Chevy Bolt: $30K, 200-Mile All-Electric Crossover Coming to Detroit
Blog.caranddriver.com: General Motors has already teased the all-new 2016 Chevrolet Volt, shown above, ahead of its Detroit auto show debut. But The Wall Street Journal reports that won’t be the only new green machine on the Chevy stand: On Monday, the automaker will reportedly unveil the Chevrolet Bolt, an all-electric crossover that’s said to pack a 200-mile driving range and a $30,000 price tag when it hits the market in 2017. Look out, Tesla Model 3.
We’ve known a teensy little bit about the Chevy Bolt for a while now, but this news from WSJ fills in the blanks with some unexpected surprises. Chevy trademarked the “Bolt” name in late summer 2014, stoking rumors that the new nameplate would go on a $30k Volt variant powered by the Volt’s hybrid drivetrain. According to WSJ’s intel, that’s not the case.
“The Chevy Bolt, carrying a more capable battery manufactured by South Korea’s LG Chem Ltd., will be aimed squarely at Tesla’s forthcoming Model 3, a $35,000 electric car also slated to debut in 2017,” the paper reports. “The concept version of the electric car will be a hatchback designed to look more like a so-called crossover vehicle, according to people familiar with the design. The Bolt will be capable of driving four times farther than a Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid on a single charge.”
The new all-electric vehicle’s drivetrain would center around a new battery design by LG Chem, using what WSJ is calling a “pouch” layout. LG has figured out how to improve on the battery’s storage, durability, and capacity compared with the current-generation Volt’s battery pack, the report explains.
The Bolt project, approved by GM CEO Mary Barra when she was product chief under former CEO Dan Akerson, would help achieve Barra’s stated goal of having 500,000 partially- or fully-electric GM vehicles on the road by 2017—three years ahead of Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s self-imposed deadline to hit the same number. The all-electric Bolt would join the Spark EV and the updated 2016 Volt in Chevy’s eco-vehicle lineup.
For its part, the all-new Volt—which we’ve seen glimpses of ahead of its Detroit debut—receives a lighter, higher-capacity battery pack and an upgraded gasoline generator for improved range and acceleration for 2016. It can’t come soon enough for Chevy, which has sold fewer than 75,000 Volts since the car’s introduction in 2010.
So keep an eye on the Chevy stand come Monday. Between the Volt and the Bolt, the new lineup is sure to give Chevy fans a jolt.
Blog.caranddriver.com: General Motors has already teased the all-new 2016 Chevrolet Volt, shown above, ahead of its Detroit auto show debut. But The Wall Street Journal reports that won’t be the only new green machine on the Chevy stand: On Monday, the automaker will reportedly unveil the Chevrolet Bolt, an all-electric crossover that’s said to pack a 200-mile driving range and a $30,000 price tag when it hits the market in 2017. Look out, Tesla Model 3.
We’ve known a teensy little bit about the Chevy Bolt for a while now, but this news from WSJ fills in the blanks with some unexpected surprises. Chevy trademarked the “Bolt” name in late summer 2014, stoking rumors that the new nameplate would go on a $30k Volt variant powered by the Volt’s hybrid drivetrain. According to WSJ’s intel, that’s not the case.
“The Chevy Bolt, carrying a more capable battery manufactured by South Korea’s LG Chem Ltd., will be aimed squarely at Tesla’s forthcoming Model 3, a $35,000 electric car also slated to debut in 2017,” the paper reports. “The concept version of the electric car will be a hatchback designed to look more like a so-called crossover vehicle, according to people familiar with the design. The Bolt will be capable of driving four times farther than a Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid on a single charge.”
The new all-electric vehicle’s drivetrain would center around a new battery design by LG Chem, using what WSJ is calling a “pouch” layout. LG has figured out how to improve on the battery’s storage, durability, and capacity compared with the current-generation Volt’s battery pack, the report explains.
The Bolt project, approved by GM CEO Mary Barra when she was product chief under former CEO Dan Akerson, would help achieve Barra’s stated goal of having 500,000 partially- or fully-electric GM vehicles on the road by 2017—three years ahead of Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s self-imposed deadline to hit the same number. The all-electric Bolt would join the Spark EV and the updated 2016 Volt in Chevy’s eco-vehicle lineup.
For its part, the all-new Volt—which we’ve seen glimpses of ahead of its Detroit debut—receives a lighter, higher-capacity battery pack and an upgraded gasoline generator for improved range and acceleration for 2016. It can’t come soon enough for Chevy, which has sold fewer than 75,000 Volts since the car’s introduction in 2010.
So keep an eye on the Chevy stand come Monday. Between the Volt and the Bolt, the new lineup is sure to give Chevy fans a jolt.
