How can Chevrolet sell an electric car with a 200-mile range for less than the Volt?

The Chevrolet Bolt EV Concept has an ambiguous name to go along with an ambiguous production date. Many auto writers are reporting it will be available as a 2017 model with a 200-mile range, but haven't you seen many concepts that never lived up to the splash they made at the auto show? 

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

A bolt is a fastener.

Now, Chevrolet is calling an all-electric concept with a 200-mile range a Bolt, which rhymes with Volt, the plug-in hybrid with a limited EV range it has been selling since December 2010.

A new Volt is to be unveiled today at the auto show in Detroit.

The official press release calls the 4-door Bolt "a vision for an affordable, long-range all-electric vehicle designed to offer more than 200 mile of range starting around $30,000."

Chevrolet officials haven't explained how the Bolt can be sold in two years for thousands of dollars less than the current Volt, which has an MSRP of $34,345.

In what appears to be a shot at Tesla's Model S, a 4-door luxury hatchback that starts at $69,900, General Motors CEO Mary Barra said the Bolt EV is "designed for attainability, not exclusivity."

The Bolt concept reminds some viewers of the more expensive BMW i3, which is available both as an EV and as a plug-in hybrid.

The i3, in turn, seems to have several styling cues that recall the Honda Passport.

200-mile range?

If the 2017 Bolt does achieve a range of 200 miles or more, it would be the first production car to come near the 208-mile range of the base Tesla Model S 60.

Now, several EVs claim to have a range of about 85 miles, including the Nissan Leaf, Mercedes-Benz B-Class and BMW's i3.

What is built like a Tesla Model S and looks like an updated Honda Element?

BMW's new i3 looks like an updated, more aerodynamic version of the boxy Honda Element, especially in the arrangement of the four doors. The front doors must be opened to reach the hidden handles of the back doors, which are hinged at the rear and sometimes referred to as "suicide doors."

The hidden handle of a rear door in the BMW i3.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

BMW says its new iBrand is "fueled by innovation," but one of the two models seems to have borrowed a number of ideas from Tesla, Chevrolet and Honda.

The BMW i3 is a four-door hatchback built on a battery platform that looks a lot like the one used by Tesla's all-electric Model S.

The i3 is available as an all-electric car with a range of about 80 miles, but buyers can choose the extra-cost option of a 2-cylinder gasoline engine that charges the battery and doubles the range.

With the plug-in Volt, Chevrolet uses a gas-powered generator that performs the same function to extend the EPA-estimated range of 38 miles on the battery alone.

And the hidden handles of the rear "suicide doors" in the i8 mimic the arrangement in the boxy Element sport-utility vehicle, which Honda stopped making in 2011.

Where the i3 and companion i8 have innovated is in the extensive use of carbon fiber. 

In the i3, the passenger compartment is made primarily from molded carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic, the German automaker says. 
  

The platform of the Tesla Model S.

BMW's plug-in sports car

The other model in the iBrand is the low-slung i8, a plug-in hybrid that sounds and drives like a sports car.

If a BMW is "The Ultimate Driving Machine," the i8's high sills, scissor doors and lack of passenger-assist handles make it "The Ultimate Pain in the Ass" to get into and out of.

The i3 has the same controls you'll find in a conventional BMW, above and below. The base model of the i3 doesn't have touchscreen navigation.

The 17-inch iPad-like touchscreen in the Tesla Model S eliminates many of the buttons and other controls found in a conventional car.

The Model S is a heavy four-door luxury hatchback. Some writers have described the BMW i3 as a luxury car, but the base "Mega World" model I drove for two days was somewhat spartan, with cloth-covered seats and recycled material used on the dashboard and other surfaces.

Besides Tesla owners, who else would definitely buy their current car again?

The highest percentage of drivers who would definitely buy their car again own the all-electric Tesla Model S, according to Consumer Reports annual Owner Satisfaction Survey.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Consumer Reports lists 22 hybrid or electric cars in its annual Owner Satisfaction Survey.

When asked, "Would you buy your car again," 98 percent of Tesla Model S owners delivered an emphatic "yes."

The next highest percentage are owners of the Chevrolet Volt, a plug-in hybrid, and Honda Accord Hybrid, both at 85 percent.

They are followed by the Ford Fusion Energi, 84 percent; Toyota Prius, 82 percent; Lexus ES 300h Hybrid, 81 percent; and Toyota Avalon Hybrid, 80 percent.

Only 77 percent of Nissan Leaf owners would buy the all-electric car again, according to the Consumer Reports survey, published in the January 2015 issue.

The lowest percentage of drivers who would be repeat buyers own the Kia Optima Hybrid, at 56 percent.

The best three sedans are listed as the Tesla Model S (98), Mercedes-Benz E250 BlueTec (88) and a second diesel, the BMW 328d (86).

"Tesla Motors has built a rabid following since the car's 2012 launch, reflected in 98 percent of owners saying they would definitely purchase it again," the magazine reports.

"Not only is the Tesla roomy, comfortable and a lot of fun to drive, but it also has low operating costs -- returning the equivalent of 84 mpg."

Electric v. fuel cell

Some auto writers are so eager to knock the Model S off of its perch, they are comparing the four-door luxury hatchback to a plug-in hybrid sports car from BMW and the Toyota Mirai, a smaller fuel-cell sedan that won't be available in the U.S. until 2016.

Toyota will produce only 700 fuel-cell cars in the first year, so it is unlikely anyone who manages to buy one in the United States will pay anything close to the MSRP of $57,500.