[Ladogaboy]

Chevy Bolt EV sales in June rose to 1,642. It won't be too long until it is available in all 50 states.

http://insideevs.com/monthly-plug-in-sales-scorecard/

 

[bro1999]

Next month (Aug) should be the first month Bolts are on dealer lots in all 50 states. Should be interesting what sales numbers are then.

 

[BAZINGA]

According to cars.com there is ONE Bolt within 250 miles of my house. That one is at my local Chevy dealer in O'Fallon where I bought my 3 Volt's from. Can't wait to see them roaming all over the St Louis area and mid-west in general. But finding a FAST charger is still chore.

 

[Steverino]

I stopped at a local dealer only a few miles from my house in the Chicago burbs and took another test drive (first test drive was in Los Angeles). They had three Premiums in and already sold two of them.

 

[Slotracer577]

My brother just got one in Houston. I would expect numbers will go up as they are more available and people get to ride/drive in one. I am pretty sure the market is not as big as the M3 market, but the bolt could do 25k this year.

 

[Ladogaboy]

My brother just got one in Houston. I would expect numbers will go up as they are more available and people get to ride/drive in one. I am pretty sure the market is not as big as the M3 market, but the bolt could do 25k this year.

Even with the slow start, I think the Bolt EV is on track for 30,000 domestic sales in 2017. It's still difficult to determine exactly what the production bottleneck is, but GM could easily double that number if they opened up sales in Canada, Europe, and Korea.

 

[Billtphotoman]

Next month (Aug) should be the first month Bolts are on dealer lots in all 50 states. Should be interesting what sales numbers are then.

That will indeed be interesting. What will also be interesting is how the Bolt fares against Leaf 2.0 and for that matter the BEV Niro. This fall is shaping up to be the biggest period for EVs since Volt and Leaf 1.0 came out in my opinion.

 

[Bluesideup]

Next month (Aug) should be the first month Bolts are on dealer lots in all 50 states. Should be interesting what sales numbers are then.

Hey Bro let me help you with those numbers...under 2,000. The bolt is available to just about anyone in the Country that wants one. The people who were excited already have theirs. With the leaf coming out and the Model 3 coming online. The fact that right now there are no other electric cars that go over 200 miles under $40,000 and yet somehow when the bolt gets competition it is going to sell more?

 

[Ladogaboy]

That will indeed be interesting. What will also be interesting is how the Bolt fares against Leaf 2.0 and for that matter the BEV Niro. This fall is shaping up to be the biggest period for EVs since Volt and Leaf 1.0 came out in my opinion.

I think the Leaf 2.0 market is going to be limited to Nissan fans/GM haters. It will be released with about 160 miles of EPA range, which is still far too low to win over most current ICE drivers.

Hey Bro let me help you with those numbers...under 2,000. The bolt is available to just about anyone in the Country that wants one. The people who were excited already have theirs. With the leaf coming out and the Model 3 coming online. The fact that right now there are no other electric cars that go over 200 miles under $40,000 and yet somehow when the bolt gets competition it is going to sell more?

Actually, I believe that is exactly what will happen. The Leaf 2.0 and Model 3 are essentially free marketing for the Bolt EV, and the biggest hurdle the Bolt EV has to overcome is consumer awareness. People will see the Leaf 2.0 and ask, "Why is that the same cost as the Bolt EV that has nearly 100 miles more range, a more powerful motor, and equivalent utility and cargo space?" People will look at the Model 3 and ask, "When can I get a 200+ mile range EV with fast charging?" Well, you can't get a Model 3 for another year and a half, but the Bolt EV is available now.

 

[Bluesideup]

I think the Leaf 2.0 market is going to be limited to Nissan fans/GM haters. It will be released with about 160 miles of EPA range, which is still far too low to win over most current ICE drivers.



