With Bolt Sales Averaging < 1,500/month, GM Is Preparing for a Production Increase

So, do I understand correctly that GM is selling more than 1500 Bolts a month?

 

Do they mean selling 1500 , or BUILDING 1500 ? I do applaud GM's commitment to EV's. But I don't think
most people really need more than 100 miles of range. Should I wait until an EV gets 700 miles on a tank like
my car ? Don't think so.

 

Add 1 to the March totals. I just signed for a Bolt EV LT.

Real $9000 off list. Additional incentives ($7500 federal tax credit I can use, and $2500 Massachusetts rebate at mor-ev.org)

The list prices start high, but the above discounts make it about a $20-21k vehicle. FWIW, I could not find this discounting going the usual route of searching in cars.com, truecar, etc.

I will post car dealership details later in case anyone else is interested. There are 10+ vehicles to choose from but beware, some/many are already spoken for and the rest are on trucks that will be here within days.

 

We love our Bolt EV. It fits us better than any car we have ever owned. It is eminently practical, and boy is it quick! Entry and exit ease is better than any car we have ever owned.

We bought it for $41,500 - it's a Premier with CCS and the entertainment and driver's confidence packages; in a base color (Arctic Blue like the picture above). In other words, it is nearly fully loaded. And we will get $10K off that, as well.

It has a few issues: the seat heaters are barely adequate (on high, they are like the low setting on our e-Golf), and it lacks a light in the charging port. The center screen has failed to boot on 3 different occasions, and it then randomly starts up 10-30 minutes later. The rear shocks are under-damped - rear seat passengers get jounced up on uneven pavement.

I really hope that it gets free wheel coasting in D, as an option at least.

 

Thanks for the tips, Neil.

 

100 miles is not too short for me. Charge time is something to consider, though.

 

Here's the info I promised. I'm buying from Quirk Chevrolet in Braintree, MA. Below are the "front page" deals for Bolt EV and Volt, but browse their new car inventory to see specific deals. I was very tempted by the lease deals, but I was ready to commit to ownership.

 

100mi is adequate the vast majority of the time but won't necessarily cover the randomness of life. That said, it could be totally mitigated either with faster charging, even longer range, or even battery swap. Probably some mix of all of those. A Volt-type EV with a range extender makes sense too, and I'd be totally comfortable with that. The $65/mo deal looks fantastic, though I'd never be able to justify the payment through fuel use since the down payment alone is about what I spent on my car.

I had a bit north of 100mi range in the fuel tank of my Nightster, but there wasn't range anxiety since refueling was both ubiquitous and fast.

Since I drive 100 miles, park for weeks in a dirt lot with no shade (let alone charging), and come back with an expectation to be home with no undue delay, even a 200+ mile range would make an EV marginal at best for my own personal use case - let alone the other realities such as exposure and making payments on a car I hardly use.

 

Certainly hard to justify a car that gets parked most of the time. That's when you need a good friend. An Uber/Lyft ride would cost too much. You seem to have the right arrangement already. Just need to make sure you have a good battery and perhaps a battery disconnect.

 

Amazing deal!!!

I watched Professor John Kelly go threw the whole Bolt battery and it was fascinating.

Here is a vid he compares the thermal battery management on the Leaf and Bolt.

 

Bill, congrats, those are some great deals. If you don't mind, I have three questions for you.

1.) how comfortable/uncomfortable do you find the seats, particularly the driver's seat?

2.) what is your strategy for expected depreciation and how to protect yourself from it? are you going to keep the car for a long time? trade it in in a few years?

3.) what do you expect in terms of reliability over the course of ownership?

Thanks.

 

There is the pyschological factor in having the EV range over 100 miles for marketing and public acceptance.
Then in areas with real winters, you'll want extra range to account for seasonal reductions and emergencies. That first nor'easter that hit here had me taking 5 hours to get home for what is normally just under 30 miles.

