The Chevrolet Bolt EV: The Best Affordable EV on The Market Right Now?

by SpeedLux
Images of Chevrolet Bolt electric car

The 2020 Chevy EV Bolt offers every-day luxury at an affordable price. With its instantaneous acceleration, long-range, and spacious interiors, it beats the most expensive electric cars in the price category. 

Starting at a base price of less than $40,000, the Chevy EV Bolt also goes 259 miles on a single charge, allowing you to use the electric instantaneous acceleration for a long, fun driving experience. 

The EV Bolt also comes with an affordable fast-charging option and a handy regenerative-braking paddle that further enhances the experience. Apart from that, consumers will enjoy the roomy accommodation provided by Chevrolet. Other facilities that deserve mention include a high-class infotainment system and some pretty tech-savvy driver-assistance technologies.

Let’s look at everything the Chevy Bolt EV has to offer in more detail. 

What’s New In The 2020 Model?

The manufacturers of the EV Bolt increased the driving range of the Bolt from 238 miles to 259. This puts the Chevy way ahead of its electric rivals like the Hyundai Ioniq, Kia Soul EV and the Tesla Model 3.

Affordability And Price Range—Real Talk

Even though the base model starts off at $38,000, the price tag can go up to around $4,000 more if you decide to add feature upgrades; for example, an optional comfort and convenience package (front seat heating, steering wheel heating, leather-wrapped steering wheel) and the Driver Confidence package that includes a blind-spot monitor, rear cross-traffic alert and rear parking sensors). 

That’s when the fancier premier model becomes a better choice with a lot more features and upgrades compared to the LT model. Priced at around $41,859, the premier model features ambient interior lighting, an option for leather seating, seat-heating for rear seats and a lot more. 

Engine, Transmission, And Performance—Into The Details

The engine of the Bolt EV offers the aforementioned instantaneous acceleration and low-end torque that lets you take your car up to speed after stopping—fast.

For safety reasons, the acceleration is delayed at highway speeds, but the Bolt still manages to make passing and merging on highways a breeze. Packing a lot of punch for its price tag, this electric enchantment is a revelatory addition to the company’s electric lineup. From the effortless drive experience to riding without harsh jerks and benefitting from precision steering, everything is engineered to perfection. 

Even though the car comes with a pretty firm brake pedal, resulting in above-average stopping power, you will rarely ever have to use it, given the excellent regenerative braking system in the Bolt that starts recharging the battery the moment you lift your foot off the pedal. 

An added feature is an extra pedal on the left side of the steering wheel that lets you control the regenerative braking, which means you can stop the car completely—immediately.

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Range, Charging, Battery Life—Asking The Important Question

It takes the Bolt an average of nine hours to full charge if you’re using a 240-volt outlet, with the fast charging option adding another 90 miles of range every 30 minutes with a level 3 charging station. 

The 2020 Bolt EV comes with an EPA-rated range of 259 miles (which beats the previous version by a whopping 21 miles) on a full charge—which adds to more than twice the range of electric vehicles in the same price range, for example, the VW e-Golf. And whereas the Tesla 3offers a considerably longer range of up to 310 miles on one charge, it also costs more. 

Interior, Cargo, And Comfort—Going Deep

Designed for the practical driver who appreciates space, even though the car does feature decidedly hard plastic materials inside, Chevrolet has generously compensated with a tasteful, textured dashboard. The digital display that’s propped up in the middle in the instrument cluster and the central touch screen gives it a clean and modern look. 

The generous front and rear accommodations make the Bolt EV a comfortable ride for four to five passengers. The spacious cargo can hold up to five carry-on bags and a nifty compartment behind the electronic shifter makes a smart pocket for a Smartphone. 

Safety And Driver-Assistance—Better Safe Than Sorry

The Bolt received a 5-star rating from The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), as it features optional driver-assistance technology which includes automatic high-beam headlights and rear parking sensors. Along with these, there are some other interesting features as well, including:

  • A super handy forward-collision warning with an automated emergency braking system to support the functionality
  • Lane-departure warning added to a lane-keeping assist to encourage safe driving on bad days.
  • A blind-spot monitor and rear cross-traffic alert. 

This guest post is brought to you by the awesome car experts over at CarShopper.com, an online automotive marketplace where buyers can purchase their next new or used car with just a click of a button. 

They have a wide array of brands and models to choose from. They also offer some of the best new and used car deals in the Pennsylvania car market, including Jim Thorpe and Allentown areas. 

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SpeedLux

SpeedLux is a high-authority automotive blog providing the latest automotive news and reviews. SpeedLux covers everything related to cars, bikes, and motorcycles, from news and reviews, to troubleshooting guides, tips and tricks, and more. SpeedLux was born in 2009 and we have over 20,000 articles published on our blog. We thank all our readers, as well as our partners, without whom we could not have reached this level.

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