Actually, I believe that is exactly what will happen. The Leaf 2.0 and Model 3 are essentially free marketing for the Bolt EV, and the biggest hurdle the Bolt EV has to overcome is consumer awareness. People will see the Leaf 2.0 and ask, "Why is that the same cost as the Bolt EV that has nearly 100 miles more range, a more powerful motor, and equivalent utility and cargo space?" People will look at the Model 3 and ask, "When can I get a 200+ mile range EV with fast charging?" Well, you can't get a Model 3 for another year and a half, but the Bolt EV is available now.

You keep thinking that but very few are going to cross shop a bolt in it current form with a model 3. The fact that the bolt is available now with over 400,000 reservation holders for the model 3, with wait list as long as a year and a half for anyone putting a deposit down today yet the bolt numbers are still as low as they are just proves that most people don't want a bolt as it is not a good looking car especially compared with the model 3. Along with the numerous other advantages that Tesla has makes the bolt a hard sell especially when GM and their dealerships don't really want to even push the bolt.

Take into account that the bolt could have drawn some people who didn't want to wait for the Model 3 but Tesla announcement that they are on track to produce the car this month and spool up to 20,000 by the end of the year put a damper on those that were on the fence waiting for a 200+ mile electric car or getting the bolt now.

 

[Slotracer577]

The bolt does have some styling challenges, but after living with it for 2 months I have noticed that it's actually close to all the cuv's. Having parked next to a lot of them, it's very close size wise. It seems like gm made a more rounded top which if they had flattened it out a little would look like 10 other cars on the market.
The other challenge is, it's a gm. I have never been a gm fan. Not particularly fond of Chevy styling. Tesla has established itself as a luxury marquee and I think that is what is selling cars above the 2k/month range. Right now that is the size of the electric market. Even the Prius is isn't a 20k/month car, it's a 2k/month. It might change quickly as people realize the other advantages of electric cars. Most people don't care that much about saving the world and depending on where you live like I do an ev is no cleaner than a high mileage gas car.

 

[Ladogaboy]

You keep thinking that but very few are going to cross shop a bolt in it current form with a model 3.

Who said anything about cross shopping? The very existence of the Model 3 builds awareness, which will help the entire market sector grow.

Also, don't pretend the people who dropped a $1,000 deposit actually knew what they were getting. They did it purely because it was the cool thing to do. Many actually believed they were reserving a cheaper Model S.

The other challenge is, it's a gm.

This is actually the Bolt EV's biggest challenge. We still have a large portion of the population that is not interested in buying electric cars. On the other, EV friendly side, we have a large population that attempts to invalidate every GM electric offering. If supposed EV advocates actually promoted the Bolt EV as a valid consideration, it would probably be selling much better. But instead, it was actually gear heads who were singing the Bolt EV's praises and giving it high marks.

 

[Bluesideup]

Who said anything about cross shopping? The very existence of the Model 3 builds awareness, which will help the entire market sector grow.

Also, don't pretend the people who dropped a $1,000 deposit actually knew what they were getting. They did it purely because it was the cool thing to do. Many actually believed they were reserving a cheaper Model S.



This is actually the Bolt EV's biggest challenge. We still have a large portion of the population that is not interested in buying electric cars. On the other, EV friendly side, we have a large population that attempts to invalidate every GM electric offering. If supposed EV advocates actually promoted the Bolt EV as a valid consideration, it would probably be selling much better. But instead, it was actually gear heads who were singing the Bolt EV's praises and giving it high marks.

Please show me one person who thought they were getting a model S. You can't but that is your way to rationalize the fact that 400,000 people put money down on a car they most certainly knew what they were getting.

Then again I mean you could be right and we could just have 400,000 morons with $1,000 dollars burning a hole in their pocket and one day woke up and said hey Facebook said the model 3 was cool lets put a deposit down on it. Or maybe not.

As for awareness I seriously doubt that the model 3 will bring anything to the bolt as anyone who is interested in the model 3 will probably not be interested in the bolt anymore than someone shopping for a BMW would be interested in getting a Malibu.

 

[Norton]

.... the fact that 400,000 people put money down on a car they most certainly knew what they were getting.

.... and one day woke up and said hey Facebook said the model 3 was cool lets put a deposit down on it. ...

No, they didn't know what they were getting because the details were, and are still very vague.
Do you know exactly what you are getting and the cost?

