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2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV Production to Start in October 2016

The golden bowtie manufacturer had its ups and downs last year, but the arrival of the 2015 Corvette Z06, 2016 Cadillac ATS-V, CTS-V and Chevrolet Volt were some of the highlight moments worth remembering. On this occasion, we won’t focus too much on the gung-ho bruisers, but a very green machine wearing the Chevrolet bowtie up front.
Chevrolet Bolt EV Concept @ 2015 Detroit Auto Show 18 photos
Photo: Catalin Garmacea
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As you may remember, the Detroit Auto Show saw the GM-owned marque introduce the second-gen Volt plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. Compared to the 2015 model year, the brand new Volt is miles better, both literally and metaphorically. But PHEVs are not the future of the industry. Pure electric vehicles are the future of personal transportation and Elon Musk’s Tesla Motors proved it, especially with the P85D.

Aiming to replicate Musk’s success with the Model S and future products like the Model X and Model III, Chevrolet presented a concept called the Bolt EV back in January at the Detroit Auto Show. And guess what - a recent report from AutomotiveNews claims that GM will begin Chevrolet Bolt EV production in October 2016, at “an underused small-car plant north of Detroit.”

Apparently, two suppliers sourced the intel presented above, a detail that makes the statement more plausible than unlikely. So what should we expect a year and a half from now on? Just look at the photo gallery and video below and imagine that the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV will look 80 percent like the concept.

Sources claim that the Orion Assembly plant will be building both the Bolt and its Opel-badged counterpart. What to look forward to: an MSRP of roughly $30,000 after tax incentives, a theoretical range on a full charge of over 200 miles (321 km), seating for four and a highly updated GM Gamma global small-car platform, which will be used by the still unheard-of 2017 Chevrolet Sonic subcompact as well.

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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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