Review from LA Auto Show

[Michael1]

Chevy had several Bolt EVs on display, one of which you could sit in. My first impressions were:

1) It looks better in person than in the photos I've seen.
2) It has an amazing amount of interior space for such a small exterior. There is a lot of headroom. Legroom was not quite as impressive, but still ample for most people. It feels like a much larger car on the inside.
3) While the finishes would not put it in a luxury category, overall the interior was attractive and modern looking. In fact, it made some other cars' interiors look a bit old fashioned.
4) The 10" infotainment screen is very nice, and the system is easy to use.
5) The front seats are comfortable (at least for the short time I sat in them), and you would never know they are an ultra thin seatback design. The back seats were comfortable for the most part, but the rear seat backs were too upright.
6) The rear cargo room is limited, but the shape is usable. The rear seats fold down flat or near flat for a nice
cargo area.
7) Headlights are HID projector, not LED.
8) The hood release could not be found (may have been removed for the show), so could not examine the underhood area.
9) There are flat underbody panels at the front of the car for aerodynamics.
10) Brake and turn lights are a unique shape squiggly shape formed by LEDs inside the rear lamp housings.
11) The windshield is steeply raked, and the dash is deep. there are two triangular windows to the sides of the dash for extra visibility. The depth of the dash does give a feeling a safety in the even of a front end collision.

Overall, I was very impressed with the Bolt EV.

Michael

 

[Anonymous]

Thank you for the report. It covered some aspects not mentioned in various reviews online.

Did you sit in the Premier trim or the LT? If both were available, could you please compare the two, particularly the interior?

 

[michael]

I was there too and support almost everything you said, except that I found the rear legroom to be quite good. Vastly better than in my Focus.

The one on display was a premiere

 

[Michael1]

I was there too and support almost everything you said, except that I found the rear legroom to be quite good. Vastly better than in my Focus.

The one on display was a premiere

My only complaint about the rear seating was the seatbacks were unnaturally too upright. I know they did this for cargo space, but even another inch of angle would have improved the situation greatly. Legroom was good.

Michael

 

[michael]

I was there too and support almost everything you said, except that I found the rear legroom to be quite good. Vastly better than in my Focus.

The one on display was a premiere

My only complaint about the rear seating was the seatbacks were unnaturally too upright. I know they did this for cargo space, but even another inch of angle would have improved the situation greatly. Legroom was good.

Michael

I didn't notice that part. But I did compare with my gen1 Volt this morning, and the Bolt is much better in rear headroom and legroom both.

I think they have done a really good job. So sick of hearing the "wait for a model 3" remarks.

 

[ScooterCT]

I saw it Friday at the CT Auto show and really like it too. The lady showing it was from FLA, and she had the same response as me - she didn't expect to like it as much as she did. It's better in person than in pics. She said she's buying one as soon as they arrive in FLA. My main negative was that I hit my head on the upper door frame getting in back, and I'm only 5'9". My big surprise is how awesomely supportive the seats are - I'm big on good seats. I also liked the low belt line in the front, which gives nice visibility.

My main bummer this morning is the following article that suggests the Bolt is a fake-out from GM - a compliance car. Hope the article is off-base, because I hope they sell tons of them. But if GM is losing money each car, you can't reasonably blame them for limiting quantities. The article sounds bogus just because GM has already publicly said they hope to sell 20,000 - 30,000 Bolts a year. That's not compliance-car quantities. Hope they don't sell all 20,000 in CA and leave us dry in CT...

https://electrek.co/2016/11/18/gm-chevy-bolt-ev-nationwide-launch-cancel/

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

GM is party to the auto alliance petitioning Trump to gut emissions rules. No need to sell any more than they have to.

 

[Eastocean]

My main bummer this morning is the following article that suggests the Bolt is a fake-out from GM - a compliance car. Hope the article is off-base, because I hope they sell tons of them. But if GM is losing money each car, you can't reasonably blame them for limiting quantities. The article sounds bogus just because GM has already publicly said they hope to sell 20,000 - 30,000 Bolts a year.

I think GM views it as a Halo car, ie, a car to help the GM image and to draw folks to the showroom, but not necessarily to make a lot of money (unlike SUV's and pickups, which are most profitable) The same Halo role was served by the Pontiac Solstice, which sold 19,710 (21273 made) in first full year. It was discontinued due in part to the Recession, and the government save of GM.

Compliance cars generally have a production of less that 2000. For instance, the Ford Focus Electric sold only 3965 units for 2012 - Sept 2014 In "select" markets.

 

[michael]

I saw it Friday at the CT Auto show and really like it too. The lady showing it was from FLA, and she had the same response as me - she didn't expect to like it as much as she did. It's better in person than in pics. She said she's buying one as soon as they arrive in FLA. My main negative was that I hit my head on the upper door frame getting in back, and I'm only 5'9". My big surprise is how awesomely supportive the seats are - I'm big on good seats. I also liked the low belt line in the front, which gives nice visibility.

