[Electro]

Here's a little write-up on Bloomberg.com about the Chevy Bolt. They do admit it is a very good vehicle but, just not a looker

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2016-12-19/the-chevy-bolt-is-the-ugly-car-of-the-very-near-future

It is not, however, a looker. “Pragmatic” is probably the best adjective to describe the car. It looks like a stubby pod, cluttered by a smattering of busy design cues—swooping creases, bits of black plastic, and too many lights. The odd design works like clown-car magic on the interior, however. Chevy managed to peg the driver’s seat high for a commanding view of the road, while leaving plenty of headroom for tall people in the front seats and in back.

The Bolt’s design is neither futuristic nor timeless, but that’s likely the point. GM has boldly designed electric cars in the past and it didn’t go so well. The Bolt simply looks like a lot of other contemporary cars—a little Buick Encore, a little Honda HR-V and a dash of BMW i3. The shape grows on you. It’s athletic; small without being wimpy, sturdy without being bloated.

Darin Gesse, senior manager of GM product strategy, admitted that design took a second seat to function. “We talked to customers about what they wanted and it all came down to range and price and range,” he said. “Everything else wasn’t even second on the list; it was like 9th.”

 

[DaV8or]

See, it's dumb focus groups and surveys that are killing cars.-

Darin Gesse, senior manager of GM product strategy, admitted that design took a second seat to function. “We talked to customers about what they wanted and it all came down to range and price and range,” he said. “Everything else wasn’t even second on the list; it was like 9th.”

Consumers don't really know what they want. They'll know it when they see it. When you ask consumers to list what's important in a car on a piece of paper, it suddenly becomes all left brain and things like reliability, economy, price, cargo space, etc become paramount. It is often assumed that somehow all of their left brain requirements will be fulfilled in a beautiful right brain pleasing package.

Then when the final car comes out and it knocks all the left brain items on the checklist out of the park, but looks like a turd on wheels, the same consumers cry out in horror and suddenly that "9th on the list", that "I don't really care what it looks like" priority goes out the window. It suddenly really does matter what it looks like. Hence 400,000+ deposits for the Model 3.

That's why I have said for decades that I wish car companies would quit these idiot surveys and focus groups and design committees and just make great looking cars that do what they're supposed to do and not be afraid that a certain set of people might not like it, or that it isn't similar enough to it's competition. Every single time a car company breaks the mold and just makes a good design, they sell like hot cakes. That's because the consumer knows what it wants... when it sees it.

The US car companies used to know this at their core. Now only Tesla gets it I think.

 

[bro1999]

See, it's dumb focus groups and surveys that are killing cars.-



Consumers don't really know what they want. They'll know it when they see it. When you ask consumers to list what's important in a car on a piece of paper, it suddenly becomes all left brain and things like reliability, economy, price, cargo space, etc become paramount. It is often assumed that somehow all of their left brain requirements will be fulfilled in a beautiful right brain pleasing package.

Then when the final car comes out and it knocks all the left brain items on the checklist out of the park, but looks like a turd on wheels, the same consumers cry out in horror and suddenly that "9th on the list", that "I don't really care what it looks like" priority goes out the window. It suddenly really does matter what it looks like. Hence 400,000+ deposits for the Model 3.

That's why I have said for decades that I wish car companies would quit these idiot surveys and focus groups and design committees and just make great looking cars that do what they're supposed to do and not be afraid that a certain set of people might not like it, or that it isn't similar enough to it's competition. Every single time a car company breaks the mold and just makes a good design, they sell like hot cakes. That's because the consumer knows what it wants... when it sees it.

The US car companies used to know this at their core. Now only Tesla gets it I think.

Yeah, Steve Jobs managed to get tons of people to buy an Ipad...even though most of them didn't even know they wanted one until he unveiled it. Of course, he had the whole "reality distortion field" thing going on, so I'm sure that helped too.

On the flip side, there's Jeff Bezos and the Amazon Fire phone......sales for that thing crashed and burned faster than the Samsung Note 7! *zing*

It's really a minor miracle we even got the Bolt at all.

 

[eops]

Yeah, Steve Jobs managed to get tons of people to buy an Ipad...even though most of them didn't even know they wanted one until he unveiled it. Of course, he had the whole "reality distortion field" thing going on, so I'm sure that helped too.

On the flip side, there's Jeff Bezos and the Amazon Fire phone......sales for that thing crashed and burned faster than the Samsung Note 7! *zing*

It's really a minor miracle we even got the Bolt at all.

Jobs knew about the iPad taking off and about it being one of the next mediums for taking in content. I think it had to do something with what he seen doctors in hospitals use. but decided to create something much more hand held and portable which resulted in the iPhone. Then iPad followed. iPad's trickle down effect is huge. Now everyone has a smartphone.

 

[VacMan]

See, it's dumb focus groups and surveys that are killing cars.-

Darin Gesse, senior manager of GM product strategy, admitted that design took a second seat to function. ?We talked to customers about what they wanted and it all came down to range and price and range,? he said. ?Everything else wasn?t even second on the list; it was like 9th.?

Consumers don't really know what they want. They'll know it when they see it. When you ask consumers to list what's important in a car on a piece of paper, it suddenly becomes all left brain and things like reliability, economy, price, cargo space, etc become paramount. It is often assumed that somehow all of their left brain requirements will be fulfilled in a beautiful right brain pleasing package.

Then when the final car comes out and it knocks all the left brain items on the checklist out of the park, but looks like a turd on wheels, the same consumers cry out in horror and suddenly that "9th on the list", that "I don't really care what it looks like" priority goes out the window. It suddenly really does matter what it looks like. Hence 400,000+ deposits for the Model 3.

