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Chevrolet Bolt Ride Along Indicates That Adaptive Cruise Control Is a No-Show

When General Motors presented the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt at the 2016 CES, the chief executive officer of Tesla took notes. Elon Musk proceeded to present the Tesla Model 3 to great acclaim, but Chevy is pretty confident the Bolt will keep the Model 3 at bay.
2017 Chevrolet Bolt 12 photos
Photo: screenshot from YouTube
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Both electric vehicles promise more than 200 miles (322 kilometers) of range on a full charge, both seat five at a squeeze, and both look sexy cool interesting for what they are. Based on this ride along video uploaded on YouTube by Erik Stephens, the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt is exceptionally quiet on the move, as well as pretty fast-accelerating when the situation calls for it.

The pre-production featured in the clip has around 75 to 80 percent juice left in the battery according to the graphic on the centrally-mounted infotainment system. Theoretical range according to the car’s electronic brain? In this state, 160 miles (257 km) or thereabout, which is not bad. By comparison, the Hyundai Ioniq Electric on a full charge is good for 110 miles (180 km).

Nevertheless, there’s a curious detail you should be aware of the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt. Unexpectedly, the General Motors guy in the driver’s seat of the Bolt makes it clear that adaptive cruise control won’t be available for the model year 2017. Also, he can’t reveal if adaptive cruise control will be introduced for 2018 or later on. And that’s a big disappointment.

Tesla Motors, for example, has Traffic-Aware Cruise Control or TACC. That’s the fancy way of saying adaptive cruise control. In the Model S, TACC is a convenience feature included in the Autopilot system. For the latter, customers have to pony up $2,500. In the case of the upcoming Tesla Model 3, Traffic-Aware Cruise Control will most definitely be an optional extra.

What’s your take on this lack of adaptive cruise control in the Chevy? If you were in the market for a reasonably affordable electric vehicle with a decent range, would you go for the Tesla Model 3 or for the Chevrolet Bolt?

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About the author: Mircea Panait
Mircea Panait profile photo

After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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