I drove one of these a couple of years ago when Chevy brought them out to Burlington for journalists to test drive. Maybe fall 2017/summer 2018? I had a lot of fun driving one, but they're very... boring cars, which I figured was the point of that: they're not a radical change for a regular driver who isn't ready for what Tesla offers.
I'd consider getting one a little down the road, although someone I know here noted that the battery loses out on some range pretty quickly in the middle of winter.
Yeah, that was the point of my review for Verge back in 2016. It’s just a car. It’s not exciting. It gets you from point a to point b. With electricity.
Though every electric car will lose range in winter, you won’t see too much difference if you have a garage and/or leave it plugged in. Running the heat hurts a bit, but my Volt would get low- to mid-40s range in very cold Colorado vs mid 50s in summer.
It’s definitely still second-car territory though. You’d have to be a very dedicated enthusiast to have it as a primary vehicle.
Yeah. I was going to write a piece about how boring was better, although I never ended up getting the time to write it. The stock images from the junket still make it onto the site from time to time though.
The guy I was talking to said that he lost a pretty significant amount of range. I think he said that it went down to 150 miles per charge or so? I imagine that he was careful about charging. He also noted that he had to put in sand bags into the back seats for some extra traction.
Good review. You note that the Chevy Bolt is really 2nd car territory for most. People have not really said that about the Tesla Model 3 which at the basic model gets just slightly less range , 250 miles. Is the Bolt more of a second car than because it is inherently less fun to drive than a Tesla, which at $39,900 is probably its main competition (other than the Nissan Leaf or the new Volkswagen box that is coming out mid next year).
Also does the Bolt get the full $7,500 Fed tax credit? I know the Teslas do not.
GM burned through the fed tax credit, which is why there are such good deals on Bolts right now. Expect big price cuts next year to bring the cost down. Definitely less fun to drive than a Tesla, but also lots of people are leery of Tesla quality etc and the fact that there isn't a dealer to bring the thing to if you have trouble.
That said, Tesla includes the Supercharger network which is so far beyond anything else in terms of ease of use and reach, that sells the Model 3/Y on its own for me.
The Bolt isn't boring, but it's definitely not exciting. A sport-focused Bolt hot hatch would be hilarious though.
I drove one of these a couple of years ago when Chevy brought them out to Burlington for journalists to test drive. Maybe fall 2017/summer 2018? I had a lot of fun driving one, but they're very... boring cars, which I figured was the point of that: they're not a radical change for a regular driver who isn't ready for what Tesla offers.
I'd consider getting one a little down the road, although someone I know here noted that the battery loses out on some range pretty quickly in the middle of winter.
Yeah, that was the point of my review for Verge back in 2016. It’s just a car. It’s not exciting. It gets you from point a to point b. With electricity.
Though every electric car will lose range in winter, you won’t see too much difference if you have a garage and/or leave it plugged in. Running the heat hurts a bit, but my Volt would get low- to mid-40s range in very cold Colorado vs mid 50s in summer.
It’s definitely still second-car territory though. You’d have to be a very dedicated enthusiast to have it as a primary vehicle.
Yeah. I was going to write a piece about how boring was better, although I never ended up getting the time to write it. The stock images from the junket still make it onto the site from time to time though.
The guy I was talking to said that he lost a pretty significant amount of range. I think he said that it went down to 150 miles per charge or so? I imagine that he was careful about charging. He also noted that he had to put in sand bags into the back seats for some extra traction.
Good review. You note that the Chevy Bolt is really 2nd car territory for most. People have not really said that about the Tesla Model 3 which at the basic model gets just slightly less range , 250 miles. Is the Bolt more of a second car than because it is inherently less fun to drive than a Tesla, which at $39,900 is probably its main competition (other than the Nissan Leaf or the new Volkswagen box that is coming out mid next year).
Also does the Bolt get the full $7,500 Fed tax credit? I know the Teslas do not.
GM burned through the fed tax credit, which is why there are such good deals on Bolts right now. Expect big price cuts next year to bring the cost down. Definitely less fun to drive than a Tesla, but also lots of people are leery of Tesla quality etc and the fact that there isn't a dealer to bring the thing to if you have trouble.
That said, Tesla includes the Supercharger network which is so far beyond anything else in terms of ease of use and reach, that sells the Model 3/Y on its own for me.
The Bolt isn't boring, but it's definitely not exciting. A sport-focused Bolt hot hatch would be hilarious though.