The Chevy Bolt Will Hit Dealers Before Year’s End

2017 Chevrolet Bolt (Credit: Chevrolet)

GM is going to strike first blood for a mass-market, 200-mile-plus range electric car with the Chevy Bolt. The car will be hitting dealerships before the close of 2016, maybe even as early as October. This is according to a recent The Detroit News report.

The source for this information is none other than Alan Batey, GM’s North American boss. In other words, this isn’t a rumor, guess or a crazy theory. You will see the Bolt in showrooms in 2016. Or at least some people will.

Likely, the first wave of Bolts will be targeted at certain regions. California’s a safe bet, as is New York State, Oregon and Washington. Interestingly enough, some news outlets think Lyft drivers will get first dibs. Remember that Lyft and GM are bosom buddies now, so it’s not completely crazy.

Chevy has its work cut out. The company has worked overtime in the past to convince everyone that range anxiety is real, justifying the range-extended tech for the Volt. Now it’s going to sell a pure EV to the public and will have to backtrack on that talk, kind of like how it’s been trashing Ford for using aluminum to make the F-150.

So will the Bolt be a huge success? Will everyone be confused by the name? We’ll start getting some answers soon enough.