A few months ago, GM mentioned the development of the Chevrolet Bolt. Of course I was impressed, it could travel 200 miles per charge and was projected to be affordable, but $37,000 (as low as $30,000 after the U.S. federal tax rebate) for 200 miles of electric range? That’s a milestone for electric vehicles. The Chevrolet Bolt (Chevrolet is a GM company) is a 4-seat, 4-door electric car with twice the range of the GM EV1, and the EV1 was groundbreaking back in its day (1996).
The GM EV1 could only drive 70-100 miles per charge and was a 2-door, 2-seat car, proving that electric cars have come a long way since the 90s. The Chevy Bolt has twice as many seats, twice as many doors, twice the range (without a trunk full of batteries, like some older electric cars had), AND it’s cuter!
If using the 240-volt charger, every hour spent charging the car increases its range by 25 miles. The charge time totals 9 hours. This isn’t groundbreaking, but it can work for the majority of people whose commutes are well within the Bolt‘s 200-mile range. A simple workaround for the long charge time is to plug in the vehicle every evening, so it will charge overnight.
If you plug it in at 7:00 PM, its 60 kWh battery pack will be fully charged by the next morning. That routine is a great way to ensure that you have the entire 200 miles of range at your disposal every morning. No stops for gas, and you won’t be driving on a dwindling gas tank over the course of one or two weeks.
Let’s hope this car lives up to the exceptional reliability that electric car technology is capable of achieving.
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