[TimBolt]

News article on planned increase in Bolt production announced by CEO Barra:

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/07/mary-barra-gm-ceraweek-chevy-bolt.html

 

[daveo4Bolt]

Increase production of the Bolt

https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/general-motors/2018/03/07/general-motors-plans-boost-chevy-bolt-ev-production-orion-assembly/403202002/

 

[RMiller]

Other than that GM plans to go all-electric at some point and that they want 'partners' to build out the charging infrastructure, not a lot of hard facts here.

 

[Dyefrog]

Other than that GM plans to go all-electric at some point and that they want 'partners' to build out the charging infrastructure, not a lot of hard facts here.

"GM also is looking for partners in the energy industry and beyond to help it build out a US network of EV charging stations."
That's certainly an about face. Good news.

 

[shocker]

News article on planned increase in Bolt production announced by CEO Barra:

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/07/mary-barra-gm-ceraweek-chevy-bolt.html

Good reminder the Bolt can serve a world market, not just US-Canada.

As an owner, I want to hear about the charging network. I'm in the middle of a desert.

 

[Cehjun]

Since TimBolt started the thread before dave04Bolt, I’ll post here first.

A quick read indicates to me they’re going to put Orion assembly to two shifts versus current one shift.

I’m not familiar with the insides of Orion assembly. Just guessing that the engine dress and tranny integration operations for the Sonic is much more labour intensive than plucking the electric stuff from LG and dropping it into Bolt EV.

Therefore since Barra is talking about more jobs in Orion assembly, due in all likelihood to Bolt not Sonic, it must be an addition of a production shift. Or possibly a significant line speed increase, don’t know what speed rate they’re running now.

The fleet thing and now this. Can I change my purchase to a lease

Here ye here ye. A toronto based cehjun red bolt, premier both packages, babied low kilometers available April, 2018 !!

 

[GlenandhisBolt1!]

Don't be a coal-burner. Get solar panels. We should all be doing what I do: driving on sunshine. Sure, the up-front cost is high, but with many utilities (with time-of-use rates), the payback is less than ten years. After that, the electricity is free for the balance of the life of the panels (typical panels are warranted for 20 to 25 years).

 

[redpoint5]

Don't be a coal-burner. Get solar panels. We should all be doing what I do: driving on sunshine. Sure, the up-front cost is high, but with many utilities (with time-of-use rates), the payback is less than ten years. After that, the electricity is free for the balance of the life of the panels (typical panels are warranted for 20 to 25 years).

Great for San Jose, not so great for Portland. Oregon electricity is cheap, and the sun is scarce (in the valley). I'd rather pay for someone in Phoenix to get solar panels, and have them pay me (a reduced rate) for the amount produced.

 

[Cehjun]

There's no coal burning anywhere up here. It's Ohio, they burn the sh1t and it floats up into our atmosphere and into our cities.

We should put a countervailing duty on Harley Davidsons wine from California and the gdam sh1t than Ohio puts out that exports to my lungs.

Well. I thought I outsmarted the market by buying my Bolt rather than leasing. Since then GM is going to be using it as AV, its going to be dumped into fleet and who knows what else.

I'll just flip mine for something else (BEV of course) that'll hold value better.

 

[TimBolt]

Don't be a coal-burner. Get solar panels. We should all be doing what I do: driving on sunshine. Sure, the up-front cost is high, but with many utilities (with time-of-use rates), the payback is less than ten years. After that, the electricity is free for the balance of the life of the panels (typical panels are warranted for 20 to 25 years).

I wish I could, but very tall trees on my property and adjacent properties make solar a non-starter for me.

The good news is that electricity generation from coal has dropped rapidly from about 50%, and is now below 30%. With dozens of additional coal fired plants slated to close that percentage will probably be well below 20% in a few years. There isn’t a single utility in the country planning on building any new coal fired electric plants.

Most of that capacity is being replaced by natural gas, and renewables, especially wind, are increasing rapidly. All this is good news for anyone concerned about the source of the electricity they use for the Bolt. Solar is by far the best solution, but grid sourced energy is getting cleaner and cleaner.

 

[TimBolt]

There's no coal burning anywhere up here. It's Ohio, they burn the sh1t and it floats up into our atmosphere and into our cities.

We should put a countervailing duty on Harley Davidsons wine from California and the gdam sh1t than Ohio puts out that exports to my lungs.

Well. I thought I outsmarted the market by buying my Bolt rather than leasing. Since then GM is going to be using it as AV, its going to be dumped into fleet and who knows what else.

