Chevrolet Bolt EV News
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GM announced a major restructuring that will result in more electric cars, with Cadillac as its focus. Fiat Chrysler will fix its dirty Ram pickup and Jeep Grand Cherokee EcoDiesels. And Audi has partnered with Amazon to get home chargers installed for its e-tron customers. All this and more on Green Car Reports. In a settlement reminiscent of Volkswagen's, owners of EcoDiesel Jeep Grand Cherokee and Ram pickups will be offered cash along with a free software update to bring their vehicles into compliance with emissions laws. GM made a major announcement that it plans to expand its electric...
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Socket to me: MyChevy app tells Bolt EV drivers where to charge
Too many apps! That's one of the complaints electric car drivers have about charging electric cars. With the time it takes to charge one of the biggest complaints is mapping your way to a charger only to arrive and find it's occupied or out of service. Now General Motors has forged an agreement...
Eric C. Evarts -
What effect will lower tax credits on Tesla and GM plug-ins have? Twitter poll results
For a bunch of electric-car owning acolytes, our readers are surprisingly sanguine about the reduction and eventual expiration of plug-in tax credits on electric-car sales. We've reported extensively on the expiring tax credits, which will affect models from Tesla and GM in 2019. When Congress set...
Eric C. Evarts -
What effect will lower tax credits on Tesla and GM plug-ins have in the new year? Take our Twitter poll
The wind-down of federal tax credits on plug-in vehicles begins to hit in 2019. Tax credits for Tesla buyers were already reduced to $3,750 on Tuesday. The same reduction is scheduled to hit GM's plug-in models, the Chevy Volt and Bolt EV on April 1. The reduction in the credits is likely to have...
Eric C. Evarts -
Opinion: Expiring tax credits hurt U.S. automakers, favor imports
President Trump campaigned on a promise to aid U.S. manufacturers and provide more incentives for them to produce products in the U.S. Now the President, seemingly in opposition to that stance, has launched into a war of words with two of America's largest automakers—its youngest and one of...
Eric C. Evarts -
GM confirms it will reach EV tax credit ceiling this year—then phaseout begins
Beginning next April, buyers of General Motors’ electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids won’t be getting the same break on their purchase as those who buy those vehicles from any other brand. Any other brand but Tesla, that is. GM has confirmed to Green Car Reports that it will reach...
Bengt Halvorson -
Even with solid increases, other electric-car sales paled in comparison with numbers from Tesla in September and for the third quarter of 2018. The next highest sellers, were the Chevrolet Bolt EV, with 3,949 sales from July to September, and the Nissan Leaf just behind with 3,767 for the quarter. By comparison, Tesla announced it sold 55,843 Model 3s in the third quarter along with 14,470 Model Ses and 13,190 Model Xes. The Tesla numbers include overseas sales, while other automakers publish U.S. delivery numbers separately. A large majority of Tesla's sales, however. are in the U.S...
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Chevy recalls some Bolt EVs, Volts over supplier brake issues
Chevrolet this week recalled three to four months worth of production Bolt EVs and Volt plug-in hybrids over a potential brake issue that could increase stopping distances of the small vehicles. The recall affects 2018-2019 Chevrolet Bolt EV and 2018-2019 Volt models sold in the U.S. and Canada...
Aaron Cole -
GM to expand Chevy Bolt EV sales, bring battery production to US
As part of a sweeping update on General Motors' electric-car plans, CEO Mary Barra announced the company will expand production and sales of the Chevy Bolt EV. At the same time, GM is expanding battery production for the Bolt EV from South Korea to a new factory in Michigan. In a blog post on...
Eric C. Evarts -
GM working on ultra fast charging system for electric cars like the Chevy Bolt EV (Updated)
Automakers are in a new race, not for miles per hour on a track or the street, but in miles per hour regained while an electric car is sitting at a charger. GM is the latest automaker to join the race toward faster-charging electric cars, with a new project to develop an "extreme fast charger" that...
Eric C. Evarts -
Tesla troubles, best deals, and time running out on VW diesels: The Week in Reverse
Who disputed EPA findings that less fuel-efficient cars will be safer? What did a second whistleblower at Tesla's Gigafactory allege? This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week ending August 17, 2018. Friday, another whistleblower came...
Eric C. Evarts -
GM increases Chevy Bolt EV production to ease supply constraints
Amid shortages of Chevy Bolt EVs at dealerships across the U.S. and Canada, Chevy has announced it will increase production by 20 percent. So far this year, Chevy has sold fewer than 2,000 Bolt EVs in the U.S. per month, for total sales of just over 9,000. Worldwide, the company says it sold 26,000...
