We’ve now seen the upcoming 2017 Chevrolet Bolt, a pure electric vehicle (EV) that General Motors says will have a range of 321 km and a $30,000-ish price tag, subsidies included.

The production version of the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt is no longer a mystery.

The production version of the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt is no longer a mystery.

The Chevrolet Bolt concept was shown at the Detroit auto show in January.

The Chevrolet Bolt concept was shown at the Detroit auto show in January.

 

The coming Bolt EV, says chief engineer Josh Tavel, will be “a game-changer. It’s going to be a special, special car.” And it is aimed directly at Tesla’s promised third model, details of which remain a mystery.

But we know quite a bit about the Bolt right now. It is a compact hatchback, affordable and real. It will be sold and serviced out of thousands of GM dealers, covered by a standard GM warranty and backed by service procedures proven over more than five years with the Volt plug-in hybrid.

GM's electrification chief Pam Fletcher is charged up about plans to being battery cars, plug-ins and hybrids to showrooms at affordable prices.

GM’s electrification chief Pam Fletcher is charged up about plans to being battery cars, plug-ins and hybrids to showrooms at affordable prices.

2016 Chevrolet Volt.

2016 Chevrolet Volt.

We’ve seen this one coming. GM showed the Bolt EV concept in January at the Detroit auto show. It will go into production later next year, says GM. And it’s just one piece of a GM electrification strategy that includes the reinvented 2016 Volt plug-in hybrid, the 2016 Malibu hybrid and the retail launch of the Spark EV.

Pam Fletcher, executive chief engineer for electrification at GM, says the company is focused on putting key electrified vehicles into Chevy’s lineup. The message: GM’s hybrids, plug-ins and pure electric cars are not just for the Tesla elite.

“We want to make it possible for our customers to adopt an EV with no comprises,” says Fletcher.

The Chevrolet Spark EV power unit and instrument cluster.

The Chevrolet Spark EV power unit and instrument cluster.

2016 SPARK CLUSTER RESIZED

Some suggest that while the General mines massive profits from gas-swilling pickup trucks and sport-utility vehicles – sales of which are booming thanks to the sustained plunge in oil prices – GM’s investments in EV technology are largely underappreciated.

Well, not by Warren Buffet and George Soros, legendary investors who have both made big bets on GM in the last year. But the marketplace and the general public might be surprised by GM’s electrification strategy.

GM was an early adopter of EV technology with the first-generation Volt plug-in in 2010. The second-generation 2016 Volt has an 80-km battery range, versus 56 km when the car was launched in 2010. It has a lighter battery pack (by 45 kg) and boasts 20 per cent more energy by volume. The car will do 0-100 km/hour in about 8.6 seconds and the on-board gasoline engine – the range extender – will continue to use regular fuel.

Chevrolet Volt cockpit.

Chevrolet Volt cockpit.

Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid cutaway.

Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid cutaway.

Most mainstream automakers are focusing on plug-in hybrids like the Volt rather than full EVs such as the Nissan Leaf and Tesla Model S. Mike Tinskey, global director of electrification and infrastructure at Ford Motor Co., says pure electric cars face tough slogging in the marketplace, but “plug-in hybrids have done really well,” he tells PluginCars. Ford’s plug-in lineup includes the Fusion Energi and C-Max Energi.

Ford, in fact, has just announced a plan to invest an “additional $4.5 billion (US) in electrified vehicle solutions by 2020.” Ford plans to add 13 new electrified vehicles by 2020 and more than 40 per cent of Ford’s nameplates will electrified in some by the end of the decade. So cheap gas and diesel have not killed the development of new electrified cars.

Indeed, Nissan, Kia, Hyundai, Toyota, BMW, Honda, Volkswagen, Daimler – essentially all the world’s leading car companies have serious electrification plans in place, as well. And, of course, tiny Tesla has created an outsized measure of buzz with its Model S, the upcoming Model X and the promised Model III which Forbes says will have a price tag of $35,000 when it arrives in 2017.

Nissan, Kia, Hyundai, Toyota, BMW, Honda, Volkswagen, Daimler – essentially all the world’s leading car companies have serious electrification plans in place, as well. And, of course, tiny Tesla has created an outsized measure of buzz with its Model S, the upcoming Model X and the promised Model III which Forbes says will have a price tag of $35,000 when it arrives in 2017.

More players coming to the game, too. EV start-up Faraday Future says is wants to establish an electric car manufacturing plant in Las Vegas. Faraday will show an EV prototype next month at the Consumer Electronics Show and enter the EV market in 2017. Faraday is backed by Chinese investor Yueting Jia and has offices in the U.S., China, and Germany.

The depth and breadth of GM’s EV commitment is noteworthy in light of all the latest news. As one Seeking Alpha contributor puts it, “investors should not underestimate the potential for GM to capitalize on this market with a particular focus on the lower cost end. Other major automakers are making inroads into this market but GM’s EV development efforts give the company an advantage in capturing a larger share.”

GM’s commitment to electrification is very real, says Fletcher, pointing to the Bolt as tangible evidence — a car that shows “alternative propulsion can work, and meet and likely exceed customer expectations.”

She adds that GM is accelerating its electrification work based on what the company has learned from existing Volt owners who say that 80 per cent of their trips are in battery-only mode and range for Volts three years and older continue to meet or exceed the original battery-only range promised to customers.
“Imagine what we’ll do with this car (the Bolt),” she says.

Imagining the Bolt’s future and making it a reality is Tavel’s job. The Bolt, he says, will “set a new standard for the industry” among full-on battery cars. It will deliver on GM’s publicized range and performance targets and it will ride and handle like a nimble city runabout.”
And now we know what the showroom-ready car looks like.

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