Chevy Bolt EV Range 238 Miles, Costs $37500

So we checked with General Motors and Chevy, and Vehicle Performance Engineer Chris Twarog filled us in via email.

That would make it the first electric vehicle to be sold in the USA with a range of more than 200 miles and a starting price of less than $40,000.

Tesla has indicated that it will follow the same pattern it has with the Model S line, however. The new Model S P100D can go about 315 miles per charge, but it starts at $134,500 without the credit. The electric vehicle can hold up to five passengers, and features 17 cubic feet of cargo space behind the rear seat.

Tesla executives announced plans to sell 500,000 vehicles per year by 2018-two years earlier than the previously stated goal-and 1 million cars by 2020, a quantity that would require the EV maker to open a second assembly plant. Twarog noted that Chevy learned a lot about heating and cooling batteries from the Volt hybrid and the Spark EV, and that the Bolt use a battery chemistry that requires a smaller active-cooling system than other electric cars.

Based on the vehicle’s compact size and the 60 kWh capacity of its battery pack, the Bolt should sport at least 215 miles of range.

The Bolt, in comparison, will start at “just” $37,500, before a federal $7,500 tax credit is taken into account, when it launches nationwide later this year. Brauer added that GM would have developed an EV regardless to meet CAFE standards, but the popularity of Tesla’s cars has proven there’s a real-world market. Given acceleration’s toll on range, Bolt’s more conservative acceleration should help with range. Ordinarily, regenerative braking is only initiated by pressing on the brake pedal.

To boost range, the Bolt’s weight was kept to a minimum. They’re thin and light, with more springs and less cushioning than conventional seats.

GM originally said the 2017 Bolt EV would be in excess of 200 miles on a single charge. “It’s all about customer convenience”. Did GM know a long time ago that it could get more than 200 miles on a charge from the Bolt’s battery? “Eighty percent of US drivers travel less than 40 miles a day”.