Chevrolet Bolt to Arrive in Late 2016: Report

This is a really good and quick turn around.

Sound like the mules have already been covertly testing, and somehow they've been totally missed.

BTW - http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/f13/bolt-volt-gm-says-bolt-name-could-change-192793/

I'd say resurrect the name name IMPACT

Hopefully in the transition from concept to production, the appearance doesn't get watered down too much. This is a very cool and attractive looking small car, far nicer than the quirky BMW i3.

Not sure how much faith to put in this article, because they are mixing pricing, with and without the tax credit.

The $35,000 they cite for current Volt is before the credit, and the $30,000 they cite for Bolt is after the credit.

SKH said:

Hopefully in the transition from concept to production, the appearance doesn't get watered down too much. This is a very cool and attractive looking small car, far nicer than the quirky BMW i3.

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Agreed. Everything is just about perfect here. From the satin black molding that trims down the appearance of the sides, to the wheels, to the lack of a ton of silver-plate look in the front grill, it's a great looking vehicle. Make that orange available please!

Looks nice.

Hopefully, the 200 mile range won't get scaled back in production as usually happens.

the more i look at it,,,,the nicer it looks!!!

SO this is basically the size of a SPARK?

Too bad it's so overpriced at $30k.

Saw this at the NAIAS. Perfect size, looks better in person. Glad it appears to be REALLY coming.

200 mile range and a tag of $30K? Sounds good to me!
I like the looks of this little rascal too!

Those headlights are all the way to the A-Pilar, I didn't realize how long they were.

fbg6coupe said:

SO this is basically the size of a SPARK?

Too bad it's so overpriced at $30k.

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Think Sonic/Trax sized. The concept is a litter taller than the Sonic but not quite as tall as the Trax. Similar in size to both.

Only thing that needs to change is the name!!

If GM is planning on selling 30k plus Volts per year, the current rate of the Nissan LEAF, where does it plan to source the batteries for 25k to 30k Bolts?

The GM-LG Chem joint venture in Michigan can produce enough battery cells for either 60k Volts OR 13.3k Bolts.

DeeAgeaux said:

If GM is planning on selling 30k plus Volts per year, the current rate of the Nissan LEAF, where does it plan to source the batteries for 25k to 30k Bolts?

The GM-LG Chem joint venture in Michigan can produce enough battery cells for either 60k Volts OR 13.3k Bolts.

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Well the LG Chem plant in Holland MI is expandable. My understanding is that they are not using the whole building as is.

Also the new Volt will use 192 larger cells vs. 288 cells in the current Volt so that might have a positive impact on capacity as well.

The GM battery plant in Brownstown MI is also expandable. I seem to remember that they had the capability to expand to up to 120K Gen I Volt batteries a year on multiple shifts if needed.

Nice looking car, decent range, poor name and price is a little high. I think at $27,500 before tax credit would make the car a hit and GM could sell about 30,000 without to much trouble.

Car253 said:

Nice looking car, decent range, poor name and price is a little high. I think at $27,500 before tax credit would make the car a hit and GM could sell about 30,000 without to much trouble.

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Problem is, as we've seen with the Volt, that most people don't want to pay a premium for these cars yet. Tesla is a bit of an exception; otherwise, the general buying public just isn't seeing enough incentive to adopt these new vehicles with non-traditional drivetrains if they have to pay for the pleasure. I don't doubt that this car would be 'worth' what you're suggesting, I just don't think the market is there yet.

GM will either have to be willing to take a bigger loss on these at first to create a name and recognition, or risk the Bolt taking a long time to gain traction like the Volt.

MechEng said:

Well the LG Chem plant in Holland MI is expandable. My understanding is that they are not using the whole building as is.

Also the new Volt will use 192 larger cells vs. 288 cells in the current Volt so that might have a positive impact on capacity as well.

The GM battery plant in Brownstown MI is also expandable. I seem to remember that they had the capability to expand to up to 120K Gen I Volt batteries a year on multiple shifts if needed.

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The Brownston plant assembles individual cells into packs but they don't manufacture cells.

In industry parlance individual cells are not batteries. The packs are the "batteries."

So, if you are right they can manufacture 120k Volts or 26.6k Bolts by going to a double shift.

I take it GM will want to see that kind of volume for a while before they install a new line for battery cells.

I guess in am really over the hill as I cannot shine onto that strange little (but very expensive) auto. Fortunately I can go down to the garage and admire a real Chevy...1955 Bel Air Hardtop!