The Bolt EV and Model 3 will look the same...?

[lukestuke]

Interesting article I came across by a Volt (and ELR) owner that discusses various reasons why the Tesla Model 3 will have to look very similar to the Chevy Bolt.

The basic reasoning is that batteries are still very heavy, and take up a lot of room. In order to have passenger and cargo room (with a lot of heavy batteries), the vehicle needs to have batteries underneath it in a platform configuration, not in the trunk. Since both the Bolt and Model 3 are targeting 'affordability', the bodies can't be built out of aluminum and carbon fiber, so in order to keep overall vehicle weight down, they need to be small.

The Punchline

Put another way, don’t expect the Model E or the Bolt or anything Nissan, Audi or BMW to put out to look like a sized down Model S.

Why? Well a 20% smaller Model S (purely scaled down) means:

1.) Nowhere to put the people. (I have a Cadillac ELR, which lost 1 in of headroom from the Volt for design aesthetics and I barely fit in the front seat now and the back seat is basically non-existent) Remember, this is with a car that has a T-shaped battery and not a skateboard battery)



2.) Wait we have to use steel again to make it inexpensive? That means we aren’t building as big a car or it’ll weigh too much.



3.) 20% smaller car doesn’t mean 20% smaller battery capacity to get the same range. While weight matters, aerodynamics matter a lot more for distance driving. A “smaller” car doesn’t always been less aerodynamic load, especially given how slippery the Model S is today.

Full article here:
http://www.mychevroletvolt.com/why-the-tesla-model-3-will-look-like-the-chevy-bolt

 

[marta]

Sure that makes sense, but also remember that the Bolt EV is supposed to be a compact city vehicle, not a sprawling sedan like the Model S.

Also, we have no idea how big the Model 3 will be. We can assume it will be smaller in order to keep costs down, but that's really all we have to go off of right now.

 

[oceanroad]

I wish Gm would build an EV that is bigger than the Volt, or even a mid-sized car. We can't all fit into a compact back seat like the Volt has.

The sonic has more headroom than the Volt, but the legroom is tighter.

We don't know the size the Bolt will be - we know it's based on the Sonic platform, but how long will the new Sonic platform be? Similar to the existing in theory.

The current Sonic platform has a wheelbase of 99.4 inches, the BMW i3 is 101 inches.

The upright seating position of the Bolt EV should help with legroom as the legs hang more and go outward less.

 

[user 68]

I wish Gm would build an EV that is bigger than the Volt, or even a mid-sized car. We can't all fit into a compact back seat like the Volt has.

The sonic has more headroom than the Volt, but the legroom is tighter.

We don't know the size the Bolt will be - we know it's based on the Sonic platform, but how long will the new Sonic platform be? Similar to the existing in theory.

The current Sonic platform has a wheelbase of 99.4 inches, the BMW i3 is 101 inches.

The upright seating position of the Bolt EV should help with legroom as the legs hang more and go outward less.

+1 on the bigger than a volt push. Please Gm make me an impala or CTS sized sedan, or an Equinox/terrain sized SUV, or go all out and make a Voltec or BEV suburban. Get anywhere over 120 miles of range and it can be my daily commuter (I only need 50 miles, but a bit of cushion to compensate for cold weather, using the heater, and a side trip would be very useful.

 

[lukestuke]

I like to try and stay positive, but it seems to me like the big automakers are mainly reactive, so until Mitsubishi shows up with the Outlander PHEV, I don't expect to see any large EV or EREV vehicles. The big automakers like to rush and play catchup, they just don't seem solidly convinced of the desire or need for such a vehicle.