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by nanijoe 2449 days ago
I have a Chevy Bolt and a Model 3 in my household. Of course I much prefer to drive the Model 3, but the Chevy bolt is also all electric , goes about 240 miles on a single charge and costs about $20k less than the Model 3. Why more people don't get a Chevy Bolt, is a mystery to me.
9 comments

I got a second Tesla instead of a Chevy Bolt because 1) Superchargers 2) Autopilot 3)Huge screen 4) continuous software updates 5) larger trunk and frunk space 6) more efficient battery 7) long range option 8) no dealership model
Having to interact with dealerships and their bullshit, no autopilot, inferior aesthetics, less performance, no supercharger network
We ended up getting a second Model 3 as we felt all the other options weren't as appealing. The SR+ (which also has 240 miles of range) is not $20k more than a Bolt and is an amazing value of a car. It has the majority of the benefits of the more expensive Model 3 variants and I felt I got the same car for $20k less than my first one.
The Bolt looks pretty good on paper. Unfortunately, it's also one of the ugliest cars I've ever seen.
I promise you that less people by the Bolt because it looks like an electric car, a bean. The i3 looks like dogshit too. The model 3 just scratches that itch for a cool looking car. The i8 does too but I think it only gets like 13 miles on its battery?
The Bolt is not $20k less than a model 3 in the US. But more importantly to me, it is really really tiny compared to a model 3. I feel like many of the comparative reviews fail to mention this.
https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/by-the-numbers-tesla-mode...

The Model 3 is 20 inches longer, 3 inches wider, but 6 inches shorter. It looks like it has more comfortable passenger space, but comparable cargo space.

Overall, the Bolt is not that much smaller on the inside so I don't believe it's accurate to say that it's really really tiny compared to the Model 3.

I think the storage space figure for the Bolt is a bit theoretical. Its storage area is tall, but otherwise a relatively small area behind the rear seats that would be difficult to fully utilize.

Standing next to them makes the difference in dimensions readily apparent. The Bolt just looks tiny. My current car is an RX-8 with rear suicide doors because of its limited space. Even it looks larger than a Bolt (probably because it is 1 foot longer than the Bolt).

>Why more people don't get a Chevy Bolt, is a mystery to me.

Lack of service for me. Unless you live in an urban center, most independent dealers can't afford the service center upgrades required to service EVs, especially if they only sell a handful a year.

source: talked to my local, small-town GM dealer.

While I love my 2013 Volt, GM has not release ONE software update (that changes anything I can detect) since I bought it. The car I bought in 2013 is the car I have now. All my TM3 friends have a car that constantly improves constantly in both dramatic and trivial ways.
Is there something wrong with your Volt that needs updating?

I have no interest in owning a car that tracks everything I do and is the control of someone else.

You can opt out of data sharing.

I don't know if they had "something wrong" when initially purchased- they were great cars already, but in the last year or so Model 3s have had braking distance improved, a 4-camera dashcam added, a security sentry mode added, games added w controller support, a Netflix/YouTube/hulu theater, new music steaming (Spotify) on top of existing slacker, two types of self-summoning, new remote controls via the phone app, improved range, traffic visualizations, energy usage visualizations, new crash avoidance systems, faster supercharging, better cold weather improvements, a refreshed/refined ui, improved navigation, better driver personalization, fun Easter eggs, camping mode, better acceleration, new 3d climate control visualizations, much better lane keeping & "drive on nav" with auto lane changes, dog safety mode, track mode, and many more I'm forgetting.

Known to be coming in the next major versions- everything from user-selectable horn and pedestrian safety sounds ti improved "come to me" summoning and suggestions keep coming.

All these incremental improvements are delivered OTA.

Was there something wrong before? The longer braking distance might have required a trip to the dealership to fix on a traditional car, but otherwise, not really.

Is there any doubt these cars are improving significantly after purchase in both large and small ways?

(And as Pavon reminds me- regular security updates...)
Anything that is connected to the internet needs regular updates to remain secure. As a Bolt owner, I too am disappointed about the frequency of security updates. We have had ours for 18 months and only received one update.

I like the fact that GM is taking a more conservative approach to what components of the car have internet connectivity compared to Tesla, and that was a big factor in me choosing the Bolt over waiting for the Model 3. I also don't have any expectation for feature updates over the life of the car. But that does not excuse them for not providing security updates for the portions that do have internet connectivity.

The last thing I want for my car is for it to be connected to the internet.
"Chevy"
"Chevy"

That iconic American brand that's been in business for over a century, producing money for shareholders, jobs for 10s of thousands and tax dollars to benefit every American.

Wouldn't buy a Chevy in a million years. Their reputation is for making cheap hunks of unreliable junk. Maybe that's changed and their new cars suck less, but the brand will forever have a stigma in my mind.

Plenty of other useless or actively harmful products also match that description. Philip Morris death sticks. Kellogg's sugar cereals. NFL concussion factory.

The point of the GP's comment is to answer the question of "why don't more people buy a Chevy Bolt". Because for a lot of people the Chevy brand is a negative, not a positive.

I think he was thinking more along the lines of "won't have the instant approval of the internet like brands that start with T, end with A and have 5 or 6 letters will"