[TimBolt]

As expected, big drop in April Bolt sales now that the federal tax credit has been halved:

https://insideevs.com/news/347358/ev-sales-scorecard-april-2019/

EV sales overall were only marginally higher than April of 2018, EV sales growth in the US appears anemic, mostly due to much lower Tesla domestic sales. Bolt sales came in fourth, behind the Tesla Model 3, Tesla Model X, and the Nissan Leaf.

The Kia Niro appears on the list for the first time, with a handful of sales for April.

As noted by insideevs, many of the sales numbers are estimates, as not all manufacturers report sales on a monthly basis.

Still, for those waiting for EV sales to take off, the wait continues, with EVs comprising only about 1.5% of total US vehicle sales for April.

 

[DaV8or]

In my area, the Bolt is finally catching on. I'm seeing more and more of them locally and right now the local dealers have awesome deals on them. I got the tax credit, but if I were buying today, even with the half credit, I could have gotten my Bolt a lot cheaper. With the discounts and credits, they really are in striking distance of the cost of an average ICE car. Leasing seems on par with ICE as well, but I'm no expert on leases as I have never desired to do so and have never researched that nest of worms.

 

[TimBolt]

In my area, the Bolt is finally catching on. I'm seeing more and more of them locally and right now the local dealers have awesome deals on them. I got the tax credit, but if I were buying today, even with the half credit, I could have gotten my Bolt a lot cheaper. With the discounts and credits, they really are in striking distance of the cost of an average ICE car. Leasing seems on par with ICE as well, but I'm no expert on leases as I have never desired to do so and have never researched that nest of worms.

Glad to hear that there are great deals to be had on a new Bolt, but with only around 900 sold nationwide in April the Bolt doesn’t really seem to be catching on. EV sales in general appear very anemic, based upon the dismal April sales numbers.

 

[GJETSON]

Here in central Virginia, sales are slow. There are now two used Bolts for sale within 75 miles of us. The 2017 LT at my local dealer, with 12K miles, was offered at $26K three weeks ago. They have now dropped it to $25K, and added the CARFAX info to their ad. It had one owner for 15 months, tire rotation at 7500 miles, inspection, no problems, Torque Pro shows 60.9 kWh capacity. i can't talk a single one of my Prius driving, liberal friends into buying this car.

 

[DaV8or]

Here in central Virginia, sales are slow. There are now two used Bolts for sale within 75 miles of us. The 2017 LT at my local dealer, with 12K miles, was offered at $26K three weeks ago. They have now dropped it to $25K, and added the CARFAX info to their ad. It had one owner for 15 months, tire rotation at 7500 miles, inspection, no problems, Torque Pro shows 60.9 kWh capacity. i can't talk a single one of my Prius driving, liberal friends into buying this car.

Sad, but it always comes down to the "But what if I want to go see Grandma 400 miles away?" argument.

 

[ArizonaJon]

Bolt inventory trends May 2019
I have been tracking the Bolt EV inventory for over 6 months using cars.com. While it may not be exactly correct, since I used the same method to determine the inventory, I think it correctly shows the trends. I expected a drop in Q1 as people took advantage of the last time they could get the $7,500 tax credit. Then in Q2, I expected the inventory to increase. Below are my results.
09/03/18 4,165 units
01/04/19 3,291
02/04/19 3,981
02/22/19 4,057
03/02/19 3,981
03/18/19 3,869
03/27/19 3,537
03/31/19 3,450
04/24/19 3,762
05/05/19 4,225
The lowest inventory was just after the December end of year sales events. Now the inventory is the highest it has been since I started to track it. In just the last few days it has climbed over 450 units. Sales down and inventory up in the US. Not a good outlook.

 

[Dimitrij]

GM is selling exactly the amount of Bolts they say they would - 25 to 30K a year globally. In 2018 it was 18K units in the US and probably another 10-12K overseas. In 2019 it would probably be the same. I expect the 2020 model to be rolled out after the summer shutdown. It may incorporate some long-overdue improvements, e.g. a winterized battery, a better driver's seat, or even a faster-charging battery, which might boost the sales figures a bit.

But otherwise, really, there won't be much drama in the Boltland or elsewhere in the mass market, "long" range uniEVrse for probably another couple of years.

 

[fusionjazz]

GM could surprise you and bring out the Bolts' sibling too.

 

[cwerdna]

Here in central Virginia, sales are slow. There are now two used Bolts for sale within 75 miles of us. The 2017 LT at my local dealer, with 12K miles, was offered at $26K three weeks ago. They have now dropped it to $25K, and added the CARFAX info to their ad. It had one owner for 15 months, tire rotation at 7500 miles, inspection, no problems, Torque Pro shows 60.9 kWh capacity. i can't talk a single one of my Prius driving, liberal friends into buying this car.

Problem is that if it were before April 1, 2019, it frankly wasn't a good deal vs. new heavily discounted ones w/tax credit. Even now, it's marginal.

