My feeling is that they'll have to make this baby a bit more sexy before it takes hold.

The solar panels on the side are a nice idea. Might need a top, though.

I really hope it starts the revolution.

Throw in the use of solar power to recharge your car at home, and you have a game changer.

Not sure I would want to be the person to deal with the first generation of this vehicle.

Good luck, GM.

I've driven the Tesla and BMW i3 but neither makes economic sense for me. Telsa is blast to drive but current cost of petro is so low there is no economic incentive and I don't want to spend that kind of money on a car I can't take to my beach place about 214 miles away.

I like to drive and own a sport coupe manual transmission so electric economy car is not my cup of tea. Since I only put 8k miles on it a year as I only work 4 miles from my home I would not yield much in return regarding the premium cost.

Cartman718 wrote:Correct @ Nalod, but as the article noted... Tesla has notoriously been always 2 years behind it's own announced sched.
This is the first car to market with 200 miles per charge, a number Tesla's CEO himself threw out as the number to get consumers to buy into EVs.

Also from the article...
That meant Chevy could use a smaller cooling system and stick more cells in the battery pack for more range. LG also improved the battery’s conductivity, so the ions flowed faster, translating to quicker acceleration (the Bolt can go from 0 to 60 in seven seconds).

Meloshouldgo's question around batteries... I am assuming all EVs come with battery warranties. They better put their money where their mouth is and offer a good warranty for theirs as well.

Key is the battery and yes, Tesla is always behind schedule.

IM not here to debate the article or defend Tesla. The Battery factory will also produce a home appliance to store power in the house which is key to collect solar power and perhaps store energy bought at non demanding times of the day. No sense building a car if the battery can't be procured in mass.

Maybe GM will get this right or maybe its comes from silicon Valley from Apple or Google.

When I drove the BMW I was underwhelmed as it was nearly $50,000. It was cool as hell and as an intown driver it was just fine. Not a car I want to spend 5 hours in. It has a small on board gas engine for power.
This adds expense and weight. Granted, the engine is small and light with a small gas tank. The frame was carbon fiber which made it very light, but expensive.

What Im wondering is can a station using "Battery Swap" work better. By that, drop a battery and then pick up a fully charged one. Basically "lease" a battery component like swapping propane tanks for the gas grill.
This would have to take about 5 min. One can always charge at home as well.

The infrastructure is due for a massive overhall and it would be expensive. The dealer network which Tesla is in court fighting is also a problem. Cars are designed to be repaired but the reality is most of it can be components and be rebuilt off sight. For example most of todays computers on cars are never fixed at the dealership, the parts are swapped out. THis would put a lot of people out of work or put repair work off shore. Progress comes at a price. If it happened over time it can be mitigated. With Jiffy lube's popping up and other chain service this is already squeezing out the local repair shop.

I read the article but don't recall if it had a price tag. Nissan Leaf's sell used can be bought very cheaply now. I thought about using it to commute and picking one up for $12,000. Then I thought about true savings. I thought about the ecology but my money can be spend in other ways to help that.