[Lewis9]

Finally got my chance to get behind the wheel of a new Bolt at my local NJ Chevy dealer.

I liked the size, shape roominess much more than my Volt. It seemed more quiet and peppy and rode smoother than the Volt. Liked the extra Regen over the Bolt. The interior was a total turnoff unfortunately. Very small uncomfortable seats, cheap hard plastics which looked very uninviting especially without the cheerfulness a sunroof might offer. On the level of an 17k car, not a 43k car.

So for now I will stick with my gen2 Volt until the next gen Bolt hopefully has an acceptable interior.

I am sure getting the range made it tough to get to a price point that is semi affordable but the terrible cheap interior would make me unhappy once the new wore off.

 

[Mc2wheels]

Completely agree. The camera mirror and overhead view while backing up were way cool though. But I came to the same conclusion.

 

[BAZINGA]

which makes you wonder how Tesla is going to do it with the M3. Something has to give.

 

[Bacardi]

Unless someone has time to analyze the parts catalog for dash panel costs compared to the Volts and say the Impala, it's pure speculation that the interior is "cheap"...The Volt and even the Vette's base has "hard plastics" on the dash, yet the Vette has trims/options that adds leather/suede inserts to partially cover the dash...

The elephant in the room is the white/cream lower dash, that to many, is what people think makes it look "cheap"...If you're handy, could remove the upper dash, lower dash and white door panels and have an upholsterer add a nice material to it...Furthermore, simply spraying a coat of plastidip on them (be sure to remove them from the car) can add a textured upscale look...It's like $5/can, you can easily remove it if you don't like it...Fun way to kill a couple of hours...

 

[sosmerc]

Got my first Bolt test drive yesterday and I must say the performance was great and the ride very solid. I like the looks of my new 2017 Volt better, but if the Bolt had 275-300 honest miles of dependable range, I would almost rather have it. I think GM is on the right track, though there certainly is alot of room for improvement.

 

[Raymondjram]

On the level of an 17k car, not a 43k car.

Because the 26K difference is in the advanced electric powertrain and battery. You will NEVER get that on any other car for that same price.

 

[Qinsp]

Because the 26K difference is in the advanced electric powertrain and battery. You will NEVER get that on any other car for that same price.

To reach the range and power of the Bolt, you need to pony up a minimum of $75,700 today.

 

[Bacardi]

Because the 26K difference is in the advanced electric powertrain and battery. You will NEVER get that on any other car for that same price.

Except GM's own ICE Cruze MSRPs for $17K and despite having a "hard plastic" dash, it's designed in a way to look more upscale...

 

[Neromanceres]

My wife and I took and extended test drive in a Bolt EV last Tuesday. Absolutely loved it. All of it. When availability improves we will likely be replacing my wife's Sonic with a Bolt EV. And the CCS charging network is far more comprehensive than the supercharger network around us. The cargo space was bigger than I thought. I took a large travel bag with us and it fit under the false load floor in the Bolt EV with room to spare and I could fit another two above it. Which is more than I could fit in my Volt (only one would fit in the Volt with some space for smaller bags around it).

Six months ago there were three CCS chargers in Ontario. Today there is over a hundred. By the fall there should be over three hundred. 90% of them are 50KW units. The rest are or will be BMW or Chevy dealer installed 24KW units. And this is just round one of EV infrastructure funding.

 

[Ladogaboy]

I guess the interior must be a personal thing because I'm not only fine with it, I really like it. The most articulate alternative I've ever heard someone state is that they prefer "soft-touch" plastics. While I understand, I'm not sure why soft-touch plastics on panels you never touch is that big of a deal. The arm rest on the door is soft-touch. The center console is soft-touch. The steering wheel is thick and soft touch. What else do you regularly touch? Seems kind of odd to me to "feel up" your car interior.

Also, the textured, white dash panels are one of my favorite features.

 

[DonC]

It has a very firm ride, which you either like or don't. Plenty of pickup even at higher speeds. Very quiet. On those three counts it beats ICE vehicles without question. For city driving and getting into and out of small spaces it's very well designed.

Definitely not a luxury car and I found the driver seat mildly uncomfortable. On the other hand the back seat has plenty of legroom and the displays and controls were well sorted and easy to use. And yeah, the top view camera was surprisingly good.

 

[mczajka]

Do you think Bolt sales are not starting with a bang because there is still brand loyalty to Nissan and Toyota? I would have thought a bunch of LEAF owners/leasers would have made the jump. Volt doing well though.

 

[NYRob]

Do you think Bolt sales are not starting with a bang because there is still brand loyalty to Nissan and Toyota? I would have thought a bunch of LEAF owners/leasers would have made the jump. Volt doing well though.

You need inventory to make sales... our county has a population of 1.5million ppl- if you search Bolt inventory in our area you find maybe 15 vehicles for sale scattered between 8-10 dealerships.
Half of those are tagged as "In Transit" and pretty much all of them are listed at full boat MSRP.

Slim pickings with not much variety and expensive to boot.

I looked at one CA dealership the other day... they have 142 Bolts in stock... which is probably more Bolts than all the NY Chevy dealerships combined. With that many Bolt's in stock, you can pretty much find the trim/color you like rather than the choice around here of "that black one right there... or the white one I have coming in sometime next week".

 

[Bacardi]

Do you think Bolt sales are not starting with a bang because there is still brand loyalty to Nissan and Toyota? I would have thought a bunch of LEAF owners/leasers would have made the jump. Volt doing well though.

Nope, Bolt EV sales are exactly as expected quoted directly by GM...

Toyota, most drivers are okay with using gas, exception may be the EV Rav4s...The Prius/Prime is a larger vehicle and both offer more standard features and available options...They also offer the red hot AWD Rav4 Hybrid for those who are okay with gas...If you have owned a green Toyota, odds are you do not value 0-60 performance...Prius/Prime/Rav4 Hybrid can all be had for $7K+ cheaper than a Bolt...

Nissan, folks who bought/leased one are already fine with the 100ish miles of range provided to them...If they NEEDED more they probably didn't buy Leaf to begin with...Might have something to do with "no charge to charge" program as there is a bunch of folks who took the cheap lease with free charging and cannot charge at home...And also, if you have owned a green Leaf, odds are you do not value 0-60 performance...Leaf can be had for $7K cheaper than the Bolt EV and if we factor in subsidized leases, possibly a 1/3-1/2 the cost to a Bolt lease...

Leasing in general, the Bolt has only been out for three months, most won't pull the trigger until their lease is up...

 

[Lewis9]

Seats are the big problem for me. I find the front seat WAY too small and hard....And I am average height/weight albiet with arthritis in my spine.

No way I would ever go into a lease on a car with uncomfortable seats.

I could live with the cheap looking interior but not those seats.

 

[Electro-Clarifier]

Aftermarket seats are an option. As someone with back problems there is no such thing as a good OEM seat for me. I always have to tear it down and customize the lumbar support with added foam.

Bad seats are way easier to fix than bad handling or ugly styling.

A shame there is no sunroof option, though.

 

[Lewis9]

I don't think livable seats are a lot to ask for in a 40k $ econobox. I know the cost must be controlled due to the price of the battery but garbage seats are an unwise economy imo.

 

[Norton]

I don't get it...
I sat in one for the first time yesterday and I thought the seats were fine. Not a lot of adjustments but more than I'm used to!

I guess if you hang over the edge of a typical car seat nothing will feel good. Get used to it. Bench seats are not coming back.