That's why I have said for decades that I wish car companies would quit these idiot surveys and focus groups and design committees and just make great looking cars that do what they're supposed to do and not be afraid that a certain set of people might not like it, or that it isn't similar enough to it's competition. Every single time a car company breaks the mold and just makes a good design, they sell like hot cakes. That's because the consumer knows what it wants... when it sees it.

The US car companies used to know this at their core. Now only Tesla gets it I think.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I like the Bolt proportions a lot. They're very "euro hatch" in the same vein as the cmax and other tall hatches. It's not trying to be a low slung sports coupe. I wouldn't buy one if it was.

 

[emv]

Oh do I get tired of hearing that Chevy should have styled it differently. If you don't like it, don't buy it. It's not as if it were akin to an Edsel.

As far as looks go, the Tesla S is boring, the X is double butt ugly, and the 3 is a shrunken S.

I like hatches. In my many years of driving I've had three; a Renault 5, a VW Golf, and a Spark EV, and they all fit me just fine. My taste may (may?) be suspect but from the photos so far the Bolt looks pretty good to me.

 

[DaV8or]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I like the Bolt proportions a lot. They're very "euro hatch" in the same vein as the cmax and other tall hatches. It's not trying to be a low slung sports coupe. I wouldn't buy one if it was.

Absolutely. The Bolt is a car with a mission and the proportions illustrate that. However, that doesn't entirely let it off the hook. The Bolt is not as ugly as it could be, in fact I would say it is contemporary. It looks much like other cars of it's size and proportion.

That said, it could look a lot better and maintain the same proportions and functionality. Small utilitarian cars don't have to look dopey, or ordinary. The Bolt looks just OK and so I will buy one. If it looked like a Nissan LEAF, I don't care how far it could go on a charge, I would be out!

I am one that rates how a car looks very high on my list of priorities, but I am so anxious to own an electric and the Model 3 has disappointed me in it's functionality, so the Bolt will work for me. I wish GM had chosen a more stylish, or classic look, but they went contemporary and that's OK. It's still better than some.

 

[Bazinga]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

The Bolt may not look like sleek, but it's fine for what it is, an electric vehicle to ferry me around and save on gas. If they wanted both looks and range, then they'll need to pay more for one.

 

[HighVoltage]

Not really buying this based on the looks anyhow. I mean, it looks fine. As in okay. But it's far from ugly.

 

[bro1999]

Not really buying this based on the looks anyhow. I mean, it looks fine. As in okay. But it's far from ugly.

Yeah, all these haters saying the Bolt is ugly.....what do they think of the Prius, Leaf, and i3 then??

 

[DaV8or]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

The Bolt may not look like sleek, but it's fine for what it is, an electric vehicle to ferry me around and save on gas. If they wanted both looks and range, then they'll need to pay more for one.

And that's where I disagree. Good design doesn't have to cost one penny more. It costs the same to bend the metal one way, or the other.

 

[DaV8or]

Not really buying this based on the looks anyhow. I mean, it looks fine. As in okay. But it's far from ugly.

Agreed. It's not really ugly.

 

[DaV8or]

Yeah, all these haters saying the Bolt is ugly.....what do they think of the Prius, Leaf, and i3 then??

No kidding!! You listed the trifecta of ugly! The unholy trinity of anti-cars! I don't care what the price tag is, or how much range they get, those three cars are never, no how, no way for me!

 

[LeftieBiker]

The Gen 3 Prius isn't ugly. My housemate's 2013 Prius PHEV is quite handsome, actually. The new Prius, OTOH, is quite unattractive. The Prime is not quite as bad, in a science fiction sort of way.

 

[eops]

The Gen 3 Prius isn't ugly. My housemate's 2013 Prius PHEV is quite handsome, actually. The new Prius, OTOH, is quite unattractive. The Prime is not quite as bad, in a science fiction sort of way.

It's just the result of what happens when a new design comes around. People need time to adjust. I have some friends that said the same thing about the Prius, now a few of them have it.

Also in Toyotas defense is also seeing similar design cues on the Lexus models they sell, showing the broader range of the design.

 

[DaV8or]

It's just the result of what happens when a new design comes around. People need time to adjust. I have some friends that said the same thing about the Prius, now a few of them have it.

Also in Toyotas defense is also seeing similar design cues on the Lexus models they sell, showing the broader range of the design.

See, that's the thing right there. A buyer shouldn't have to "adjust". They should just want on day one of the launch.

As to Toyota/Lexus designers, they watched way too much Battlestar Galactica as kids!!

 

[Electro]

The Gen 3 Prius I find is one of those either you love it or hate it things. But the rest of them, i3 and Leaf, boy... they didn't miss that ugly stick at all. Hit em' smack dab, center forehead.

 

[LeftieBiker]

I think that my Leaf has an unfinished look in the back, and while it looks aerodynamically slick, it isn't, and that's annoying. I don't love the styling, but I also don't hate it. My idea of Fugly is any American large pickup truck, the Toyota "Hitler Mustache" that has been slapped on their cars recently, and all of those chopped-looking Chrysler products from the last decade. The previous Camaro, which was used in prototype form as the Volt "concept car" was also terrible. I guess the "Godzilla stepped on it" look was wildly popular 10 years ago...

 

[Michael1]

I think the Bolt is well proportioned, and there are not any design elements that say the word "ugly". It isn't sleek and sexy, so some people are disappointed. I get that.

 

[sparks]

A good looking car by any measure