Chevy Crams 6 kWh More Batteries Into The 2020 Bolt For 21 Miles Of Extra Range
Chevy pulled out all the stops to bring an affordable, long range electric vehicle to market before the Tesla Model 3, unveiling the 238 miles per charge, $37,500 Chevy Bolt EV to market just before the Tesla Model 3. Tesla entered the market with the base price of the Model 3 at $49,000, taking two full years to bring the price down to the “affordable” $35,00 base price for the Model 3 equipped with the Standard Range battery pack.
Just a few short months later and Chevy is back at it with a range increase for the Chevrolet Bolt EV, up 21 miles per charge to 259 miles. That gives the $37,500 Bolt EV a very respectable range that the vast majority of potential owners can do life in without having to compromise. With this much range, drivers won’t have to worry about range and automakers can start looking for ways to bring the cost down from the still lofty mid-$30,000s down to the $20,000s and below. Truth be told, on the surface, the Chevy Bolt looks much more like a compact car that consumers would expect to pay under $20k for, so it truly is a race to get the price down for Chevy if the company is to have a shot at pulling mainstream consumers away from petrol vehicles.
Comparing the efficiency specs to the 2019 Bolt, we can see that the efficiency of the 2020 Bolt is just a hair lower than the 2019 Bolt. The 2020 Bolt requires 29 kWh to travel the standard 100 miles (3.45 miles per kWh) while the 2019 Bolt was able to do the same with 28 kWh (3.75 miles per kWh).
It is not a gamechanger by itself, but seeing as how Car and Driver believes the 200 kW electric motors powering the Bolt have not changed, we can surmise that the decreased efficiency and simultaneous increase in range come as a result of additional weight in the form of extra batteries. At the new efficiency of 3.45 miles per kWh, we can calculate that Chevy has added 6.1 kWh of usable battery capacity to the car without impacting the interior space. It’s an impressive feat and we’ll keep an eye out to see how this was accomplished as more details about the 2020 Bolt EV are released.
Source: Engadget | FuelEconomy.gov
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