Copyright © 2017 The Gospel Herald. The Bolt EV's onboard charger operates at up to 7.2 kilowatts. All occupants sit high and upright, and the flat floor and a slim dash and console make the front footwells especially wide. GM quotes a charging rate of "50 miles in less than 2 hours" using Level 2, while a full recharge will take about 9 hours.

of any mainstream non-Tesla electric vehicle, Before you hit the road, make sure your trip will be a safe one. Exterior available on the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt LT, Exterior available on the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt Premier. At its highest level, it matches the level of the fold-flat rear seat back, providing a hidden compartment underneath. Many drivers will soon learn the appeal of the alternative Low range, which increases regenerative braking considerably. The flat floor and a slim dash and console make the front footwells especially wide. When that limit is reached, then the tax credit will begin to decline for GM plug-in vehicle buyers, and it would not be surprising to see the Chevrolet Bolt experience a price drop when that happens.

It handles so well and is fun to drive.

We give the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV 7 out of 10 points for performance, combining its acceleration, on-road behavior, and of course that 238-mile range rating—the first mass-priced electric car to offer more than 200 miles.
We did notice some glare off the highly polished surface, however.
And the $495 Driver Confidence II package adds forward-collision alert with pedestrian detection, low-speed automatic emergency braking, lane-departure warning with lane-keeping assist, and automatic high beams. Two trim levels are offered: base LT and high-end Premier. It uses the Combined Charging System (CCS) protocol adopted by all U.S. and German makers except Tesla. The user-configurable displays use thin fonts on a bright white background, looking more like a mobile website for swiping than old-school automotive instruments. The 2017 Chevrolet Malibu offers safety, efficiency, style, and good performance in an impressively engineered midsize sedan. A chrome strip runs a course from the mirror-integrated turn signals and sweeps over the top of the windows, while the top doesn’t sport the Volt’s reverse mohawk and the much-shorter nose only carries a few sculpted lines. The Bolt EV is built on a dedicated architecture for electric cars, though a few suspension components and accessories are shared with other GM vehicles. We spent six hours behind the wheel of a pre-production Bolt EV, logging 240 miles along California coastal roads and freeways at varying speeds and elevations. Looking for a different year of the Chevrolet Bolt EV? Compare the 2019 Chevrolet Bolt LT vs Premier Trim Levels. The Bolt EV Premier starts at almost $42,000. But the most important option—one every buyer should specify on either trim level—is the DC fast-charging port, which costs $750. General Motors hopes that the Bolt will live up to the wild predicted sales numbers, so before it arrives, here is everything you need to know. The front features a split grille (which is actually sealed, since as an electric, the Bolt doesn’t need a radiator), the sides sport two sharp body lines, one of which traces a line to the taillights. With it's long range, it's the best available electric car at this time. (Miles Per Gallon Equivalent, or MPGe, measures the distance a car can travel electrically on the same amount of energy as contained in 1 gallon of gasoline.). To date neither the NHTSA nor the IIHS has crash-tested the Bolt EV yet. Our drive largely depleted the battery, but other drivers who babied their cars along the same route arrived with as much as 25 miles left. The Bolt EV's onboard charger operates at up to 7.2 kilowatts. From the driver's seat, the vision to the front over the short nose is exceptional, which will make the Bolt easy to park. While the battery pack, motor, and drive unit are manufactured in Inchon, South Korea, all Bolts will be assembled in Orion Township, Michigan. Before you hit the road, make sure your trip will be a safe one. As always with Chevrolet, the Malibu comes in a range of trim levels that cater to customers with different needs and budgets. This is not a surprise at all, as there have been rumors and leaks of the pricing in that region earlier this January before the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt hit the market. As the Bolt has not begun deliveries (but will soon! It includes "ultra-bright" machined 17-inch aluminum wheels, roof rails, turn signals in the door mirrors, and surround-view in the center dash display. Unlike BMW, Nissan, and Volkswagen, however, GM executives say the company has no plans to fund the installation of fast-charging infrastructure across the country—a contrast to Tesla, with its nationwide network of Supercharger sites. That means that if you somehow run this car out of electricity, push it into the garage, and plug it in to a 240V charger, it will fill to full in about 9.5 hours. Commendably, the Bolt EV offers two distinct drive modes. The 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV comes in just two trim levels, LT and Premier. It includes Low Speed Forward Automatic Braking, Lane Keep Assist with Lane Departure Warning, Forward Collision Alert, a Following Distance Indicator, Front Pedestrian Braking, and IntelliBeam headlamps. That's the vaunted “one-pedal driving” launched by the original Tesla Roadster, and now available only in the BMW i3. The 2019 Chevrolet Bolt LT offers buyers a great list of standard features as well as many add-ons.

