than fossil fuel-based alternatives, transit agencies across the U.S. agree that diesel’s dominance is waning, giving way to the economic and environmental benefits of battery-electric mass transportation: J. Barry Barker, executive director, Transit Authority of River City: “TARC now has largest deployment of Proterra battery-electric buses east of the Mississippi. Providing both environmental benefits and cost savings, these buses are a symbol of Louisville’s sustainability efforts. We are proud of these positive impacts and to call Proterra a partner, as they pass this key milestone in their journey as the foremost transport innovator in the world.” Doran Barnes, executive director at Foothill Transit: “We just surpassed one million miles of revenue service with our battery-electric Proterra fleet, and we’re looking forward to many more miles to come. Since our first EV bus procurement with Proterra in 2010, we knew that zero-emission buses were the future of mass transit. Now, with the new Catalyst E2, this vision is a reality. We’re excited by the possibilities of an all-electric future.” Jonathan Church, administrator at Worcester Regional Transit Authority (WRTA): “More and more, we’re witnessing our neighbor agencies consider all-electric buses, as they see how well our Proterra buses have weathered some of the ugliest Northeast snow storms. We look forward to continuing our partnership with Proterra as their technology continues to expand within North America.” To date, Proterra early EV buses which I had written about here at Cheers and Gears: These early buses that only got 23 miles per charge and have become popular with inner city routes are now clearly being outclassed by the generation two of the EV Bus. Proterra states their EV buses to date have logged over 2.5 million miles of trouble free use on city streets displacing 540,000 gallons of diesel and 10 million pounds of carbon emissions not released into the planet atmosphere. Ryan Popple, CEO of Proterra says, "The question is no longer who will be an early adopter of this technology, but rather who will be the last to commit to a future of clean efficient and sustainable mobility." Proterra believes they have broken down the final barrier to widespread market adoption of EV buses. Proterra, leaving Diesel in the past! Are you ready to get your Electric on? Proterra Press Releases

You Rock! That clearly explains what is missing in the photo, does not look that long and it has been forever since I have seen one in person, so that is good to know. Be interesting to see how they sell and what they end up doing to continue to drive sales. Based on what you have said, then it makes sense to be a Plug-In Hybrid that covers long distance as they they focus on the next generation of the auto.

Strike out is me! Auto Industry, this is why you are in reduction mode for mid size sedans / cars. No passion, nothing to inspire people to buy your appliance auto's.

That would explain the conversion to have the Corvette Engine in these auto's.

Sadly for me there is just no passion in this segment. All they seem to be is appliance auto's for the most part. I guess if it has to be a 4 door sedan over 2 door, then I would go with the Chevy SS.

H'mmm, Buick Grand National from the 80's Chevy Monte Carlo Aero from the mid 80's Cannot think of any other sedan I would want or could fit into.

Lucky for me at 48 old years, I still seem to function on 4-5hrs a sleep a night. Cannot seem to go to bed before 11-12am and then body wakes me up at 4-4:30am and I am wide awake, so just get up and go to work. I would not know what to do if I had to sleep more than that, I would feel like I wasted most of my day.

We'll Damn, I actually thought they would go the full EV route. This is an over priced warm up of an old TV dinner. @ Karma

Awesome list, I think you should do the Trax or Encore. Those are nice rides, probably the Encore as my choice out of that list.

Along with that so called satisfied durable diesel engine was the destruction of the forest due to the over polluting diesel that caused acid rain. VW is now clearly responsible for a large amount of that acid based on the actual output of toxins. Hybrid / electrification is not crap and you know it, but are just not wanting to change soap box's for an alternative view. You and I both know it will not cause petro engine auto's to go away overnight. There is also no reason not to improve the air we all have to breath by having auto's that do not cause air pollution or noise pollution.

@Drew Dowdell You have plenty of great experiance with the auto's, where do you think this transmission will spend the bulk of it's time in regards to the 10 gears it has. Will is skip a few here and there, go 1,3,5,7,10 as it shifts if no load and under heavy load then go through them all? I am also excited by the change and additional fuel economy I think proper programming can get out of these additional geared transmissions, but I do wonder about the shifting.

Got it, I will correct your post then: I think Chrysler 200s are selling for $9,995 right now.

@hyperv6 I see your point but still think if marketing was done better and they blanketed the whole US properly, it would have sold better. The Hybrid SUVs was a system that was never in my mind marketed or had the story of what it got you told properly. This is much like the GM AWS for full size trucks. GM should have just made it standard on all 1500, 2500 and full size SUVs. AWS is awesome and makes driving a full size truck or suv especially with a trailer so much better. Sadly, GM introduced it and did not bother marketing it or clearly stating the benefits, but you talk to those that have their AWS trucks with this feature and they have no desire to give it up due to the ease of moving a large auto around in tight spaces. AWS like Hybrid should have been standard on all full size trucks and suvs imho.

I think you missed a one, please post the ad if you can find one as the cheapest I could find a 200 was a fully loaded 2016 200 Limited for $19,205. 2017 start at $22,995. This was on the west coast.

Glad to see GM is being proactive and supporting a program that encourages employees to report issues like this.