Do you really think that all of this exaggerated number of place holders are fully knowledgeable about this car and are not just FB peer pressured into hopping on the Big Name Band Wagon?

You can tell some are just big ol'Fanbois .

 

[hellsop]

Please show me one person who thought they were getting a model S. You can't but that is your way to rationalize the fact that 400,000 people put money down on a car they most certainly knew what they were getting.

I guarantee you that at least a quarter of those people are expecting to get a car that can five adults carry 0-60 in five seconds, with Autopilot, for about $30k after "rebate". They won't understand "tax credit" at first, they won't be happy paying for things they expect should be included if the hardware is already there, and they will spend a lot of breath justifying how 200 miles and a Supercharger is somehow life changingly better than 240 miles and being "stuck with" CCS, even though they only drive 30-40 miles a day, 360 days a year.

 

[Sean Nelson]

Please show me one person who thought they were getting a model S. You can't but that is your way to rationalize the fact that 400,000 people put money down on a car they most certainly knew what they were getting.

Then again I mean you could be right and we could just have 400,000 morons with $1,000 dollars burning a hole in their pocket and one day woke up and said hey Facebook said the model 3 was cool lets put a deposit down on it. Or maybe not.

Obviously, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. It will be very interesting to see how well the Model 3 does over the coming year or two. I have no doubt that it's going to sell in unprecedented numbers, the big questions in my mind are whether (a) those numbers will be enough to sustain Tesla's very highly valued stock price, and (b) whether they will suck all the buyers out of the market or stimulate it.

I suspect the market overall will benefit from Tesla's involvement, and because of that I wish them luck.

 

[Ladogaboy]

Please show me one person who thought they were getting a model S.

Apparently, there were enough that Elon had to address it directly:

Elon Asks Customers to Temper Model 3 Expectations

 

[Bluesideup]

No, they didn't know what they were getting because the details were, and are still very vague.
Do you know exactly what you are getting and the cost?

Do you really think that all of this exaggerated number of place holders are fully knowledgeable about this car and are not just FB peer pressured into hopping on the Big Name Band Wagon?

You can tell some are just big ol'Fanbois .

So, they didn't know what it was going to look like? They didn't know how much it was going to cost? They didn't know how far it would go on a charge? They didn't know the 0-60 times?

Oh wait they knew the minimum of all of those things and made a decision based on it. These are the important factors of the car and I waited until the reveal to put a deposit down so I could get that information. The fact that the nuances will come doesn't really matter as long as the keynotes are met.

Now if it doesn't do at least 215 miles on a charge or if they radically resigned the looks or if it doesn't go 0-60 in under 5.6 seconds or if it costs more than $35,000 then people wouldn't know what they were getting.

 

[Bluesideup]

So, by Elon explaining the differences between the two you extracted that people thought they were buying a model S when they put their money down?

I know this is hard for so many of the Chevy fanbois to understand that you have to make wild eyed accusations that 400,000 people were somehow fooled into thinking they were getting a really good deal on the model S as the only reason that anyone would order a model 3 over a bolt.

 

[Sean Nelson]

So, by Elon explaining the differences between the two you extracted that people thought they were buying a model S when they put their money down?

He wasn't just "explaining the differences", he was asking people not to have false expectations. When he tweeted: "Am noticing that many people think Model 3 is the "next version" of a Tesla, like iPhone 2 vs 3. This is not true. ", he was specifically reminding people that the Model 3 was not going to be Model S-like.

I know this is hard for so many of the Chevy fanbois to understand that you have to make wild eyed accusations that 400,000 people were somehow fooled into thinking they were getting a really good deal on the model S as the only reason that anyone would order a model 3 over a bolt.

Nobody has been saying that 400,000 people were duped. What they are saying is that some people seem to have inflated expectations of what Tesla can deliver for $35,000, and that they may have second thoughts when they see what they're getting. It's probably going to be a minority of people on the wait list, but to deny that it will be true for at least some people is to be the same kind of uncritical "fanboy" that you're accusing others of being.