Chevrolet Bolt Details Announced

ei9go

Headline figure is a 60 Kw Battery and EPA rating of 238 Miles thats 381 Km.

http://www.chevrolet.com/bolt-ev-electric-vehicle.html

Must be a game changer and obviously the next Leaf has to have the same range.

josip

Available in Ireland in 2017?
Only a 300l boot, I suppose all those batteries have to go somewhere.

KCross

They have an interesting feature called regen on demand where you have a paddle on the steering wheel that you pull to control regen rather than controlling it via your foot on the pedal. You can still use the foot pedal for it as well. That might be interesting.

bk

It really sounds like the perfect EV car for the Irish market.

Real world 238 Miles is more then enough for a small island like Ireland. A shape and style that is very popular in Ireland and Europe.

We just have to wait and see how much it costs. Nissan will definitely need to step up their game with the Leaf 2 and match that range.

cros13

Problem is that Opel Ireland have so far indicated they won't be importing it.
It definitely will be on sale in the UK around April/May 2017 though.

bk

cros13 wrote: »

Problem is that Opel Ireland have so far indicated they won't be importing it.
It definitely will be on sale in the UK around April/May 2017 though.

Totally idiotic. I've seen an incredible number of Nissan Leafs suddenly around my area over the last 6 months. I assume lots of cheap UK second hand imports.

It shows that their is a very strong appetite for a well specced and fairly priced EV in Ireland. The small size of the island really makes Ireland well suited to 200 mile EV's IMO.

It is a real pity that the Volt/Ampera isn't available in Ireland too, I think it would sell very well here.

At least the presence of the Bolt in the UK will put pressure on Nissan to deliver an equivalent Leaf 2, which we should be able to get here in Ireland at least.

DrPhilG

Suits me, can import from England and I work in the north so servicing etc won't be an issue.

NIMAN

Looks nice, if slightly generic.

Would certainly interest me too.

bk

NIMAN wrote: »

Looks nice, if slightly generic.

I think generic is exactly what is needed for EV's to move into the mainstream. Mainstream want safe looking options, not crazy experiments like the i3.

Interestingly if you read US EV forums and blogs, most Americans don't like the look of it, but that is because they prefer big salon cars (Thus the Tesla salons) and massive trucks.

The Bolt is much more inline with the most popular cars in Europe and Asia. Which is why I'm surprised they won't be pushing it harder here as it seems like the perfect EV for the Irish and European markets. It feels like GM choose the worst possible design for the US market, while being almost the best possible design for the European market!

I have to say I really like the look of it, much more then most similar sized hatchbacks here in Ireland. Certainly nicer looking then the Leaf.

NIMAN

But we were told the quirky shape of the Leaf was down to aerodynamics.

That Bolt just looks like an Astra/Focus/Rio/Ceed clone. Obviously aerodynamics to get an extra mile or two out of the battery isn't an issue worth worrying about.

bk

NIMAN wrote: »

That Bolt just looks like an Astra/Focus/Rio/Ceed clone. Obviously aerodynamics to get an extra mile or two out of the battery isn't an issue worth worrying about.

Not when you have so much battery available.

The Bolt has a lot less aerodynamic design then the Tesla 3/S, but then the benefit is far greater interior space, higher driving position, a more CUV type vehicle.

This is all a necessary evolution in EV's. We need to move away from the esoteric designed niche EV that is designed with only performance in mind, over form and function and move to having enough battery capacity and density at a low enough cost, that it can be stuck in almost any design and style of car. From the smallest compact to the biggest SUV and truck.

An extra mile or two range mattered when you had such small batteries with limited range to start with. But once you have big capacity batteries with much greater range, it gives you a much bigger buffer to think about other important aspects of a vehicles design and function then just aerodynamics.

cros13

Location-Based Charging:
Program your charge settings whether you’re home or away. Using the GPS signal in the car, Bolt EV will know when you’re home and will activate according to your preset times. If you’re somewhere else, and the vehicle is plugged in, Bolt EV will know to charge immediately.

Now I like that... couple of time I've come back to my i3 at a public charger only to find that I hadn't gone back into the menus and turned off the charge timer.

This car has a few definite indicators of GM talking to actual EV owners.

readytosnap

I wonder how much it will cost here? 40k +?

cros13

readytosnap wrote: »

I wonder how much it will cost here? 40k +?

Opel Ireland have refused to sell it. Vauxhall UK could be selling them for ~£33,000, but RHD drive price has yet to be confirmed.

bk

Excellent early review of it here:

http://www.theverge.com/2016/9/13/12899752/chevy-bolt-driving-impressions-review

I have to say that I quite like the look of it. Nice and sporty, probably the nicest looking small car designs I've seen, with no EV craziness and the review makes it sound excellent, basically just a totally normal car:

The only difference is that the Bolt happens to be electric, but 99 percent of the time you won't even notice the difference.

This car sounds exactly like what is needed to move EV's into the mainstream IMO.

Shame GM have confirmed no right hand drive Bolt/Ampera-E, that's that so, at least for the current generation.

It's only going to be available in limited quantities anyway just like the Kia Soul.

BoatMad

DrPhilG wrote: »

Suits me, can import from England and I work in the north so servicing etc won't be an issue.

if you are happy with a LHD car , which is unlikely to be available in the Uk either