A New Chevy Bolt EV For $17,000? (With Incentives)

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The article title is accurate, even though it may seem a bit peculiar because at the moment Chevy Bolt EVs are not new. (There is a new version coming out fairly soon, though.) The Chevy Bolt referenced in the State of Charge video by Tom was new in 2023, and with incentives it cost about $17,000. The point of writing about such an affordable EV and a quality one is that there are people who keep repeating the myth that “EVs cost too much,” when in fact there are affordable EVs.

So far, I have written about a new Nissan Ariya for $31,000 before incentives and savings, a new Chevy Equinox EV for $32,000 before incentives and savings and a new Nissan Leaf for $28,000 with a state incentive but before savings.

This Bolt cost $17,000 brand new because there were several incentives. For people who know about EVs, that’s an obviously low price. For people who don’t know about EVs, they might not have any idea there are such affordable options. Recently, someone tried to tell me electric vehicles cost $187,000 and another guy told me they all cost $40,000. Neither was correct.

The cost of the Bolt in the video could also effectively be reduced by potential fuel, maintenance, and repair savings. The Bolt is being driven by a senior citizen who got rid of his gas Honda Accord. He will save money by charging the Bolt at home. I don’t know how much exactly, because it is not shown in the video precisely how much he drives every month, what the cost of the home charging electricity is, and the cost of gasoline in his area. If he saves $90 a month by charging with electricity, the annual savings will be about $1,000. In five years, the fuel savings could be $5,000, putting the effective total cost of the Bolt at only $12,000.

There is also potential savings from not needing the same maintenance and repairs his former Honda would have needed in the same 5 years. In the video, it is mentioned that the senior gent appreciates and utilizes the regenerative braking, which sends electricity to the battery pack while he is driving. It also means he is not using the conventional brakes very much, so there is less need to change the brake pads — so they won’t wear out as quickly as in his Honda Accord, which does not have regenerative braking. He also mentions the conventional brake pads might not need to be replaced at all.

There are a couple more important points. The senior gent says he has no range anxiety and has achieved 300 miles on a single charge when he charged the battery pack to 100%. I was a bit gobsmacked to see the Bolt’s instrumentation reflecting an energy efficiency of 4.9 miles per kWh as he was driving. He understands how to hypermile, which is not something many drivers can accomplish.

I once knew a senior citizen who was a diehard Democrat and considered himself an environmentalist. He used cloth bags to do his grocery shopping instead of using the grocery store’s paper or plastic bags. He thought electric vehicles didn’t have enough range even though on most days he didn’t drive at all and his longest weekly excursion was 50–60 miles round trip. He drove to a city near the suburb he lived in to pick up some magazines from his cousin and do some ballroom dancing. A Chevy Bolt would have easily covered his driving distance and more.

Another advantage with that Bolt driver who is charging at home is that it is more convenient than having to drive a Honda Accord to a gas station every time for refueling.

Some of the user comments for the video agree about electric vehicles and their worth.

• “A lot of drivers are over 60. And I’m one of them. I bought my car at 62 years of age. And I love my Bolt and I will never buy a gas car again.”
• “Chevy really hit it out of the park with the Bolt. I’ve seen some people with over 400,000 miles on the odometer, and they still get over 200 miles of range.”

• “I’m almost 78 and recently bought an Equinox EV. Loving it thus far, and do not miss the old gas guzzler in the least.”
• “I’m 75 and have had an EV since 2011. Your father is amazing. I hope I’m half as sharp as him at 88 if I make it. EVs are great for seniors if they charge at home. Eliminates another hassle of not having to worry about going to the gas station.”
• “Hey Ho, this writer is 75 yrs on—and owns a 2020 Tesla Model 03. Not all of the ‘antique’ EV drivers eschew an EV. Good for the Dad!”

Congratulations to the 88-year-old Bolt driver who may be more open-minded and informed than some Americans half his age.

What is oddly missing from the video is the fact that fossil fuels and internal combustion engines do a great deal of damage to human health and the environment. Using fully electric vehicles, not hybrids, helps to reduce that damage.

When I conducted an interview with the American Lung Association about its report pertaining to electric vehicles and clean electricity, they mentioned how switching to the clean technology could prevent almost 90,000 premature human deaths and over 2 million asthma attacks.