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posted by cmn32480 on Wednesday September 14 2016, @11:17PM   Printer-friendly
from the it's-electric-woogie-woogie-woogie dept.

The Chevrolet Bolt is one of the most anticipated cars of 2016. GM's first long-range battery electric vehicle is due to hit dealerships before the end of 2016 and beat Tesla's Model 3 to market as the first mass-market long-range BEV. There has been speculation until now as to the Bolt's actual range; on Tuesday morning, Chevrolet confirmed that you can expect an EPA-estimate of 238 miles on a full battery.

We're still not entirely sure how much the Bolt will cost, but Chevrolet says the MSRP will be under $37,500 before any rebates or tax incentives are taken into account. Since its 60kWh battery qualifies the Bolt for the most generous federal tax credit ($7,500), you should be able to pick one up for $30,000—slightly under the average US car price of $33,000.

The race to dominate the mass-market electric vehicle segment is on.


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  • (Score: 1) by Francis on Thursday September 15 2016, @06:01AM

    by Francis (5544) on Thursday September 15 2016, @06:01AM (#402150)

    Second car sure. But, having a second car is getting more and more problematic around here. There's no guarantee that you'll get one parking space when you rent an apartment, let alone two. And even if you do own a home, parking is getting increasingly tight as apartment complexes aren't required to have any parking at all and illegal multi-family rentals become more common.

    Not to mention the mother-in-law apartments being built.

    Electric cars are coming along, but they're a very long ways from where they need to be in order to have much appeal.

  • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Thursday September 15 2016, @01:17PM

    by Phoenix666 (552) on Thursday September 15 2016, @01:17PM (#402241) Journal

    "Electric cars are coming along, but they're a very long ways from where they need to be in order to have much appeal."

    Speak for yourself. The main thing I need to switch to an electric car today is for them to be available in my price range. Our next car will be a Tesla Model 3--in a couple of years.

    EVs are awesome to drive. Totally responsive, never lose ground on inclines, cruise control is instant and exact, acceleration is amazingly better than a gas car, and they are blessedly, blessedly quiet. I can hear my music (I like to listen to classical music while driving) and talk to my kids without our shouting ourselves hoarse.

    --
    Washington DC delenda est.
    • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Francis on Thursday September 15 2016, @02:37PM

      by Francis (5544) on Thursday September 15 2016, @02:37PM (#402286)

      It's hardly just me, most people do not live with easy access to a power outlet. Either they have street parking or they have a carport that doesn't include an outlet. On top of that, it doesn't make much sense to buy a car if you're going to be stuck renting vehicles if you want to take a road trip.

      They are coming along, but they're nowhere near good enough for them to be useful to most drivers.

      • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Thursday September 15 2016, @03:05PM

        by Phoenix666 (552) on Thursday September 15 2016, @03:05PM (#402301) Journal

        Most people do live with easy access to a power outlet, because they have electricity. My brother-in-law recharges his BMW i3 with an extension cord he runs into the garage. Takes overnight, but it's the same muscle memory as plugging in his smart phone so he doesn't even think about it anymore--loves the convenience of never having to go to the gas station. My brother owns one, too, and charges it in his garage as well, but he did upgrade his wiring for a faster charge because he drives it for more than commuting, he loves it so much.

        With apartment complexes and row houses in dense urban cores, you have a point. It would not surprise me much if in the next couple of years we see those apartment complexes install high speed charging points or people on urban blocks provide recharging at a reasonable rate. I know if I owned a building on such a block I certainly would--it's an easy supplemental revenue stream.

        It's not unusual to own a small car for commuting and local driving, and rent something else for road trips. We took a road trip around the country this summer and saw lots and lots of people touring in bigger rental cars (Mustang convertibles were really popular) or mini RVs like Jucy [jucyusa.com]. Many of them seemed to be overseas tourists who flew into LA or someplace and wanted to see the US by car, cars they hadn't brought with them, so maybe that's why you haven't heard of it.

        --
        Washington DC delenda est.
        • (Score: 1) by Francis on Thursday September 15 2016, @08:04PM

          by Francis (5544) on Thursday September 15 2016, @08:04PM (#402440)

          Most people in the US do not have easy access to a power outlet near where they keep their car. Dirt is too expensive to give houses their own usable drive way and garage. Assuming that it's even possible. You're brother-in-law with the garage is in a much better place than most people are. It's not just the apartment complexes, even houses around here frequently don't have a place to keep the car next to a building, let alone one that's covered so that you can keep charging in the rain.

          What's more, the people who don't live in those kinds of houses have a tendency to live in places that are further out where electric vehicles are even less reasonable as driving anywhere requires a goodly number of miles.

          Perhaps in parts of the country that were recently developed, but have plenty of access to amenities that might be true, but that's a relatively small portion of the US.

      • (Score: 2) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Thursday September 15 2016, @03:07PM

        by Scruffy Beard 2 (6030) on Thursday September 15 2016, @03:07PM (#402303)

        In the frozen north, outlets are common for parking spaces. Those are intended for block heaters though (450W each?).

        Your plug at work may do multiplexing.

        If you are using an 15 Amp outlet, you can't charge more than about 12kWh overnight. (12A*120V*8hours -- 80% de-rating for continuous draw)

        • (Score: 1) by Francis on Thursday September 15 2016, @08:06PM

          by Francis (5544) on Thursday September 15 2016, @08:06PM (#402441)

          Perhaps, but what sort of moron would be driving an electric car in that kind of environment? Batteries don't last very long in areas like that and keeping a charge on a cold day can be an issue.

          • (Score: 2) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Thursday September 15 2016, @08:31PM

            by Scruffy Beard 2 (6030) on Thursday September 15 2016, @08:31PM (#402455)

            The Tesla Roadster has an 8000W cabin heater.

            ICE vehicles stay cold for about 5-10 minutes until the engine warms up. By that time, you may be at your destination.

            Of course, 8kW for 30minutes, would use like a third of your overnight charge. However, if you do the heat radiation calculations, you will find that if does not take that much power to maintain the cabin temperature.

            • (Score: 1) by Francis on Friday September 16 2016, @03:04AM

              by Francis (5544) on Friday September 16 2016, @03:04AM (#402598)

              It's not the cabin temperature, it's the temperature of the batteries that matters.

              And Tesla has had a huge amount of trouble as a result of their batteries not performing well in low temperatures. I'm not sure about the other manufacturers, but I doubt they're fairing much better with that.