Wednesday, January 11, 2017

Chevrolet Bolt Electric - North American Car of the Year



Not to be confused with the Chevrolet Volt, which is a hybrid vehicle and uses a gasoline motor to supplement the plug-in electric motor, the Chevrolet Bolt is an electric-only vehicle. The Chevrolet Bolt wins the North American Car of the Year award by winning the race to being the first American-made, mass-market, fully electric car.

The award was announced this Monday at the North American International Auto Show. Several dozen journalists take all the vehicles in the running for a test drive before voting. The Chevrolet Bolt managed to beat out big names that made big buzzes in years past. Names like the Genesis G90 and the Volvo S90 feel behind the Chevy Bolt in performance and price. The world-renowned Tesla Motors with their Model 3 electric car was not in the running because it had not yet made into production.




The Chevrolet Bolt was also named Motor Trend Car of the Year and Green Car of the Year at the Los Angeles Auto Show. After the Bolt won the Green Car Award for environmentally friendly cars, marketing manager Steve Majoros had this to say, "there's been a lot of talk about building an affordable electric car with a 200-mile range that brings electric vehicles to the mainstream, but only one manufacturer has done that, and it's us."

The Chevrolet Bolt gets a Range-Per-Charge of 238 miles. Cheaper by about half the price of a Tesla S and X Model, the Bolt can be purchased for about $37,495 before you receive government tax breaks. You add that in with the luxury of avoiding every gas station you ever pass and you should find yourself with a little extra spending money at the end of the year.