What Has the Bolt to teach us about Electro-Vehiculars? An Unusually Cool, Low-Energy Test Drive of an EUV
But the Bolt remained an affordable and practical EV option. The fact that GM is killing it off in favor of larger, more expensive vehicles that are easier to market and show off in dealer lots is a grim preview of what’s to come. Yes, we should have EVs that cater to the wants of Americans that demand bigger, showier, faster cars. If we want people to adopt EV faster than they are today, we need more cars like the Bolt.
I had the opportunity to test a Bolt EUV earlier this year to see what a more affordable and accessible EV is like to drive in 2023. The model I tested was the fully loaded Redline model, which had a sticker price of $39,480 with the destination. Most people shouldn’t pay extra for unnecessary features or trim, which is what a lot of that cost is. A similar, more appealing option is a trim level down, which still provided niceties like ventilated and heated leather front seats, heated rear seats, heated steering wheel, adaptive cruise control, surround view cameras, wireless CarPlay / Android Auto, wireless phone charging, and more for about $6,000 less. Factor in the federal tax credit, and you pay a net of just under $26,000 — less than half of the average EV selling price. There are incentives offered by some states to bring the cost down even further.
Chevrolet’s track record with the Bolt line over the past few years has been bumpy — it had to recall 150,000 vehicles in 2021 to replace faulty batteries that were responsible for over a dozen fires. It also was never able to compete with the buzzier, more attractive, and more fun to drive Tesla Model 3, despite beating it to market by two model years and undercutting it on price.
Volkswagen will have a new ID. 2all is expected to be priced in the$20s and has a 300 miles of range, but it is far from being here yet. Maybe Tesla will continue to slash prices on the Model 3 and bring it down to the $35,000 price that was promised so many years ago, but I wouldn’t hold my hopes for that to happen.
The Bolt EUV didn’t feel like a stripped-down bargain basement car. There was a 9.2-inch center screen, an eight-inch gauge cluster, and a remote start available in the car I drove. There are still plenty of buttons for things like climate, and the black leather interior that I had in the test unit was offensive but it is always a blessing when you have a good display of buttons. My only complaint was with the shiny black finish on the center console, which I think is greasy after a few minutes in the car.
Like all electric cars, the Bolt is quiet and planted on the road, though it never provided an especially sporty experience. It’s just a car that takes you from point A to point B with a minimum of fuss. There is a Sport mode you can toggle on, but that basically just made the throttle pedal a little more aggressive — there was no apparent change to the steering or suspension when I hit the Sport button. The GM’s electric vehicles will look great in commercials, but are not practical for daily use.
The Bolt EUV has room for five, but — and this was perhaps a big reason for its downfall — it’s certainly one of the smaller cars on the road today. The Bolt EV is almost all of the length of the same thing, but it has a little more passenger room. I fit my family of five, including a toddler car seat, and it was fine for short excursions or errands. The kids had plenty of room in the back seat, and it was easy to get the toddler in and out of her car seat. There was plenty of cargo space due to the style of the vehicle.
But Americans don’t like to buy compact hatchbacks (RIP, BMW i3, another small EV that’s no longer available). GM’s EV’s will be available to other parts of the world in the near future, as well as many other compact and affordable ones. We won’t get cars and trucks that are practical for driving in the US because they have too much power and cost too much to produce and charge.
Another thing that I won’t get from the Bolt? The ability to use my phone with the infotainment system. GM recently made the boneheaded announcement that it plans to eliminate CarPlay and Android Auto in its future EVs, but both were available in the Bolt.
The Bolt EUV came with an EPA rating of 247 miles of range, which isn’t as much as you’ll get on a Tesla Model 3 or some of the other more expensive EVs on the market but is still plenty of range to stave off anxiety. In my week of driving, the average in-car range estimate is more than 200 miles.
A lot of people can definitely get by with slower charging, even if they have a 240V charging option for an EV like I did before I use the Bolt. (And anecdotally, many EV owners I’ve spoken to already do — Alex Dykes of the EV Buyers Guide YouTube channel has a good breakdown of EV charging here.)