GM Cutting Prices on Chevy Bolt

by 18%, doesn’t say if they’ve solved battery problems.

https://www.theverge.com/2022/6/1/23150210/gm-chevy-bolt-ev-…

intercst

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Probably because it’s the “only” EV that people aren’t lining up to buy. Pretty much only.

Ford F-150 Lightning (I want one!) - can’t even order anymore, sold out through at least 2023.
Rivian - wait at least 9 months, probably closer to 18 months.
Mustang Mach e - wait is 6 to 8 months.
VW id.3 - wait is a year now.
Kia EV6 - wait is 10 months.
Hyundai Ioniq5 - wait is 6-9 months.
Nissan Leaf - wait is 20 weeks.
Tesla - wait varies by model and trim, but usually a few months, some up to a year. New models like Roadster or Cybertruck, who knows? No delivery dates given yet.

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VW id.3 - wait is a year now.

I tried to order one for the wife (in UK).

18 month wait - and only a very limited part of the range can even be ordered, for example the panoramic sunroof model can’t … the dealer blamed a fire in a semiconductor fab …

We test drove the performance model (0-60 in 6-7 sec) … nice car.

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“doesn’t say if they’ve solved battery problems.”

They have. All new Bolts get the better battery. All old Bolts get a new battery. Not that there’s anything wrong with most of them anyway. About 20 or so out of 130,000 have caught fire.

Our 2021 is a year old, 17,000 trouble-free miles. We’re trying to get as much as we can out of this battery before GM gives us a new one.

At $26k for a new Bolt we might get another one for the kids to use. Great car, as long as you understand the limitations.

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Great car, as long as you understand the limitations.

What are the limitations? Son is in the market for a car he can afford.

IP

Are they lining up - or is it case of short supply?

The internal sales reports I’m looking at shows 4 month - for gas guzzling SUVs (the ones delivering earnings per share) …getting 12 MPG.

And those aren’t brand new technology, they aren’t being talked about on CNBC 24/7, etc.

The Chevy Bolt’s limitations are:

  1. 259 mile range. That’s an approximate figure, and could be ~20% lower (or maybe even a bit more) in the winter.

  2. Fast recharge isn’t all that fast. The Bolt uses the relatively widespread CCS fast-charging standard, but it only accepts a max of 55 KW, and that reduces as the battery fills up. In real world use you might aim to charge from about 20% full to about 80% full during a rest stop, and you can expect that to take around an hour. If you can drop down to 10% without fear of running out of juice, then a 10% to 60% charge would be substantially faster. At any rate, you can see this isn’t the car for cross country trips, but should be fine for regional trips.

  3. It’s a compact car … a very well designed compact car from a utilitarian POV, excellent interior space for its size, but it’s not big.

There is also the Bolt EUV now available, which is a 6.3" longer version of the Bolt, costs a bit more and has 250 mile range.

The Bolt has previously been considered a reliable car by Consumer Reports, but the 2019 and 2021 models now have a ‘much below average’ 1/5 rating for reliability based on their owner surveys, so the 2022 model has a predicted ‘worse than average’ 2/5 reliability rating and it lost its status as a recommended car by them.

Pros: Extremely affordable to operate, great utilitarian vehicle, good acceleration, decent handling, decently fun to drive, pretty much the most affordable EV available new.

Older models were dinged for uncomfortable seats, though not all people felt that way. Newer models much improved on that.

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The Chevy Bolt’s limitations are:…

Thanks so much!

IP

“What are the limitations? Son is in the market for a car he can afford.”

Yes, everything BenSolar wrote.

We have an ICE van for trips. The Bolt is our around town car. It excels in that role. Quick, fun, practical, economical. Charge at night in the garage on 220V/30A.

If GM really do market a $30k Equinox I’d go for that rather than a Bolt. Suspect it’ll be more like $35-$40k though.

re they lining up - or is it case of short supply?

The internal sales reports I’m looking at shows 4 month - for gas guzzling SUVs (the ones delivering earnings per share) …getting 12 MPG.

And those aren’t brand new technology, they aren’t being talked about on CNBC 24/7, etc.

For most EVs, it seems like they are lining up, especially for now models (and most EVs are new models). For example, you can’t even order a Ford F-150 Lightning anymore. They are sold out for the model year, and maybe even for the next model year. It’ll all depend on how quickly they can build them and deliver them. Most Tesla models have long and increasing wait times, despite them building them as fast as possible (even their China factory is back on line and ramping up again).

I think the key factor to look at is if the wait times are static or if they are increasing. For the “gas guzzling SUVs” that you mentioned, the wait time is mostly due to the supply chain issues. There is constant demand, but they weren’t able to build enough of them, so a shortage developed. The other factor you can look at is price. For those big SUVs, the dealers have “adjusted” the prices so that the people who want the car “now”, and are willing to pay more, will get their car earlier than people who are not willing to pay more. Not so with Tesla or Lightning. You ordered your car/truck at whatever the list price was at the time, and then you entered the queue to wait for it to be built and delivered. If you go to a Tesla showroom or to a Ford dealer, and offer an extra $5-10k, they still can’t speed up your delivery.

That isn’t to say that sometimes new ICE vehicles don’t have a line of people waiting to order it. That happens sometimes with very popular models, or models with a low production run. And that’s the exact point - popular models sometimes have a line of people waiting for them, and many of the EV models are popular right now.

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