As for the last part... FWIW, I had a Prius from Jan 2006 (bought my 06 Prius new) until early Feb 2019. I was a Prius fanboy and very active on Priuschat. I was more of a moderate politically, but I guess I've leaned more liberal over the past few years.

My interests shifted to Leaf (leased a '13 for 2 years then bought used '13 to replace it). Bought a new '19 Bolt Premier to replace the Leaf and Prius. Sold the Prius to my dad and have been kinda trying to sell the Leaf.

One prob for me is that GM's reliability record isn't very good overall esp. when compared to Toyota/Lexus, so this can be a blocker for some of them. We had 3 GM vehicles in the family before. None were very good in terms of reliability. Our Japanese cars (Nissans and Toyotas) overall have been much better. So, it was quite a leap for me to return to GM. Bolt's reliability record has been decent, so far. We'll have to see, longer term.

If Toyota actually made a reliable BEV for the US market that was competitive, then I'd have leaned that way. The Tesla-powered '12 to '14 Rav4 EV was pricey and the Tesla bits are pretty questionable: gateway ECU and esp. the drive units. Heater failures weren't that rare either, taking out the DC to DC converter some of the time.

 

[surgeonFWW]

Sad, but it always comes down to the "But what if I want to go see Grandma 400 miles away?" argument.

Tell them to rent a d**n car for that one trip per year. They will still be $1000 to the good. Or, they can learn how to DCFC for one hour on the way to Grandma's!

 

[twriter]

Why is anyone surprised? In no Chevy ad I've seen on TV since the Bolt was released have I seen Chevy promote the Bolt.

 

[Vertiformed]

i can't talk a single one of my Prius driving, liberal friends into buying this car.

Talk isn't how you do it, I'd say. You want to give them a ride and perhaps a test drive.

 

[GJETSON]

Talk isn't how you do it, I'd say. You want to give them a ride and perhaps a test drive.

They have ridden in the Bolt. None have wanted to drive it. You have to understand, these are not car nuts.

 

[Raymondjram]

Sad, but it always comes down to the "But what if I want to go see Grandma 400 miles away?" argument.

Just rent a hybrid for that trip, and save thousands of dollars the rest of the year. My maternal grandmother died before I was born, and my paternal grandmother never accepted my mother, so I only saw her twice as a child before she died. Calculate how much money our family saved by not traveling to see them!

 

[Raymondjram]

Talk isn't how you do it, I'd say. You want to give them a ride and perhaps a test drive.

Let them borrow your Bolt EV for a day or more, depending how much you trust them. They will return it with a big smile!

 

[Raymondjram]

They have ridden in the Bolt. None have wanted to drive it. You have to understand, these are not car nuts.

Aren't "car nuts" what hold the wheels to the hub?

 

[SayWatt]

When is the last time you've seen an electric car ad on tv or elsewhere? Dealers aren't that interested in pushing them because there is little to no 'after sale' money for them and I don't have to mention a 'push back' from Big Oil.

 

[GJETSON]

When is the last time you've seen an electric car ad on tv or elsewhere? Dealers aren't that interested in pushing them because there is little to no 'after sale' money for them and I don't have to mention a 'push back' from Big Oil.

i am going to start using a new tactic with my friends. When they ask how we are liking our EV, I am going to say it is a challenge requiring considerable intelligence, and I frankly don't think most folks are smart enough to be able to deal with it. That might sell some cars.

 

[NoMoPetrol]

When is the last time you've seen an electric car ad on tv or elsewhere?...

Actually, in the last month or so in SoCal ads for EVs have started showing up on the TV screen. They are even being shown at times of day when most people are awake. Never mind that the EVs being advertised are vaporware until 2021. Or 2022. Or 2023. We even have a billboard facing a heavily traveled freeway pushing EVs with a Flintstones vs Jetsons theme.

 

[Mhoffa]

Talk isn't how you do it, I'd say. You want to give them a ride and perhaps a test drive.

We own a Prius...with 125K miles in 3 years Looking ahead we realized an EV was the next logical step. We test drove the Bolt the Wednesday before Black Friday and decided if it was still in the show room Black Friday morning we were driving it out. $7,400 in savings and 0% APR plus the $7500 tax break, Plus no sales tax. Then again our decision was based on pragmatic conservative ideology about saving money and had nothing to do with hugging trees. (I own and use a chainsaw >)

We had test driven every other EV we could find and aside from the Model X we actually liked the Bolt the best. We also realized given the price of a decked out Model X that we could by 4 bolts!!!! We finished a 2500 mile road trip last month with the Bolt and it is our go to car over the Prius. Twice as roomy inside over the Prius; I'm 6'5 and have to squeeze into our Prius. No maintenance Much quieter than the Prius....and a whole lot more fun to drive than the Prius Don't get me wrong we like our Prius but we love our Bolt.

At the end of the day thank goodness we all have different tastes...it makes life interesting.