[Electro]

After reading an article on Car Scoops, it seems that deliveries for the chevy bolt will be delayed up to three months. Order books were supposed to open in August for the all-electric, but now it may not be until November.

Full article here : http://www.carscoops.com/2016/08/chevrolet-bolt-deliveries-delayed-by-as.html

 

[LightningBolt]

It's not really an outright delay so people will still be getting their Chevy Bolt before the year ends, some people will just be waiting a bit longer than others before Chevy can ramp up production. Even with slow delivery, the Bolt will still be ahead of the Tesla Model 3 release.

The wait time is not ideal but then again, I plan on waiting a while after the initial release before getting a Bolt anyways.

 

[DucRider]

The original story on Cleantechnica has since had a retraction published since it was based solely on information from a salesperson working at a dealership in California.
http://cleantechnica.com/2016/08/19/chevy-bolt-launch-timing-delayed/

It is now starting to be picked up and repeated as a "fact". We saw the same thing with the "facts" that GM could only produce 25K Bolts a year, that Lyft drivers would get the Bolt first, etc.

They have since retracted their retraction to a degree, and are saying the Bolt is indeed delayed from when they heard that orders would start in August with deliveries beginning October 1st. GM has been pretty consisten with the OCTober producation start and deliveries by the end of the year.

 

[Electro]

Retracted their retraction... So many retractions is what throws me off all the darn time. That and my minor knowledge in any of this.

So we should be expecting deliveries by the end of the year opposed to October ?

 

[Breezy]

Barring any actual honest-to-goodness delays, we should be expecting deliveries by the end of the year. GM has never actually said anything but that.

It's been widely leaked and reported that production is scheduled for October, but that doesn't mean deliveries in October. Given that this is an all new model, we shouldn't be surprised if there's a QA hold on the first cars produced before they're delivered to dealers. This happened with the 2016 Volt. Then there is transit time, which is usually weeks. So we're looking at November/December before the first customers take their cars home.

 

[LightningBolt]

Unless someone here lives close to the Orion Assembly Plant in Michigan? I assume transportation time is cut down for that state just because of where the plant is located.

 

[Electro]

Is it ever possible to pick up the vehicle directly from the factory ?

 

[DucRider]

Is it ever possible to pick up the vehicle directly from the factory ?

Not from GM/Chevy.

Some European manufacturers do offer that program, but nobody in the US that I'm aware of (NADA and franchise laws certainly play a part).

I have friends that get their Volvo's that way. Fly to Sweden, tour for a week or two, then return to the factory where it is shipped (for free) to the US and their dealer. http://www.volvocars.com/us/shopping-tools/explore/overseas-delivery

My grandfather tried that with a VW Rabbit in the late 80's, but the car never made it back with him. He had a run-in with a truck outside of a small village in France. Woke up in a tiny (2 room) "hospital" where nobody spoke English. Car was totaled and he was a little pissed they wouldn't even let him take the rear window where he had stickers from all the countries he'd visited.

 

[Bazinga]

Like how your grandfather was pissed about the stickers and not the totaled car.

I had a friend who picked up his porsche 911 gt3 in Germany but that is some high end expensive car. Doubt mass produced cars will have the option.

 

[MasterElectrician]

Unless someone here lives close to the Orion Assembly Plant in Michigan? I assume transportation time is cut down for that state just because of where the plant is located.

I live 25 miles from the Orion Plant (as the crow flies), so I'll be in a position to answer that question once my local Chevy dealer gets the ordering codes from GM. Although... it still took me 14 weeks to get my 2013 Ford Focus Electric after I ordered it from the dealer directly across the street from the plant where it was built (Michigan Assembly in Wayne, Michigan) so.... What's really the big 'unknown' here is GM's plan for allocating Bolts to dealers in states more friendly to EVs first. Like California, Oregon and Washington. I suspect that someone ordering from a dealer in California is more likely to get their Bolt before I get mine even though we may have ordered it in the same week.

 

[Bazinga]

It'll probably work as you said, EV friendly cities first and then elsewhere even if you're very close to the production plant. Which is too bad but I understand that they want to fill high volume orders first before shipping them to other states.