Chevrolet Bolt & Bolt EUV

[palmermd]

Yeah, looks very similar to the C-Max, i3 and LEAF in overall dimensions.

i3 & Leaf, C-Max are not overall same dimensions. i3 is 18 inches shorter.

yep, and my thoughts were that this looks to be i3 sized.

 

[evnow]

yep, and my thoughts were that this looks to be i3 sized.

It is. This is really a car for very small families/young adults or empty nesters.

 

[jhm614]

It is. This is really a car for very small families/young adults or empty nesters.

or commuters that want some range at the end of the day.

 

[GRA]

It is. This is really a car for very small families/young adults or empty nesters.

or commuters that want some range at the end of the day.

Are we even sure that this is a Bolt and not the next gen Sonic, which the Bolt will share a platform with? Looking at the current Sonic hatchback, this could easily be the follow-on. It's not as if you can see a charge door on it.

 

[minispeed]

It is. This is really a car for very small families/young adults or empty nesters.

or commuters that want some range at the end of the day.

Are we even sure that this is a Bolt and not the next gen Sonic, which the Bolt will share a platform with? Looking at the current Sonic hatchback, this could easily be the follow-on. It's not as if you can see a charge door on it.

I was at the Detroit show, the Bolt concept is definitely a small car. It looks bigger in pictures. It's only a tall roomy car in the same way the current spark and sonic are tall and roomy. I did a side by side of this camo car and that Detroit show bolt, they share a lot of the same lines, so much so that if I think the Sonic shared those lines too GM would have called the EV the Sonic EV. There's no way they Bolt and Sonic will be that similar and have different names. Well that's assuming GM has learned from how much people made fun of the chev/Pontiacs being marketed as different cars with different badges and wheels only.

 

[NeilBlanchard]

First of all the i3 is not a small car on the inside. It has the most front legroom and headroom of almost any car on the road. The backseat is not huge, and the rear door hinging lends itself to kids.

The Bolt EV has more room inside (I think) than the i3, and the backseat looks somewhat larger than the i3. I also think the Bolt EV is slightly wider than the i3; at least going by the orange prototype.

 

[evnow]

First of all the i3 is not a small car on the inside. It has the most front legroom and headroom of almost any car on the road. The backseat is not huge, and the rear door hinging lends itself to kids.

If you look at the actual numbers, you will see that your statements are false.

I didn't buy i3 because of suicide doors (there are lots of posts/videos about how impractical they are for small kids).

 

[GlennD]

First of all the i3 is not a small car on the inside. It has the most front legroom and headroom of almost any car on the road. The backseat is not huge, and the rear door hinging lends itself to kids.

If you look at the actual numbers, you will see that your statements are false.

I didn't buy i3 because of suicide doors (there are lots of posts/videos about how impractical they are for small kids).

In high school in the sixties I had a DKW with suicide doors. One day a passenger was pulled out into the street after tying to fully latch the door. Fortunately I was slowing for a signal and all he got was a large surprise and some scrapes.

 

[kubel]

This is really a car for very small families/young adults or empty nesters.

Or anyone who doesn't have 3 kids or more, which is the vast majority of Americans. I think the Bolt will make an excellent car for me.

 

[evnow]

Or anyone who doesn't have 3 kids or more, which is the vast majority of Americans. I think the Bolt will make an excellent car for me.

Not sure what kind of stroller would fit in Bolt and how much space will be left after that.

 

[DanCar]

This is really a car for very small families/young adults or empty nesters.

Or anyone who doesn't have 3 kids or more, which is the vast majority of Americans. I think the Bolt will make an excellent car for me.

Not sure what kind of stroller would fit in Bolt and how much space will be left after that.

Or what to do when moving the soccer team around or when family visits. Its a good commuter car for the 70% that drive alone.

 

[LeftieBiker]

It's kind of wasteful to buy the largest vehicle you will ever need for any occasion, dragging all that extra metal around every day, instead of sharing a few minivans among a neighborhood, but that seems to be the American Way...

 

[GetOffYourGas]

It's kind of wasteful to buy the largest vehicle you will ever need for any occasion, dragging all that extra metal around every day, instead of sharing a few minivans among a neighborhood, but that seems to be the American Way...

Indeed. But really, who shares cars among neighbors? At least in the US, I don't know of anywhere this happens. As for visitors, frankly it's probably better to take two cars for those occasional trips than to own a much larger car that you drive mostly alone. At least in the majority of cases (obviously there are edge cases to every "rule").

Or anyone who doesn't have 3 kids or more, which is the vast majority of Americans. I think the Bolt will make an excellent car for me.

Not sure what kind of stroller would fit in Bolt and how much space will be left after that.

Depends on the stroller, I guess. An umbrella stroller would be hardly noticeable. An infant stroller is another question. When I carried an infant stroller, it seemed like I would always have it. But looking back, it was only about 4 years that I needed first an infant stroller, then a sit-and-stand stroller. After my son was ~4, I could move my 2-year-old daughter to a smaller stroller and he could walk (even at the fair). In the grand scheme of things, 4 years is not a long time. Similar to Leftie Biker's comment - it's somewhat wasteful to buy a huge car and then keep driving it for years after you need the space.

