[DaV8or]

Besides the Bolt you may own, or lease, are you seeing Bolts out on the highway yet? I spotted my second one today. Other than a truck load I saw on a transporter and those on the dealer lots, I have only spotted two actually "in the wild".

How about you?

I thought they would be selling better here in the Bay Area Bubble, but it seems sales are a bit reserved which is good for me because they are starting to pile up on dealer lots and the price is coming down. (Now advertised $1700 off MSRP) Maybe people are waiting for others to go first? Maybe only a Tesla Model 3 will do? Maybe people hold a grudge against GM to the death?

 

[SparkE]

I've seen some plugged in, charging - including one parked 'overnight' (I assume) at 1 a.m. It was actively charging.

 

[klowenst]

I've seen a total of 4 in the wild. One was parked in a Trader Joe's parking lot in Morgan Hill and 3 were on 85 during commute between San Jose and Mountain View.

2 of them waived at me, I think they were excited to see another Bolt as well.

 

[Dewg]

I've yet to see one in the wild - Orange County, CA. I'm the only one!!

 

[phil0909]

I met one other Bolt in Orange County, at a car wash. Have not seen any others. I thought there would be more by now.

 

[V7i7c]

Not a single one... and I live in their native ecosphere- the Bay Area!

It'll be fun to start seeing them pop up.

 

[Posatronic]

Haven't seen any in Nebraska. Based on what people are saying I won't see any till September thru December 2017. I'll be the only one....

 

[bro1999]

All alone in MD so far. Reports are dealers got their first Bolts last week though.

 

[Forman]

Spotted an orange one in San Rafael the other day.

 

[DaV8or]

I met one other Bolt in Orange County, at a car wash. Have not seen any others. I thought there would be more by now.

Yeah, the feeling I'm getting is that they are just not catching on yet. Probably a disappointment for GM. People have said that 200+ miles in range coupled with a $30,000 cost would be a game changer, but it seems the game is still resistant to change.

I suspect the green folks, the tech hipsters and the EV fans are mostly waiting for the Model 3 and the rest of the ordinary car buying public has yet to become aware of how well this car can work for most. Likely better than the Model 3 in many cases. I think in the case of the Bolt however, it will have to be word of mouth, so I hope GM is responsive and does everything it can to address problems and keep the early adopters happy.

 

[HotPotato]

Depends if the issue is that they're "not selling" or that they're "not available for sale."

If they're not selling, well... We've been conditioned to expect cheap leases for an EV, and that's not happening with this one. You could lease a nice BMW for the same price as the Bolt, or a Tesla for a couple hundred more a month. A Bolt at $400+ monthly is a lot harder sell than a Spark EV at $139 monthly. Plus, compliance cars like the Fiat 500e and the (late) Toyota RAV4 EVs often come standard with the features of the top trim of the gasoline car, such as seat heaters and a great-sounding stereo, so it may surprise some people that they have to option-up the Bolt to taste. Compounding all that, the Bolt doesn't look or feel so expensive: not to the driver or their spouse, with the narrow cabin and hard surfaces (and a driver's seat that is both narrow and hard---my saleslady confirmed that the front seats are costing them sales), nor to the neighbors, who may think you bought a Honda Fit (which costs half as much). If Tesla fans are to be believed, the other issue is that the Bolt's fast-charger is not only optional but uses a standard that's slower to charge, harder to find, and more expensive to use than Tesla's Superchargers.

But even if all that's true, find me another EV that goes 238 miles per charge, does 0-60 in 6.5 seconds, has Apple CarPlay, etc. and sells for less than the average transaction price of a new car in the US. The Bolt is in a class of one, and ought to be selling like hotcakes. And as it turns out...it is. The Bolt apparently has the fastest inventory turnover of any car on sale right now. So it may be more an issue of constrained supply, as it has taken a little while to ramp up production and deliver the cars.

 

[leocal11]

checking in from the SF Bay Area also:
-i have seen an Arctic Blue one on my evening commute up 101 North from Redwood Shores, purchased at Boardwalk, like me.
-saw an orange one in SF the other day on Oceane Ave.
-and oddly enough, i have a coworker that has the exact color and model as i do: Kinetic Blue, LT. but have not met or discovered who it is yet. the other day he/she actually parked next to me i noticed. it was kinda cute to see the two blue Bolts next to each other, but still this person has eluded me.

if any of these are you guys, let me know.

 

[devbolt]

Given how the car has just been released and that supplies are constrained due to production and transport issues, it's not surprising that there have been few sightings out on the roads. Give it time to build before declaring it a failure. Took quite some time for Teslas to become a,common sighting around the Bay Area...

