[electrico]

Heavy discounting and slowing sales by its peers puts the Chevrolet Bolt battery electric car (BEV) back on top in the U.S. market affordable EV sales race.



Reference: https://www.torquenews.com/1083/chevy-bolt-battery-electric-car-retakes-us-sales-lead-among-affordable-evs

 

[Duncan]

So the "Affordable" EV sells 4,300 units in the USA Q1 and Tesla sells 60,000?

And Tesla is "unaffordable"

 

[brian_]

So the "Affordable" EV sells 4,300 units in the USA Q1 and Tesla sells 60,000?

And Tesla is "unaffordable"

Yes, any Tesla is "unaffordable" to many people. High sales certainly do not indicate that a vehicle is highly affordable, just that lot of people desire it... Mercedes and Porsche sell in huge quantities.

If anything, this just demonstrates that many (I think most, up to this point) EV buyers are not making their choice over a conventional vehicle based on fuel or maintenance cost savings.

 

[Nuts&Volts]

I thought the same about Tesla. It is currently in the same price range as the Bolt and Clarity, but keep in mind at the beginning of the quarter it was still 43k for the cheapest version. The next quarter will be very telling since the tax credits and starting price are very similar


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[remy_martian]

I'm guessing LG Chem is on allocation, with Bolt getting what Bolt needs to keep its lines running. That then leads to my guess that that situation with being a contractually obligated GM supplier is what's behind Kona's production logjam.

Tesla is in a unique position of having one vehicle per target segment, while a Chevy dealer has several per segment.

They see Bolt as a car model, not as a ecological statement or a lifestyle choice. Could they sell as many Bolts as Model 3's? Probably not, because most early adopters of EVs are personalities that root for the underdog and have a vendetta against tailpipe makers.

The Chevy dealer here in the Pacific Northwet told me they're selling well, but this area is renowned for its tree-huggers and for "keeping it weird." The State's EV incentives are not too bad and include a "cash for clunker" EV incentive payout as well. I can get a new Bolt for the same, or less money, than my build, lol, if I scrap one of my parts cars.