Do auto writers really think EV buyers would choose a Bolt over Tesla's Model 3?

The Chevrolet Spark EV, above, and the Bolt EV Concept, below, bear a family resemblance. The Spark is available only in California and Oregon. The Bolt is scheduled to be produced as a 2017 model with a battery that will give it a range of more than 200 miles, General Motors says.

The Chevrolet Bolt EV Concept.

Compare the forthcoming Tesla Model 3 to the Chevy Bolt Concept. This photo is from Auto Express.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

If you treat an auto writer to an espresso and pastry before a splashy press conference, he or she will write almost anything.

That must be the explanation for all of those stories out of the Detroit Auto Show, setting up a confrontation between all-electric cars from Chevrolet and Tesla.

Yes. Chevy is the GM division that gave us defective ignition switches, the Nova or "no va" (Spanish for "doesn't go") and the Corvair's dangerous swing-axle rear suspension.

Tesla, the upstart maker of all-electric luxury cars, is working on a smaller, 2017 Model 3 with a range of 200 miles and an expected price of $35,000 -- half of what the base Model S costs now.

So, the media are claiming "General Motors is setting up a showdown with Tesla to sell an electric vehicle to the masses," as The Associated Press reported on Jan. 13.

The day before, GM unveiled the Chevrolet Bolt, a $30,000 concept car that "likely will go on sale in about two years."

Neither the AP or other media questioned how GM could possibly sell the Bolt for $30,000 or thousands of dollars less than its plug-in Chevrolet Volt hybrid.

Both the Bolt and Tesla Model 3 may have about the same range and an MSRP only $5,000 apart, but I seriously doubt they will attract the same buyers.

Just compare photos of the Bolt, which bears a family resemblance to the stubby Spark EV, and the elegant Tesla Model 3.

Here's a link to the article in Auto Express: 

Tesla Model 3 to challenge BMW 3 Series

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.