Bolt electric car sales in the United States on an uphill climb
The Chevrolet Bolt is the first electric vehicle manufactured by General Motors in the United States.
As a new entrant into the affordable electric vehicle market, the Chevy Bolt has been described as a bit “dweeby” and may not be as stylish as the Tesla Model 3 which was unveiled last March by Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla Motors.
When the Chevy Bolt EV came on the market it made a huge splash but sales of the electric vehicle have lagged behind other electric-powered cars. In fact the Chevy Bolt EV is now in seventh place in electric car sales in the US for the month of March.
The Chevy Bolt is possibly the best car in its class, with the most mileage per charge but it still only ranked seventh place, selling 978 cars in March. In February, Chevy sold 952 Bolt EVs.
EV and plug-in hybrid sales in the United States for March 2017:
- Tesla Model S (3,450)
- Tesla Model X (2,750)
- Chevy Volt (2,132)
- Toyota Prius Prime (1,618)
- Nissan Leaf (1,478)
- Ford Fusion Energi (1,002)
- Chevy Bolt (978)
The Chevy Bolt EV 2017, was touted as a game-changer in the developing industry. It received a boatload of awards even being named 2017 Motor Trend Car of the Year.
The Chevy EV is the first affordable, battery-electric five-passenger car to travel 238 miles on a single charge which is three times the distance of most EVs in its class.
At the moment it’s price point is very attractive at just $37,000 which comes in at one-third the price of say a Tesla Model X.
When it comes to the adoption of electric vehicles in the United States it has not been earth-shattering, to say the least, but the industry is still in its infancy.
EV and plug-in electric hybrid cars were less than 1 percent (0.90 percent) of all cars on the road in the United States in 2016.
Although the figures for electric vehicle sales are still quite low compared to regular combustion engine cars, the trend is changing and the future is electric.
As most electric car drivers know, they outperform most petrol and diesel-powered cars for fuel efficiency and fuel mileage. They are better made, have the most advanced technology and can be easier to maintain. Fuel costs alone are 25 percent to 50 percent lower than petrol or diesel cars.
Although you can find an electric car which gives you great mileage, it may not satisfy most car buyers.
Driving an electric car, even as much as 238 miles without stopping still does not seem to have the draw for most drivers due to the time it takes for charging on a long trip and also charging stations are still hard to find.
No matter how good an electric car may be, the problem for the EV car manufacturers is actually convincing people to see the benefits of the new technology and change over to electric.
Author
Justin Kavanagh
Justin Kavanagh is a recognised leader
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