As its new electric car gets closer to public sale, General Motors has apparently made its first allocations of 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EVs to Chevy dealers.

The news comes via a posting on the GM-Volt forum from a southern California dealership.

Rick Alpern, the general manager of Keyes Chevrolet in Van Nuys, California, wrote that the dealer had been allocated 78 Bolt EVs for its first delivery.

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The news was reported by HybridCars.com, which interviewed Alpern and confirmed his posting.

He expects to know more in a couple of weeks, he said, and hopes he can deliver the dealer's first Bolts before the end of the year.

And, significantly, he said that his GM representative told him that only dealerships in California and 0regon would receive Bolt EV electric cars in the first wave of allocations.

2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV, road test, California coastline, Sep 2016

2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV, road test, California coastline, Sep 2016

The carmaker still hasn't said for sure when the first Bolt EVs will be shipped to dealers for sale to the general public.

Chevrolet and its engineers and product planners likely want to ensure that every "i" is dotted and every "t" is crossed before releasing the car for general sale.

READ THIS: 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV first drive: 240 miles in an electric car

That would be, Alpern told HybridCars.com, the same thing that Chevy did with its initial deliveries of the Volt range-extended electric car back in late 2010.

That car sat for 10 weeks while the company refined some last details before putting it on sale.

2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV, road test, California coastline, Sep 2016

2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV, road test, California coastline, Sep 2016

Alpern said that after just two days, the dealer had indications of interest for 35 of those 78 cars—even before it knows exactly what trim levels or options they will come with.

General Motors has said that the Bolt EV will be sold throughout the U.S. ("a 50-state car"), although not necessarily by every Chevy dealer.

CHECK OUT: How many Chevy Bolt EVs will be sold in first 12 months? Poll results

But its plans and timing for release of the car remain unclear, with only the goal of delivering the first one before December 31 as guidance.

We will report on any further details on Bolt EV sales as they emerge.

[hat tip: Fred Kennedy]

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