3 ms·

I'd really like to give the Bolt a chance, but isn't the Chevy Bolt's design really unappealing? Especially compared to the Tesla model 3. I wonder why they mad

by make3 7y ago

I'd really like to give the Bolt a chance, but isn't the Chevy Bolt's design really unappealing? Especially compared to the Tesla model 3. I wonder why they made it this way. It's a matter of personal taste but I find it less appealing than even a Honda Civic.

GiorgioG 7y ago
There's a single Model 3 in my neighborhood and I don't understand the appeal aesthetically. I'm glad there are so many adopters for EVs (Tesla or otherwise) willing to put up with all the downsides until the technology and infrastructure matures to a point where it is competitive (price, charge time, range, charging station at every gas station, etc.)
- newsoul2019 7y ago
  Where do you live? There's 1 or 2 in every driveway around here (South Bay)
  - GiorgioG 7y ago
    Raleigh, NC.
  - asark 7y ago
    Basically anywhere not unusually rich? They're no longer Maserati-uncommon around here like they were a few years ago (Maseratis: also rare most places) but they're still pretty uncommon. Might see one, maybe two a day on the road on a commute into the city and back. Some days a couple more, lots of days zero. I think I've seen one ever in my neighborhood of 100+ houses, and I'm not sure it belonged to anyone who lives here. And this is not an actually poor neighborhood, or even close. Just not rich.
  - tyfon 7y ago
    Not OP, but I live outside a satellite city to Oslo and I feel like every 5th car I see on the road is a tesla and every other car is an EV of some kind. Many E-golfs, leafs and a ton of other ones. So there are some parts of the world where there are popular. Not having to pay "pollution tax" that can be up to 100% of the initial value of the car nor 25% vat helps drive adoption :) Incidentally I ordered my first one today, a model x with the new drive trains etc. It will take a few months before it arrives.
newsoul2019 7y ago
The Bolt is a cute, small car. I don't think the Tesla Model 3 is trying to be a "cute small car", per se. I know several people with Volts and Bolts and the owners love those cars.
drewg123 7y ago
I think they did it to avoid competing with themselves. Before we bought our Telsa in 2017, we test drove a Bolt. The sales people tried really hard to steer us toward a Volt (which was more expensive). It seemed clear they were not really interested in selling the Bolt. Speaking of the design: On the drive, we noticed that the seats in the Bolt were narrow and uncomfortable. The odd thing was that they had plenty of room to make the seats a few inches wider. Doug DeMuro noticed the same thing in his review: https://youtu.be/d2ogGZXmepY?t=624 https://youtu.be/d2ogGZXmepY?t=624
WorldMaker 7y ago
I blame American suburbs, where you "need" the most tank-like hideous box on wheels of an SUV or "cross-over" that you can find.
tzs 7y ago
The Tesla looks better from the outside, perhaps...but when I'm driving I'm not looking at the exterior, and I'm sufficiently misanthropic that I don't care what ugliness I'm subjecting people outside to. :-) I've never been inside either car, but looking at interior pictures on the net, the Bolt looks a lot better. It looks like it still has physical knobs for things like climate control. Tesla appears to be all virtual controls. The lack of physical controls is close to a deal breaker for me.

by make3 7y ago

GiorgioG 7y ago

There's a single Model 3 in my neighborhood and I don't understand the appeal aesthetically. I'm glad there are so many adopters for EVs (Tesla or otherwise) willing to put up with all the downsides until the technology and infrastructure matures to a point where it is competitive (price, charge time, range, charging station at every gas station, etc.)

newsoul2019 7y ago
Where do you live? There's 1 or 2 in every driveway around here (South Bay)
- GiorgioG 7y ago
  Raleigh, NC.
- asark 7y ago
  Basically anywhere not unusually rich? They're no longer Maserati-uncommon around here like they were a few years ago (Maseratis: also rare most places) but they're still pretty uncommon. Might see one, maybe two a day on the road on a commute into the city and back. Some days a couple more, lots of days zero. I think I've seen one ever in my neighborhood of 100+ houses, and I'm not sure it belonged to anyone who lives here. And this is not an actually poor neighborhood, or even close. Just not rich.
- tyfon 7y ago
  Not OP, but I live outside a satellite city to Oslo and I feel like every 5th car I see on the road is a tesla and every other car is an EV of some kind. Many E-golfs, leafs and a ton of other ones. So there are some parts of the world where there are popular. Not having to pay "pollution tax" that can be up to 100% of the initial value of the car nor 25% vat helps drive adoption :) Incidentally I ordered my first one today, a model x with the new drive trains etc. It will take a few months before it arrives.

newsoul2019 7y ago

The Bolt is a cute, small car. I don't think the Tesla Model 3 is trying to be a "cute small car", per se. I know several people with Volts and Bolts and the owners love those cars.

drewg123 7y ago

I think they did it to avoid competing with themselves. Before we bought our Telsa in 2017, we test drove a Bolt. The sales people tried really hard to steer us toward a Volt (which was more expensive). It seemed clear they were not really interested in selling the Bolt. Speaking of the design: On the drive, we noticed that the seats in the Bolt were narrow and uncomfortable. The odd thing was that they had plenty of room to make the seats a few inches wider. Doug DeMuro noticed the same thing in his review: https://youtu.be/d2ogGZXmepY?t=624 https://youtu.be/d2ogGZXmepY?t=624

WorldMaker 7y ago

I blame American suburbs, where you "need" the most tank-like hideous box on wheels of an SUV or "cross-over" that you can find.

tzs 7y ago

The Tesla looks better from the outside, perhaps...but when I'm driving I'm not looking at the exterior, and I'm sufficiently misanthropic that I don't care what ugliness I'm subjecting people outside to. :-) I've never been inside either car, but looking at interior pictures on the net, the Bolt looks a lot better. It looks like it still has physical knobs for things like climate control. Tesla appears to be all virtual controls. The lack of physical controls is close to a deal breaker for me.