[Chevy Bolt News]

Rumors have been circulating around recently regarding the Bolt’s delivery date after a report was released by Cleantechnica but, their claim has since been retracted.

The author’s original source was a dealer representative at their local Chevy dealership in Southern California. When he mentioned putting in an order for the Chevy Bolt on October 1st to the rep, he was told that the dealership won’t be taking in orders until sometime in November. This would also push back the first deliveries and probably delay it until 2017 if the representative was right.

Another publication, electrek, reached out to GM about the delay and was told by a company spokesperson that deliveries are still set to commence later in 2016. They’ve even received an email from Fred Ligouri, communication manager for Chevrolet’s electric vehicles, stating that Chevy will “begin deliveries of the 2017 Bolt EV later this year.”

Where the author could have gotten the 3 months delay is from the August order date that they claim Chevy shared back at ACT. October was when Chevy planned to start regular production of the Bolt and this date was on a leaked production schedule earlier this year.

Another point to make regarding pre-orders is that Chevy doesn’t seem too keen on taking them like Tesla. Ligouri said as much earlier this year; “We haven't taken any. We don't need to, to begin building our products. We're really excited to offer it when it goes into retail production at the end of this year to those that have expressed interest."

Deliveries will be prioritized for the more EV friendly markets so some delay is to be expected if you live outside of those areas.

 

[DucRider]

Another point to make regarding pre-orders is that Chevy doesn’t seem too keen on taking them like Tesla.
Deliveries will be prioritized for the more EV friendly markets so some delay is to be expected if you live outside of those areas.

Not taking pre-orders (or reservations for pre-orders) is also tied to selling thru franchises (dealers) vs direct sales (Tesla).

When I was waiting for my Fit EV (they hand built ~40/month), Honda claimed their franchise agreements kept them from maintaining a "master list" and that cars would be allocated to individual dealers who were then free to lease them to whomever they wished off of their own list. Since the dealers are independent dealers, they were not able to dictate what they did with the product (cars) once it was delivered to them. I was on 5 dealers waiting lists for 7 months before I got one.

In addition to being prioritized by market, dealers that have promoted EV's (Spark/Volt in CA, OR, MD or the Volt elsewhere) will get higher allocations. Dealers are also being required to invest in additional equipment and training in order to be able to sell the Volt. I couldn't get an actual $ figure (other than "significant"), but it likely includes a CCS DCFC and/or other charging equipment. This investment is in addition to any made to sell the Spark EV or Volt.

 

[Bazinga]

I assume the dealers already has most of the equipment needed to sell the Bolt if they've already updated everything for the Volt. At this point, the delay won't be from the Bolt being produced at a later time but the amount they're able to produce and ship out starting in October. This is to be expected and people have already unofficially put themselves on the wait list at their dealerships here: http://www.chevybolt.org/forum/55-chevy-bolt-pricing-dealers-ordering/3906-ordering-new-bolt-ev-week.html

 

[DucRider]

I assume the dealers already has most of the equipment needed to sell the Bolt if they've already updated everything for the Volt.

If you're talking wrenches, screwdrivers, etc., then yes.
But in order to sell the Bolt, dealers need to buy in to a completely different "package" than either the Spark EV or Volt. Cost is the same even if you are authorized for either/both of those.

 

[Bazinga]

Could dealerships possibly drag their feet with Bolt orders if they're reluctant to get the needed "package"? That would suck for people who wants to buy a Bolt but can't.

 

[LightningBolt]

Has anyone else noticed the calendar on Chevy's site with the 31st on it? Does that mean we'll see the Bolt configuration page go up at the end of October as there's no 31st for September?

 

[DucRider]

Could dealerships possibly drag their feet with Bolt orders if they're reluctant to get the needed "package"? That would suck for people who wants to buy a Bolt but can't.

Yes - and some will.
Just one part of the required "investment" is a DCFC for $15K (not including installation). If you're in a market where you can sell (or be allocated) 5 Bolts a month, what would you do?

If they embrace it and promote the Bolt, they'll likely do fine. But will it really add to the bottom line in small volume dealerships? Not likely when you factor in the lack of service revenue.