Eric C. Evarts -
Many Green Car Reports readers have electric cars. Fewer own two, and have removed gasoline cars from their family fleet altogether. Reader Patrick Reid bought two Chevy Bolt EVs last year (one in January and another in April.) Last year, he wrote us about his experiences, why he likes the Bolts and what he doesn't, and how the cars have worked for him on a couple of longer road trips. DON'T MISS: This family has two Chevy Bolt EV electric cars, uses no gas at all He wrote to us again this week to share his experience living with just his two Bolt EVs to get around for a year. He's seeing...
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Shoppers in Canada may wait nearly a year to buy new Chevy Bolt EV
The new Chevy Bolt EV was a long time coming, but interested buyers in some parts of Canada may have to wait longer. Kent Wallace reported to us last week that Toronto-area dealerships were quoting shoppers an 8- to 12-month wait for the 238-mile electric car. A GM spokeswoman in Canada confirmed...
Aaron Cole -
2018 Chevy Bolts recalled to update battery software, prevent shutdowns
A voluntary software recall on the 2017 Chevy Bolt EV has been extended to 2018 models, a General Motors spokesman told Green Car Reports on Thursday. Last month, we reported that some owners of early 2017 Chevy Bolt EVs had failed batteries and would receive new batteries from GM. The fix also...
Eric C. Evarts -
New batteries for Bolt EVs, possible new name for Subaru electric, new Twitter poll, electric car fees: Today's Car News
To address a sudden loss of power, some Chevrolet Bolt EVs get new battery packs. We explain why. Subaru files for a trademark on a new name for its upcoming plug-in hybrid. Volkswagen releases fuel economy figures for its new Jetta. And we ask: "When will buying gasoline cars seem weird?" All this...
Eric C. Evarts -
Some Chevrolet Bolt EVs get new battery pack for sudden loss of power: here's why
It's every electric car owner's nightmare: the car indicates that remaining range has suddenly plummeted to zero, the battery pack stops providing current, and the car won't run. For some 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV drivers, that scenario has happened in real life. The problem has resulted in a program...
John Voelcker -
GM, EVgo to build Chevy Bolt EV fast-charging network, for Maven drivers only
General Motors has consistently declined to fund public charging stations that increase the utility and long-distance potential of the electric cars it sells. The company said firmly two years ago it had no intention of spending money on a charging network, a stance that distinguished GM from BMW...
John Voelcker -
For 15 years now, Buick has been a far more important brand in China than it is in North America: four out of five Buicks sold globally are purchased by Chinese buyers. The brand has a wider range and variety of vehicles in that country, along with numerous models U.S. buyers never lay eyes on. So Buick's announcement that it will take the wraps off a new model with both plug-in hybrid and battery-electric versions inevitably leads eager U.S. plug-in electric car fans to wonder if those cars will appear Stateside. DON'T MISS: GM to launch two new electric vehicles within 18 months, 20 by 2023...
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Why I traded my Chevy Bolt EV for a Tesla: one reader's story
As a nation, the U.S. takes lots of road trips, because most of the country has no viable mass transit between city pairs. If electric cars are ever to enter the mass market in North America, they have to be usable on those road trips. Last year, our reader Jay Lucas of Alexandria, Virginia, wrote...
John Voelcker -
Kona Electric, Bolt EV, Niro, C-HR aren't crossovers, despite what makers say
It happened again. At this week's New York auto show media days, a manufacturer rolled out yet another vehicle that it calls a "crossover" despite that vehicle having neither the ground clearance nor the all-wheel drive to qualify as a light truck. The car in question was the 2019 Hyundai Kona...
John Voelcker -
Battery life of 2018 Nissan Leaf vs 2017 Chevy Bolt EV electric cars: what manuals suggest
It's one of the major questions for any electric-car buyer: How long will the battery pack last? And what would it cost to replace it if I do need a new one sometime down the road? Now a new video looks at that question, comparing the different thermal-management technologies in the batteries of...
John Voelcker -
Which electric car is your favorite? Twitter poll results
Many times our polls deal with weighty issues—climate change, renewable energy, the effects of denying science—or survey expectations for the future. But sometimes we just do a "Pick one!" kind of poll. That's what we did last week, when we asked Twitter followers to name their favorite...
John Voelcker -
Chevy Bolt EV production to grow, GM to work for single set of fuel-economy rules: CEO Barra
General Motors CEO Mary Barra told energy conference attendees in Houston on Wednesday the automaker would increase production of its newest electric vehicle, push for a single fuel-economy standard nationwide, and support expanding tax credits for electrified vehicles. "The good news is that our...
Aaron Cole