The 2016 Chevrolet Volt will certainly be cheaper than the new edition of the Tesla Model S given the pricing scheme and patterns of Tesla for its electric cars but it seems that the former would lose its edge over the latter because GM has said that it will be limiting the sales of the 2016 Volt to 11 US states initially.
GM said that the set-up will be in place for the first couple of months after the launch of the 2016 Chevrolet Volt this fall.
According to the American carmaker, the state of California will be the first to receive the 2016 Volts, followed by 10 other states that follow the California Air Resources Board (CARB) laws. These 10 states include Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
Although Pennsylvania and Washington are two other states that have adopted CARB legislation, which requires manufacturers to meet stricter emission standards than the EPA, they are not part of the initial rollout of the 2016 Chevrolet Volt.
However, GM hinted that the 2016 Chevrolet Volt would just have a short run in the market as a 2017 model is expected to come along shortly with more features, which shall then be sold nationwide.
It can be recalled that five years ago, GM also restricted the sales of the first-generation Chevy Volt to six US states and took one year to bring the car to the retail markets in all of the 50 states.