 

Thanks, Chris. I'll be very happy when the car gets here. The past couple of days have been used to clean out my trade-in vehicle and put the original wheels/tires back on. I didn't reprogram the TPMS ID myself this time. I took it to Town Fair Tire locally and they did it for $20.

Answer to Q1: Comfort's never been an issue with any car I've ever driven. I am a stable 5'6" 168 lbs +/- 2 lbs and I think I must be close to what most car seating is designed for. I have not even sat in a Bolt EV yet.

Answer to Q2: I have no strategy to protect myself other than not buying a fast-depreciating vehicle unless the initial cost is bearable and the value in 5-10 years isn't likely to be too far below 1/2. I think the Bolt EV should be okay above $10k in 5 years. If I had felt I needed a change in 2-3 years, I would have taken the lease. $175 no money down is hard to turn down for a Bolt EV. I certainly haven't found any other current and main stream EV for that lease rate. Even the lease rates that corporate Chevrolet advertises for the Bolt EV are much higher. I don't know what's up with that. I had initially planned on driving my 2012 Plug-in Prius into the ground. Recent changes in my thinking and life changes mean I'll be driving more than the 5k miles/year that I've been doing and I'm also looking to drive more with electricity. The Pip isn't that great for more than my current 4.1 mile each way commute and the engine does come on rather easily. I have become a real estate salesperson as a second concurrent occupation to assist my broker wife so that's where the added driving will come in. The Bolt EV's range should easily cover my daily needs. Charging will be via solar at home or free charging on ChargePoint L2 and DC fast chargers. I've scoped them out along my expected 100 mile driving radius and there are quite a few. In a pinch, I can sign up for EVgo's $$ fast chargers for emergency needs. Cost to operate this car's going to be ridiculously low. Even the 215/50R17 tires can be purchased at reasonable cost. When replacing, I probably would not spend the extra on the OEM Michelin self-sealing tires.

When I have had to replace Leaf tires to match the originals, or C-MAX tires, I thought the cost was outrageous.

Answer to Q3: I don't have much data to go by, but the Volt has had better than average repair cost from what I've read, and I think GM should have a good handle on this latest generation electric drive train. The parts likely to fail are the fancy electronics that all new cars seem to have and car buyers need. I've had good luck with GM, Ford, Toyota and Nissan cars in the past so I hope my luck continues.

 

That all makes a lot of sense, and thanks for your detailed answers. The reason I asked about the seat comfort is that a lot of Bolt owners have been complaining about it:

https://www.torquenews.com/1/chevy-bolt-owners-have-only-one-complain-hey-not-buick-ev


At the same time, if you find that the seats do bother you, there are a lot of easy fixes -- everything from $25 cushions to opening up the seats and adding interior padding. There are several threads on the Chevy Bolt Forum that discuss how to do this:

http://www.chevybolt.org/forum/226-interior/13810-front-seat-fix.html


And yeah, it looks like there are a lot of opportunities for free fast charging up MA. I saw that they just opened the free ones on the Mass Pike...

 

So, they are selling less than 1500 a month and they are increasing production??? They must be confident people will buy more in future... Hmmm.
One more question (pardon my ignorance) If I were to go to a GM dealership today, could I get one of these vehicles with a different battery capacity? Or are they all the same? Can I order one with a smaller (cheaper & lighter) battery pack? The last time we went to a GM dealer to ask about the Volt, they had none and only one salesman "knew about EVs" - it was his day off. A range of 100-125 miles is plenty for us.

 

The Bolt has one battery size.
While offering differing battery sizes would be a good idea, most manufacturers likely don't see doing so as cost effective to get a second battery size EPA certified and safety tested for the potential sales. The Model S originally had a 40kWh size pack as the smallest when pre-orders were started. With low demand, it was cancelled. It was cheaper for Tesla to supply the few that ordered one with a software limited 60kWh pack than build cars with the 40kWh one

 

I agree. Even before my current use case, I saw the light on having a cheap, efficient beater. I carry a 10mm and unhook the negative cable

 

Love that 10mm crescent ..