 

[DanCar]

It's kind of wasteful to buy the largest vehicle you will ever need for any occasion, dragging all that extra metal around every day, instead of sharing a few minivans among a neighborhood, but that seems to be the American Way...

Yes, perhaps we call it luxury, safety, decadence.

 

[NeilBlanchard]

First of all the i3 is not a small car on the inside. It has the most front legroom and headroom of almost any car on the road. The backseat is not huge, and the rear door hinging lends itself to kids.

If you look at the actual numbers, you will see that your statements are false.

Numbers are not always going to tell the whole story. My brother who is 6'-6"+ and has a 38" inseam owns an i3, and it has about 4" between his knees and the dash. It has more room than any other vehicle he has owned, or driven.

What I am saying is completely factual, and you have no reason to say otherwise.

 

[mbender]

It's kind of wasteful to buy the largest vehicle you will ever need for any occasion, dragging all that extra metal around every day [...] but that seems to be the American Way...

This is why I've argued elsewhere that it would be nice if Tesla were to offer something like a 35kWh battery option*, at least with the Model 3. I'd guess that that would satisfy many drivers' needs 100% of the time and a good chunk 90% of the time, who might still opt for a much lighter, much less expensive car. Otherwise, a lot of unused weight and material will be being lugged around "all over the place", at great expense (as there currently is with most Model S's).

But perhaps with battery tech improving and costs coming down, and the preference "of Americans" ;-) for convenience over efficiency and expense, there is less of a business case to be made for this approach.


* Especially if they made it possible to easily and temporarily add capacity (which would come with supercharger access) for those few times in a year that it might be needed.

 

[evnow]

I don't buy commute car, a weekend car, an evening car and a long distance car. We've two cars - which need to do all of the above. I'm fairly sure I'm not in a minority.

As for buying a big car and driving for many years - Leaf is not exactly a big car and I only lease.

 

[GetOffYourGas]

I don't buy commute car, a weekend car, an evening car and a long distance car. We've two cars - which need to do all of the above. I'm fairly sure I'm not in a minority.

As for buying a big car and driving for many years - Leaf is not exactly a big car and I only lease.

Do both of your cars really need to do all of the above? Or rather, between the two of them, you need to do all of the above? If the former, I'm amazed that you even considered a Leaf in the first place. I know Seattle has decent infrastructure but even so, your "long distance" must be much shorter than mine.

Regarding leasing, that's a good way to keep your car relevant to your lifestyle. But it also must get pretty expensive over time. Not that buying is a free lunch - monthly payments and/or down payments are higher. But with leasing, you are always paying for the steepest part of the depreciation curve.

My family has two cars. The Leaf works well as one of them, because when we drive long distance, we do so together (and hence only take one car). For me, long distance is typically 250-350 miles one-way. Even with a quick charger in every place I needed one, I wouldn't want to drive 250 miles in the winter in today's Leaf. My 2012 Leaf will not even get me 30 miles on the highway in a snow storm. Even when new, it would only go about 35 miles in those conditions.

The Bolt is much better, but I still only expect about 125 winter highway miles. I would be willing to stop every two hours for a quick charge (that's only 1-2 stops on my trip), assuming the charger existed. But how many people will do this? It will still be primarily for multiple-car households in cold climates.

 

[evnow]

Do both of your cars really need to do all of the above? Or rather, between the two of them, you need to do all of the above? If the former, I'm amazed that you even considered a Leaf in the first place. I know Seattle has decent infrastructure but even so, your "long distance" must be much shorter than mine.

Obviously we don't need both to be long distance cars. But we do need both to be commute, evening & weekend cars. Otherwise I'll be spending way more CO2 (as the other car is an ICE). That is why the EV needs to be able to support strollers etc. for us.

In general the more utility the EV has - the more miles it covers - and you drive the ICE less. Most people tend to put more miles locally than on long distance - and that is why it is important to have the non-long distance car (i.e. EV) to support all local driving. Esp. with 200 miles, we'll do almost all our local driving using the EV and we need to be able to carry minimum stuff for the kids over the weekend / evenings.

Except for people with multiple cars (>2) - few buy pure "commute" cars.

Regarding leasing, that's a good way to keep your car relevant to your lifestyle. But it also must get pretty expensive over time. Not that buying is a free lunch - monthly payments and/or down payments are higher. But with leasing, you are always paying for the steepest part of the depreciation curve.

Myth. Depends on the exact lease terms. You can trace my calculations and posts/threads on this over the last 5 years here on MNL.

 

[eloder]

I think any two-car family with the ability to charge and with an in-range commute will 100% and fully benefit from an EV while simultaneously saving a ton of money.

Families included. If at least one person in your family works, and you have two cars, an EV is already going to be pretty ideal for you.

Having two large cars is beyond silly. Your kids aren't suddenly going to duplicate and require two large cars for any reason.

I wish the Bolt does well because anything to further the EV revolution will help out, though I think Tesla is going to be the only catalyst to kick-start the EV revolution to mainstream buyers.