I'll just flip mine for something else (BEV of course) that'll hold value better.

If you’re looking for a car that holds its value any EV is generally a poor choice, due to the rapid advancements in EV technology. I don’t think selling your Bolt and buying a different EV will change the underlying problem of low resale value.

 

[Dimitrij]

Since in Jan-Feb 2018 GM sold fewer Bolts in the US than in each of the final months of 2017, does it mean that the production slowed down, or the inventoried grew, or more Bolts were made available to those buyers, who think it's Opel Ampera E?

 

[Cehjun]

Total US sales decrease in this period and inventories probably increase. Bolt EV is over represented in California so it's probably not as affected by seasonals. Although there may have been some pull ahead sales into December 2017 as result of the threat at that time, of elimination of $7,500 tax credit.

Total US Vehicle Sales unadjusted 000’s
October 2017 1385.6
November 2017 1424.5
December 2017 1638.7

January 2018 1180.6
February 2018 1326.3

 

[SciJohn]

Bolt EV sales

Chevy Bolt EV sales probably went up at the end of 2017 because of the Federal Tax credit.
Folks purchasing a Bolt EV in the first few months of 2018 have to wait for a year to apply the tax credit.

 

[Cehjun]

If you’re looking for a car that holds its value any EV is generally a poor choice, due to the rapid advancements in EV technology. I don’t think selling your Bolt and buying a different EV will change the underlying problem of low resale value.

Very true. I had thought Bolt EV may bend that curve somewhat. I'm wrong.

Although it strikes one's fancy - - is there a way of flipping one's BEV over the next few years, through the maze of BEV launches and the minefield of gov't type rebates or credits and threatened discontinuances thereof. Such that one can economically own a recent BEV design. Such that at the end of it all one doesn't end up with a big paperweight appliance with commensurate low value per ton. It's like trying to "time" the market. Always tempting, quite risky.

BTW: Coal accounts for 59% of Ohio's hydro production. How'd you like a stinky bugger sitting beside you...

 

[daveo4Bolt]

I prefer to own things - never liked debt or leases - but I also hate accelerated depreciation…

so I leased the Bolt

my thinking was that while mechanically EV's should depreciate less than ICE's (fewer components that wear less and have greater longevity) there is a whole eco-system of enhancements beyond the mechanical issues of a used car vs. new car with EV's - there isn't much difference between a 2013 Honda Civic vs. a 2018 Honda Civic in terms of real improvement - but for example there is a huge difference between a 2012 Tesla Model S and a 2018 Tesla Model S - they aren't even really the same car - one is sooooo much more car/features/range…for about hte same money - it's tanked the value of the 2012 Model S beyond what should happen due to mileage/age/wear-tear…

I anticipate similar improvements for all EV's for a bit - and therefore depreciation is less predictable in the EV world - therefore I leased the car where I knew what my total cost would be to drive the car for 39 months - and I'm paying to let GM finance assume the risk of any un-anticipated market value depreciation.

 

[bro1999]

An interesting thing's been happening with used EV prices...Leafs in particular. A couple of years ago, you could literally pick up a used Leaf (maybe 3-4 years old, 50-60k miles) for under $7-8k without tons of effort. Now those same cars are going for more like 9-10k. And with the federal tax credit phasing out as soon as this year for Tesla and GM (probably not Nissan till 2019), that should only help used resale prices.

 

[shocker]

There's no coal burning anywhere up here.

Let's talk about the INCO Superstack.

 

[TimBolt]

There's no coal burning anywhere up here. It's Ohio, they burn the sh1t and it floats up into our atmosphere and into our cities.

We should put a countervailing duty on Harley Davidsons wine from California and the gdam sh1t than Ohio puts out that exports to my lungs.

Well. I thought I outsmarted the market by buying my Bolt rather than leasing. Since then GM is going to be using it as AV, its going to be dumped into fleet and who knows what else.

I'll just flip mine for something else (BEV of course) that'll hold value better.

I guess we’re not counting the pollution from the Alberta tar sands, the largest single polluter in North America.

It ain’t just Ohio.

 

[Cehjun]

Uh oh. A polluter discussion can go on forever and end up nowhere. Doesn't belong in a thread about upcoming Bolt volume increase.

An earlier poster mentioned coal versus solar in the production of electrical energy. Discussion branched out from there.

The INCO stack doesn’t supply power to the grid (does it?), but a lot of nickel production ends up in EV batteries. The bitumen sands, which exist both in the US and Canada, are/were an important part of achieving energy security for North America.

Yada yada. I’m willing to call it a “draw” if you are.