2017 Chevy Bolt EV reviews are in, and they are good
The 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV聽electric car聽isn't on sale yet, but quite a lot of useful information is already available to potential buyers.
General Motors recently confirmed the $37,495 base price (before Federal, state, and local incentives), and an EPA-rated 238-mile range鈥攎eeting its original promises.
Several media outlets, including this one, have also driven the Bolt EV, and the consensus so far is encouraging.
We drove a Bolt EV 240 miles on a single charge during a media event in California last month.
That was actually the lowest range achieved among four journalists who drove the聽electric聽hatchback during that event.
In addition to proving that its EPA-rated range holds up in real-world use, the Bolt EV impressed us with its large and crisp displays, and comfortable seats, among other things.
The Bolt EV made a similarly-positive impression on more traditional automotive publications.
"The Bolt isn't just good to drive for an electric car, it's good to drive, period," said聽Car and Driver聽in its聽.
The magazine praised the Bolt EV's driving dynamics and quick acceleration, although it did consider interior materials to be somewhat cheap for a car in this price range.
Its tester also covered the same 240-mile California drive route with 34 miles of range remaining, according to the car's display.
Motor Trend听飞补蝉听, citing its lack of body roll in corners, and its nicely-weighted steering.
It also noted that achieving 240 miles of range on a single charge was not challenging, and that the most impressive part of driving the Bolt聽EV聽that distance was "how little actually happened."
Moving into technology media,聽The Verge聽concluded that聽鈥攚hich the tech website considered to be "very, very聽impressive."
Given that the Bolt EV will need to win over mainstream consumers not necessarily asking for a radically different experience, that may indeed be a compliment.
The Verge聽also praised Chevy's stated plans to educate consumers and salespeople on electric cars, something it did rather halfheartedly with the Volt plug-in hybrid.
But apathetic dealers and salespeople with little knowledge remain one of the biggest obstacles to widespread electric car adoption.
While the consensus on the Bolt EV is that it's looking like a pretty good car, that won't mean much if consumers meet resistance and misinformation when they ask about it.
