General Motors has been in the business of mass production for decades. They can change a production line with their eyes closed because they have done it so many times while Tesla has never been in the business of mass production. That fact alone should make you feel the Chevrolet Bolt will be a more available and possibly a better car than the Tesla Model 3. The Model 3 has a trendiness and a nationwide network of chargers for owners to make use of, but the Bolt will be on the market sooner. Which one should you choose?
Timeline – The Bolt will be on the market in the latter part of 2017 according to the projections by GM. Because they have done development and engineering changes on a global scale many times over you should be able to trust this car will be on time. With the Bolt already in the pre-production phase it will come to market sooner than the Model 3. There has been huge buzz about the Model 3 and more than 300,000 people have put $1,000 down to get in line for one, but the timeline is sketchy at best and many on the list may not see their car for four years whereas the Bolt will already be on the road for three by that time; that is as long as the Model 3 doesn’t have any delays.
Production – As mentioned, GM has done the factory change over many times and they know exactly how to get a production line running. Not only have the changed their factories for new models on a regular basis, they already have over 100,000 plug-in models on the market and use the lessons learned from them to apply them to the Bolt. As for Tesla, their Model S is just now growing to maturity to give them the feedback they need to change some of their production strategies and they had enough trouble getting the Model X to market after a two year delay, now there will be three models under the same roof, expect delays.
Utility – Since Chevrolet was able to show off a complete production version of the Bolt, while Tesla still hasn’t shown us a fully developed car, we see an impressive use of the space inside the Bolt. This car looks comfortable and full of enough room to be classified in a larger vehicle class than it is. There is space in the rear for some cargo and it gives you crossover space while not being a crossover at all. There is also plenty of technology on the Bolt for you to enjoy and get your tech fix on whenever you need to.
Tax Credit – This may become the separating point. Because every vehicle made by Tesla is an EV they have come close to using up the 200,000 units per manufacturer number set by the federal government. This means those who get their Model 3 in 2019 and 2020 may see a tax credit that is either faded to half or a quarter of the $7,500 number, or hot have one at all. The Bolt doesn’t face this at all. There should be plenty of tax credits available for the Bolt owners to take full advantage of the credit give, which certainly makes the Bolt the more affordable of the two EV cars.
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