So far, no purely electric vehicle has sold much more than 30,000 units in a year in the U.S., and Tesla acknowledges it must ramp up manufacturing capacity. If you really want to be in a 200-mile EV soonest, you might consider a two-year lease on a Bolt — and as the lease winds down, your on-order Tesla might just about be ready.
When will Bolt and Model 3 ship?
Chevrolet says the 2017 Bolt will become available by late in 2016, and near-final prototypes that journalists could drive were at CES 2016 in January. At the Tesla launch event last week, CEO Elon Musk talked about an in-production goal of late 2017. Not that the Bolt couldn’t slip, but Tesla’s history includes some epic delays.
The Tesla Model X
crossover EV was announced in February 2012 with first customer ship
deliveries slated for early 2014, or about two years after the
announcement. Those dates were pushed back three times, to Q2 2015, then
Q3 2015. The Model X finally shipped September 29, 2015. Tesla shipped
about 2,600 Model X crossovers in its first six months. Musk initially
said Tesla tried to put too many bells and whistles on the first cars;
some didn’t work (the falcon wing doors) and some were in short supply.
This week, Tesla was even tougher on itself, saying that “the root
causes of the parts shortages were: Tesla’s hubris in adding far too
much new technology to the Model X in version 1, insufficient supplier
capability validation, and Tesla not having broad enough internal
capability to manufacture the parts in-house.”
The Model 3 should be a simpler vehicle to build. But Tesla ramping
up production lines could lead to potential quality control issues. Last
year Tesla delivered 50,580 cars, and its production goal for 2016 is
80,000-90,000.
How the two stack up
2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV
Tesla has announced details on only some of the car’s
statistics. It appears the Model 3 will be about the same size as a
compact sedan such as the Audi A4 or BMW 3 Series, meaning about 180
inches long. The Chevrolet Bolt is a subcompact measuring 164 inches
long, 70 inches wide, and 63 inches high.
Elon Musk says the Model 3 is more spacious inside than
you’d suspect and is capable of carrying a bicycle. Chevrolet has a
photo of the Bolt swallowing an oversize chair with plenty of room left
over. Because the Bolt is taller and allows passengers to sit upright
(photo below), it’s possible the Bolt will be as spacious in back, if
not more so, than the Model 3.
The Bolt has an instrument cluster behind the steering wheel
and a 10.2-inch center stack display, which is huge for any car. The
Tesla has a horizontal 15-inch display in the middle of the car where
the bigger Teslas had a portrait-orientation 17-inch LCD.
The Tesla is lower and swoopier and claims a potential 0.21
coefficient of drag; most cars are above 0.30. The Bolt is distinctive,
but not that distinctive; it’s small and squarish, but with nicely
rounded edges.Tesla has a nationwide network of DC fast chargers called Superchargers and they’re free if you can find one, or find one that isn’t already occupied. (Tesla plans to add more this year.) The Bolt is capable of DC fast charging, but GM has no plans currently for a nationwide network. A full charge on 240 volts (the kind of charger you can put in your garage) takes nine hours for the Bolt, about what it takes for Tesla.
The intangibles favor Tesla
In Tesla’s favor is the mystique surrounding Tesla. Owners love the car. It looks different. When Consumer Reports
last year said the Model S remained the best car they ever tested but
reliability was a significant issue, there wasn’t even a hiccup in
sales. If you live near a Supercharger, it’s nice to get refueled for
free.
The Model S could have a booster battery pack for even more range at more cost, and Ludicrous mode
for those who want to drag race their EVs. It’s also possible Tesla
might use a newer formulation of lithium-ion battery pack to get more
kilowatt-hours per pound of battery, or more kWh of battery life per
dollar of cost.
Both cars integrate telematics. GM’s OnStar at the age of 20
has matured into a solid and useful system. Tesla’s AutoPilot
semi-autonomous driving features are built-in and you flip them on by
paying an upgrade fee. The Bolt has a number of driver assists including
surround-view cameras that help small cars park in small spaces.
“Long range, short wait”
Chevrolet is using social media and advertising to press its
sooner availability. In a number of Tweets and posts, Chevrolet says,
“Long range, short wait.” Which sounds better than, “We might have
delays, but nothing like Tesla could stick you with.”
For a while, the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid was a cool
car. Owners were stopped frequently to ask what they thought of the
Volt. It happens with Tesla owners, too, and it provides ego
gratification. We’ll have to see if the Chevrolet Bolt has that kind of
interest on the parts of your friends and neighbors.
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