Production Chevy Bolt to Strike at 2016 CES in Las Vegas [News]

2016-Chevy-Bolt-Concept
2016 Chevy Bolt Concept

Chevrolet announced plans to unveil the production-ready Bolt at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Propelled by a lithium-ion battery, the new EV crossover promises an all-electric range in the 200-mile neighborhood. Chevy claims an 80% charge can be achieved in just 45 minutes, although it’s unclear whether that’s at standard household 120V or by using a 240V fast-charger. In either case, 200 miles will satisfy most people’s daily driving requirement, although the range at highway speeds should be significantly less. To get the most distance out of the battery, efforts were made throughout the car to make it as slippery as possible. In addition to those narrow side mirrors seen above, the 5-spoke wheels have clear plastic inserts. Shown here in concept form, the Bolt looks somewhat like the love-child of a BMW i3 and a Ford Escape… in a good way. We don’t expect the production version to vary much from the concept shown in these pictures.

Unlike the recently-tested Volt, the Bolt will not come with a gasoline-burning generator to recharge the battery. Expect prices, after incentives, to be in the $30k range… similar or maybe even less than what Elon Musk hopes to get for the yet-to-be-released Tesla Model 3. Other competitors to the Bolt include the Nissan Leaf, BMW i3, and hybrid vehicles that offer an electric-only mode for short distance commutes, such as the Chevy Volt (watch the video from TFL’s recent highway MPG test of the Volt below). Rumor has it the car will go on sale in 2016, although exact details have not been provided.

TFLcar will be at the 2016 CES show to bring all the news first. In the meantime, watch the 2016 Chevy Volt take on the real-world highway MPG challenge.