Bolt Keeps Raking in Awards Before Release, Wins Green Car Reports’ Best Car to Buy for 2017
Man, the Chevy Bolt is having a good week. First, I find out that it has not just been named a finalist for Motor Trend’s Car of the Year award, but that it actually won, and now come to find out Green Car Reports has named the Bolt as its Best Car to Buy for 2017.
Whoop whoop!
Whew. Someone needs to get over to GM’s electric powertrain division with a cake and a bottle of something fizzy.
The Bolt beat out competition from the Toyota Prius Prime (spiritual successor to the discontinued Prius Plug-in hybrid) and Tesla Model X (the electric automaker’s second, crossover offering).
So, what gave the Bolt the edge over the Prius Prime and Model X? Its two top selling points besides its rad European ads: its electric range (which was promised to be 200 miles but ended up at 238) and its price ($29,995 after the tax credit). That, as Green Car Reports points out, is the same range of a base Tesla Model S for about half the price.
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That range, according to the news site’s own test drive, is completely accurate, as the car took a full day of mixed driving, including on the highway, going up and down hills, and sitting in traffic. The editors estimate that most drivers won’t even need to recharge the Bolt that often—just every couple nights. Plus, they found the Bolt fun to drive, with strong off-the-line acceleration and good handling thanks to the below-floor battery pack giving the whole thing a low center of gravity.
All that value is wrapped up in a five-seat compact hatchback (or crossover utility vehicle, as Chevy insists), with controls optimized through the development of its predecessor, the Chevy Volt.
Plus, it’s coming out far ahead of 200+ mile range cars promised by other automakers, including Tesla.
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News Source: Green Car Reports
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