The 2016 Chevrolet Bolt came out of the market late last year but since it was only made available in 11 states in the US, the American carmaker, General Motors (GM) decided to pull the electric vehicle out even before it gets officially released.
Subsequently, GM decided to rename the model as 2017 Chevrolet Bolt. After making sure that its electric vehicle will be released to all of the 50 states of America, GM has set the official rollout date of the vehicle before the end of this year.
The 2017 Chevrolet Bolt is long-overdue in the market and it needed to come out really soon so that it enjoys its head start from the upcoming Tesla Model 3 electric sedan, which is touted as its biggest competitor in the electric sedan market.
As of last week, however, German automaker Volkswagen announced that it would also be launching an electric sedan called the Volkswagen I.D., which could go farther than the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt and the Tesla Model 3 on a single charge.
But since the Volkswagen I.D. is just a concept that was presented during the Paris Motor Show 2016 last month, critics believe that it would take the German carmaker some more time to be able to launch the I.D. so a 2017 release date target is overly optimistic.
Projected number of units to be sold in the first year
There are now speculations as to how many number of units of 2017 Chevrolet Bolt that GM can ship in its first year and the enthusiasts believe that the number could be anywhere from 15,000 to 25,000.
The speculated figure would make it fewer than the 2014 Nissan Leaf, which shipped about 30,000 electric sedans when it came out that year.
The figure is also way below the 100,000 units that Tesla is eyeing for the Model 3 in a year when it is released in the second half of next year.
However, some analysts predict that the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt could ship as much as 75,000 units in its first year, because of its reasonable price of $37,495 before incentives and rated range of 238 miles on one single charge as per the EPA, details Green Car Reports.
Many fans also believe that the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt is going to be a game changer in the EV market.
However, skeptics believe that GM would find it even difficult to produce 30,000 electric sedans in one year because unlike Tesla, it has to focus as well on the development of its other vehicle lines
GM has never officially commented on volume, with Kevin Kelly from its advanced-technology communications group saying that the company was not production-constrained, and could produce as many Bolt EVs as the market demanded.
Lyft to get the first 2017 Chevrolet Bolt units
Lyft, the San Francisco-based ride-hailing operator, will share the distinction of getting the first 2017 Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicles when they roll off the GM assembly line before the end of this year.
Apart from seeking to get people to share rides, Lyft happens to have for its investor GM so it is only appropriate that it gets the opportunity to share the honors of getting the first few units of the company’s electric sedan when they are officially released to the market before the end of the year, notes Autoblog.
Lyft executive Emily Castor confirmed in a recent conference in Detroit that drivers of the ride-hailing service would get the first dibs on the early 2017 Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicles that become available to the public.
GM made a $500 million investment in Lyft, which competes against ride-hailing giant Uber, in January. Part of the lure was the prospect of developing autonomous vehicles that could be used to make the ride-hailing service a little more cost effective.