Chevrolet has said that the Bolt will recharge from the usual 50-mile commute using the available 240V charging in under 2 hours, or about 25 miles per hour of charging. There is no navigation feature instead relying on navigation apps and your phone to guide you.

For comparison, the 2017 Chevrolet Cruze, which has excellent fuel economy at 30/40/34 mpg city/highway/combined, costs $1.64 per 25 miles with an estimated yearly fuel cost of $1,000. Every Bolt EV comes standard with high-intensity discharge headlamps and LED daytime running lights, a rear-view camera, a 60/40 split folding rear seat back, the regen-on-demand paddle behind the left side of the steering wheel, automatic climate control, two USB ports, an 8.0-inch driver information center between the instruments and a 10.2-inch color touchscreen in the center of the dash. The 2017 Chevy Bolt is a completely new model–the very first over-200-mile-range, mass-market-priced electric vehicle. Black panels connect the front headlights to the rear hatch, while the windows arch high to encompass the Bolt’s increased interior space. Many drivers will soon learn the appeal of the alternative Low range, which increases regenerative braking considerably. A $495 safety package dubbed Driver Confidence I includes blind-spot monitors, lane-change alert, rear cross-traffic alert, and rear parking assist. (Read more about how we rate cars this year.). Chevy's electric car has ended up using a dedicated electric-car platform, though it shares a few suspension components and accessories with other GM vehicles. I've never been a car person, but the Chevy Bolt has changed that. Perhaps because of its height, the Bolt EV appears smaller than it really is, perhaps because the wheels are pushed out to its corners. This is one of the best-packaged small cars in the world. I don't think I'll ever go back to a gas automobile. Each is attached at four different points, and multiple design iterations for both were necessary to provide the needed frontal and transverse energy transfer and absorption to allow the car to earn the highest safety ratings—which GM is confident it will. The cabin of the Bolt EV is light and airy inside, and the thin front seats provide an extra inch of leg room for rear-seat riders. We give the electric Bolt a rating of 8 out of 10 for its standard and optional equipment, some of it unusual for smaller hatchbacks in its price range. It will, in fact, slow the car to a complete stop without using the brakes at all. The dashboard has both a fully digital 8.0-inch instrument cluster behind the steering wheel and a central 10.2-inch touchscreen display built into the top of the console. I don't think I'll ever go back to a gas automobile. It features an electric engine and a 60 kWh lithium-ion battery. (Read more about how we rate cars this year. Finally, the Driver Confidence II Package is only for the Premier trim, and only for those that also got the Infotainment Package. We have left the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV unrated for safety until at least some crash-test results are in from either of the two agencies that rate new cars on a variety of safety measures. It makes the Bolt EV practical for longer road trips, and also eases charging for buyers who live in apartments or other multiple dwellings. We rate the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV at 7.4 out of 10, with its strongest points being its lengthy range rating and the surprising interior room. It corners relatively flat on its 17-inch alloy wheels, and the steering had a nice positive self-centering action. The 2017 Chevy Bolt is a completely new model–the very first over-200-mile-range, mass-market-priced electric vehicle.

The normal Drive mode on the “gear selector” lever behaves just like a car fitted with an automatic transmission—complete with idle creep when the car is stopped. Additional systems like Front Pedestrian Braking and Forward Collision Alert are available options. The Bolt will come in two trim levels: LT and Premier. General Motors (GM) has not shown off their complete hand just yet by giving details on the different kinds of trim levels for the Chevy Bolt EV, but it did state that the base LT model will arrive with the Regen on Demand steering wheel paddles, a rear vision camera for those who find it difficult when parking in reverse, as well as a 10.2-inch color touch screen. All Rights Reserved. All Rights Reserved. Adaptive cruise control is not offered on the Chevy Bolt EV. I feel I've been catapulted into the future with everything this car has to offer.