The anticipation should now come to an end, as Chevrolet’s affordable long-range electric vehicle, the Chevrolet Bolt EV, has finally made its way to dealerships. Chevrolet is a division of General Motors, and the Bolt EV was seen being unloaded from trucks earlier this week at various dealerships throughout California and Oregon. Basically, if you had the faith to place a pre-order for the Bolt EV, you ought to be able to pick them up already.
Motor Trend magazine’s Car of the Year for 2017, with the Bolt EV debuting at CES earlier this year too, is certainly an exciting development. This particular ride would be the first mid-range all-electric car that claims to be able to travel beyond the 200 mile range on a full charge, something no other average commercial class electric vehicle is able to claim. The asking price for the Chevrolet Bolt EV stands at $37,495 for the base model, although when you throw in both state and federal incentives, you would be able to pick it up for an extremely affordable $29,000. With an officially stated range of 238 miles, we do wonder how different driving styles will be able to affect the final mileage.
After all, I am quite sure that many people do not drive over 230 miles each day to commute to and back from work. This means daily charging ought to ensure that you will be able to earn you plenty of brownie points with Greenpeace activists and their ilk. What are some of the potential challengers for the Bolt EV? Well, Elon Musk’s Tesla is working on releasing the Model 3, which would also be Tesla’s maiden attempt at the mid-range electric car market. However, the Tesla Model 3 is not due for a debut until some time late next year. Will the Bolt EV set a precedence in terms of performance and benchmarks for an electric vehicle in its class, or will other makes and models from different manufacturers like Tesla be able to seize this advantage and improve on their products that will blow consumers’ minds out of the water when released?
There are differences between the Model 3 and Bolt EV that you might want to take into consideration before dropping your hard earned cash on one model over the other. For starters, the Model 3 will be a wee bit more affordable than the Bolt EV after you take the federal and state incentives into consideration, not to mention whether you are a hatchback or sedan kind of person. On the other hand, do you prefer Tesla’s network of Superchargers or are you a DIY person with self-charging on the Bolt EV? Sure, the Bolt EV is already here and now, but the Model 3 comes with more speed, boasting of 200 ponies underneath the hood and has rear wheel drive.
It all boils down to your personal preference, really. However, the shift to all electric vehicles in the US has been rather slow, to say the least. Perhaps the Bolt EV will kickstart something unprecedented in the US motor industry.