 

[SparkE]

About 2000 vehicles have been sold in 2 states with a total population over 40 million.

Not seeing one yet would not cause me any great alarm about the future of the product.

 

[Homebreww]

After four weeks of having my Bolt here in the Bay Area, I finally saw another in the wild. I was surprised to notice that the turn signal lamps were in the bumper; I hadn't realized that!

 

[DaV8or]

Depends if the issue is that they're "not selling" or that they're "not available for sale."

If they're not selling, well... We've been conditioned to expect cheap leases for an EV, and that's not happening with this one. You could lease a nice BMW for the same price as the Bolt, or a Tesla for a couple hundred more a month. A Bolt at $400+ monthly is a lot harder sell than a Spark EV at $139 monthly. Plus, compliance cars like the Fiat 500e and the (late) Toyota RAV4 EVs often come standard with the features of the top trim of the gasoline car, such as seat heaters and a great-sounding stereo, so it may surprise some people that they have to option-up the Bolt to taste. Compounding all that, the Bolt doesn't look or feel so expensive: not to the driver or their spouse, with the narrow cabin and hard surfaces (and a driver's seat that is both narrow and hard---my saleslady confirmed that the front seats are costing them sales), nor to the neighbors, who may think you bought a Honda Fit (which costs half as much). If Tesla fans are to be believed, the other issue is that the Bolt's fast-charger is not only optional but uses a standard that's slower to charge, harder to find, and more expensive to use than Tesla's Superchargers.

But even if all that's true, find me another EV that goes 238 miles per charge, does 0-60 in 6.5 seconds, has Apple CarPlay, etc. and sells for less than the average transaction price of a new car in the US. The Bolt is in a class of one, and ought to be selling like hotcakes. And as it turns out...it is. The Bolt apparently has the fastest inventory turnover of any car on sale right now. So it may be more an issue of constrained supply, as it has taken a little while to ramp up production and deliver the cars.

It's not lack of supply here in the Bay Area. There are now hundreds of them sitting on lots around the area. Fremont has over 100 alone and many dealers are now discounting. The lease is no longer an issue either because I see $269 a month advertised now, but you do have to put money down. Where is it selling like hot cakes? The same inventoried cars I saw offered two weeks ago are still available. I think it is selling just OK.

 

[DaV8or]

Given how the car has just been released and that supplies are constrained due to production and transport issues, it's not surprising that there have been few sightings out on the roads. Give it time to build before declaring it a failure. Took quite some time for Teslas to become a,common sighting around the Bay Area...

No constraints around here. There are over 100 to choose from at just one dealer. All available for purchase right now, today. There are more on the way. Anybody in California that wants one can have one, today, right now.

I'm not declaring the Bolt a failure, I'm just making an observation. I think sales of the Bolt will pick up when the general public becomes more aware of it's benefits. However I do feel that many of the kind of buyers that would really like a BEV and are willing to be an early adopters right now are waiting for the Model 3. Tesla got 300,000+ people to put down $1000 and Chevy probably got around four digits.

The Bolt is an ordinary car with an extraordinary drivetrain. The Model 3 has sexy sizzle, comes from a brand that has no past baggage and is seen as a model of 21st century industry with a very public and dynamic CEO. Tesla has captured the imagination of most early adopters. It will take time for the general public, who usually are not early adopters to see that in many ways the Bolt will actually work better for them than the Model 3 (unless Musk surprises us all and changes a lot of things on the 3 in the end) and how the Bolt also can work better for them in some cases than their ICE cars.

I expect Bolt sales to pick up. The good news is, with cars sitting on lots, better deals can be had and MSRP and dealer mark up has been squashed.

 

[VacMan]

Rydell has 74 in their system with at least 30 unsold as of this morning. They're already offering $1500 off.

http://www.chevynorthridge.com/Vehi...ew&trim=5dr HB LT&pageNumber=1&visitedVD=true

 

[DaV8or]

Rydell has 74 in their system with at least 30 unsold as of this morning. They're already offering $1500 off.

http://www.chevynorthridge.com/Vehi...ew&trim=5dr HB LT&pageNumber=1&visitedVD=true

Yep. It's advertised $1700 off here and that means you may be able to get $2000 off pretty easy I think. They're out there if you want them.

 

[devbolt]

Rydell has 74 in their system with at least 30 unsold as of this morning. They're already offering $1500 off.

http://www.chevynorthridge.com/Vehi...ew&trim=5dr HB LT&pageNumber=1&visitedVD=true

I see about 130 listed, with about 50 or 60 or so actually listed as in stock. They also have 73 Malibus listed in stock, some from 2016. And 186 Silverado trucks.