stessier wrote: Fri Mar 29, 2019 12:29 pmThey just don't make a lot.
There is a reason for this. But to get to the deeper point, there is currently a) no way GM could produce enough Bolts to sell at the level Tesla's at, b) no way GM would do so if they could, and c) no way enough buyers would surface to purchase them all.
The fast charge network map is just flat out misleading.
The specific graphic they used, I agree. The overall situation, absolutely not. Nothing competes with the Superchargers. Just isn't a thing anywhere yet.
Additionally, I haven't taken a personal car trip of more than 100 miles in over 2 years
Likely a reason why you view the networks as possibly interchangeable in certain locations. That's... naive.
- so it doesn't matter what the larger charging network is, the car is perfectly capable. (As noted by just about every article about electric cars - most people won't need/use fast charging for more than 90% of the time they own it.)
True that most people don't need it, but an inordinately large percentage of people make buying decisions not based on what they need, but on what they think they need. The point of the Tweety thread was that what needs to happen is millions of EVs sold/year, right quick-like. The Bolt, and GM's strategy of compliance car development with LG taking the lead on the core, ain't gonna get us there in time. My point is that the 'in time' matters, and the Bolt has been a large disappointment in that it has shown that GM isn't as itching to get the BEV train rolling as they had proclaimed to be when the Bolt was in development. The volume they're selling, two years after release, is rather a joke for GM's scale. Additionally, the rapid expansion to other models they originally claimed has not come to pass. When is the next GM BEV slated for mass production?
The cars are in the same price ballpark only if you exclude the majority of the stuff you see as being an advantage. To get the premium interior Model 3 in Blue with the default wheels, it's $39,000. You can get the Premium Bolt in Blue for right around that ($38-39k depending). Both have a 240 mile range. The Model 3 will be a bit faster. The Bolt is said to have more storage. Seems like it comes down to one's feelings about the style and current charging needs.
What majority of stuff I see as being an advantage does that exclude? Autopilot isn't required. You get the Supercharging, the quickness, the speed, the sporty handling, and the OTA updates. The SR+ 3 is just far better than the Bolt Premium unless you specifically need a hatchback. The Bolt still has the full tax credit vs Tesla's half, but that will even out soon since GM hit the cap last quarter. (They'll be even on 4/1, then on 7/1 GM has an advantage, then on 1/1 even again.)
Again, I hear you on the space advantage of the Bolt, and on the fact that despite their thought process, most folks don't *need* the long-distance travel capability. But they buy based on it. And the real point I'm trying to make is that the pace of innovation required to keep from falling further behind Tesla, much less catch up, just is not there for anyone else. Nor is the volume sales. 2022-2025 doesn't cut it. I like the Bolt, but its sales window was the time before the Model 3 was widely available. GM needs to either drop the price or up the competitiveness, along with greatly boosting the volume. I'm afraid that the first piece will preclude the second, and with that we all lose.
Tesla can't make the volumes required, and no one else is stepping up soon enough. The press releases keep telling us that next year is the year it all changes, but this has been the case for several years running. I'm hopeful (but not confident) that this changes soon.