My main bummer this morning is the following article that suggests the Bolt is a fake-out from GM - a compliance car. Hope the article is off-base, because I hope they sell tons of them. But if GM is losing money each car, you can't reasonably blame them for limiting quantities. The article sounds bogus just because GM has already publicly said they hope to sell 20,000 - 30,000 Bolts a year. That's not compliance-car quantities. Hope they don't sell all 20,000 in CA and leave us dry in CT...

https://electrek.co/2016/11/18/gm-chevy-bolt-ev-nationwide-launch-cancel/

I think GM is absolutely sincere about the Bolt. In the Ford display at the LA Auto show, the Focus Electric and the Energi models were behind a wall, in a separate area. Wouldn't want to distract folks from looking at the SHO Mustangs and such....

In the GM display, there was a separate stage with a huge video wall that displayed only the Volt and Bolt. They were giving them prominence.

Chevy dealers here in LA are already pushing the Bolt. My understanding is that the biggest, Keyes, received a large initial allocation and they are already largely spoken for. I believe they will try very hard to get Model 3 fanboys to go for a Bolt now rather than waiting for who-knows-how-long.

 

[Eastocean]

In the GM display, there was a separate stage with a huge video wall that displayed only the Volt and Bolt.

I agree with the Bolt being prominently displayed. At the Delaware auto show, it as front and center, right behind the marketeers collecting e-mail addresses in exchange for a free T-shirt (a generic white Camaro tshirt). All of the trucks and SUVs (big sellers here in rural DE), where behind it and to the sides. Everyone had to walk past the Bolt to get to them. As I chatted to the Chevy Rep, (who had never met an EV owner or driven one), explaining what driving an EV was like, a large number stopped to look, and several said they had come just to see it.

 

[Michael1]

My main bummer this morning is the following article that suggests the Bolt is a fake-out from GM - a compliance car. Hope the article is off-base, because I hope they sell tons of them. But if GM is losing money each car, you can't reasonably blame them for limiting quantities. The article sounds bogus just because GM has already publicly said they hope to sell 20,000 - 30,000 Bolts a year. That's not compliance-car quantities. Hope they don't sell all 20,000 in CA and leave us dry in CT...

https://electrek.co/2016/11/18/gm-chevy-bolt-ev-nationwide-launch-cancel/

Sounds like the Tesla fanboys are at it again. If it was just a compliance car, they would have just built if off an existing platform, or, worse, just put a battery and electric motor in an existing car that current has an engine. Toyota lost money on the Prius when it came out, and Chevy lost money with the Volt. Both models are still around, and have had updates.

Just look at the car in person. It's not fake. Some real thought went into it.

Michael

 

[michael]

As noted in my post above, I don't condemn or even criticize a manufacturer for building an EV on an existing platform, provided they do it well.

My Focus, for example... While the back storage area was reduced in size due to intrusion of the battery, everything else about the car was really good. It was built on a popular, well accepted platform, on a production line shared with ICE cars. Ford subcontracted to Magna, a specialist in electrical propulsion and didn't make the kind of first-time blunders that Nissan did. The car didn't have a dorky look, it was just like everything else on the road except that it offered quiet, smooth electric drive and required no maintenance. The base model was fully equipped with practically every option...only options were leather seating and special paint.

The dealer did not try to steer me away from the car, but rather went to some effort to get me the car at a good price. When I needed service, the local Ford dealer was fully qualified.

My main criticism was Ford's failure to aggressively sell a product that, in my opinion, was superior to the Leaf. And my newer criticism is Ford's failure to match Chevy in producing a 200 mile class follow on.

Similarly, based on my satisfaction with the Focus, friends leased a RAV-4 EV. This, too, is built upon an existing platform and Toyota subcontracted the power system from Tesla. In two years they've logged 50,000 miles, with a 120 mile daily commute through the mountains with no workplace recharging, Apart from the Tesla model S, vastly more expensive, at that time there was no other EV available that could do this task. In fact, until the Bolt actually hits the showrooms, it's fair to say the RAV is still the longest legged EV ever produced by a company that also makes ICE cars. Was it a compliance car? Of course...they made limited numbers, sold only in California, and then abandoned the field. But it was still a pretty special car.

 

[oilerlord]

In the Ford display at the LA Auto show, the Focus Electric and the Energi models were behind a wall, in a separate area. Wouldn't want to distract folks from looking at the SHO Mustangs and such....

Ford is remarkably quiet on the EV front, and seems content with buying ZEV credits from Tesla to keep F-150's and Mustang GT's rolling off the assembly line. Found this article about Musk commenting on how Tesla is getting squeezed on the price of ZEV credits...apparently not as lucrative as they once were.

"There’s massive lobbying by the big car companies to prevent CARB from increasing the ZEV credit mandate, which they absolutely damn well should. It’s a crying shame that they haven’t. And as a result, you can barely sell the ZEV credits for pennies on the dollar.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-04/musk-tears-into-california-board-over-emission-credits-standards

 

[CGameProgrammer]

Sorry to revive a somewhat old thread, but for those of you that have sat in it, can you compare the forward visibility with that of the 2016+ Volt? I liked almost everything about the Volt but found the front windshield so narrow that it was a deal-breaker, because I don't enjoy driving as much if I don't have a nice wide-open view of the world. The BMW i3 has such a view, but it's much more expensive and has much less electric-only range.