Life With The Chevy Bolt — The First 1,200 Miles
Kyle Field did a great job reviewing the Bolt, what I thought I’d do here is share some views on why we leased it and also give our hands-on impressions over the last 1,200 miles.
Kyle Field did a great job reviewing the Bolt, what I thought I’d do here is share some views on why we leased it and also give our hands-on impressions over the last 1,200 miles.
This new video isn’t the first time Marc Tarpenning has recounted the birth of Tesla (he and his erstwhile partner Martin Eberhard delivered a fascinating account in a speech at Stanford last October), but this is as concise and engaging a version as we’ve seen yet.
It often seems that just about every new electric vehicle that is either launched, announced or showcased as a concept car for the future is called a ‘Tesla killer” by the mainstream business and automobile press.
I wish they’d just stop it.
Polestar has been making a name for itself on race tracks around the world by providing some of the closest and most exciting race finishes in recent history. Now, the Volvo-owned tuning firm is going to be competing with the real big boys in the automotive business — by becoming a manufacturer in its own right.
Along the way on the rebirth of the modern electric vehicle (EV), we’ve witnessed some “far out” and pretty wild projects. We also saw some of the world’s smartest folks pull together top engineers and brilliant ideas. Some of these companies and projects have threatened conventional carmakers inebriated with bottom line profits to the detriment of innovation. Sadly, some of the companies have fallen by the wayside, while other idle, waiting for the right moment to hopefully capitalize on the business sense of their leadership.
If you’ve been to Japan, or in certain parts of Asia, you will have seen those little Honda scooters, sometimes hauling more than their fair share. Honda’s venerable Cub has been driven million of miles with no-frills practicality in mind. Yet, they have one little, tiny problem. They use gasoline and pollute.
In an attempt to summarize what he was looking for from a cutting-edge race vehicle, Emil Jellinek — one of the original designers of the first Mercedes-Benz vehicle — said simply, “I don’t want a car for today or tomorrow, it will be the car of the day after tomorrow.” In many ways, we are back at the same intersection of the end of an era of old technology as it is faced with the dawning of a new era.
Following up on the Tesla Model 3 vs Audi A3, Audi A4, Audi A5, Audi S3 fun, let’s dive into another lineup of premium-class sedans and hybrids that the Tesla Model 3 will compete against.
Doing things a bit differently this time, let’s jump into Lexus sales first. Sales of these 4 Lexus models added up to 119,369 in the US in 2016, about 55,000 more than the Audi A3, A4, and A5 combined (74,579). Combining all of these models, we’re up to nearly 200,000 premium sedan sales the Tesla Model 3 could steal some serious revenue from.
Audi has not been at the forefront of vehicle electrification so far, but it is moving towards the future with solid electric vehicle projections.
California is about to begin testing a new “point of sale” clean vehicle rebate plan in San Diego. Under the present rules, people who purchase a qualifying EV can get a check back from the state for up to $7,000, depending on their income level. California started indexing its rebate program to income level a few years ago to avoid the charge that the incentives the state was offering were mostly benefiting wealthy tech tycoons and Hollywood stars replacing their Porsches with Teslas. The state is much more interested in encouraging low-income families to give up their inefficient and pollution-belching commuter cars and drive a low- or zero-emissions (and far safer) car instead.