With new tax credits for electric vehicles, American car buyers can get some deals that leave gas-powered cars in the dust. The best deal out there doesn’t come from electric vehicle leader Tesla. It comes from Chevy.
recently, barron’s went into our local Chevy dealership and took a Bolt EV for a spin. We were impressed.
The Chevy Bolt is the 15th or 16th all-electric passenger vehicle we’ve driven or driven in. There have been vehicles with +1,000 horsepower as well as cars designed for everyday use by the average family. The Bolt isn’t an impressive 1,000 horsepower. It’s very solid, as good as any of the non-luxury EVs we’ve driven. The electric motor that powers the front wheels is responsive and lively. The interior is nice for a new car.
The best part of the Bolt is, frankly, the deal. A Bolt EV starts at $26,500. The version we drove was closer to $30,000. There’s also a Bolt EUV, or electric vehicle, which is a bit longer and a few thousand dollars more expensive than the base version of the Bolt.
EV and EUV versions currently qualify for a $7,500 tax credit from the federal government. The Connecticut government is also offering more than $2,000 off an electric vehicle. That means a Bolt, for someone living in Connecticut, can cost roughly $17,000 new. A new 2023 Toyota Corolla starts at around $22,000.
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The Bolt outsells the Corolla, the world’s best-selling car, and is cheaper to fuel and maintain than the Toyota
.
The lower maintenance comes down to EVs having fewer moving parts and no oil changes. And electricity is currently much cheaper than the equivalent amount of gasoline.
As for batteries, a new Bolt has an eight-year, 100,000-mile warranty. That’s pretty much the standard for any EV these days.
There’s another way to further reduce the cost of a Bolt: the dealership. For some car buyers, buying from a dealer has some pros and cons. Not everyone likes to haggle or feel pressured. But dealers can offer their own offers and incentives.
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Our Connecticut dealer was offering a Level 2 home charging system installation and $500 in free charging.
At a basic level, a Level 2 charger is like a 240-volt outlet that a homeowner will plug a clothes dryer into. The level 2 charging connector should be installed by an electrician on a dedicated circuit.
Deals like this should send Bolts flying off dealer lots. Sales are up. General Motors (ticker: GM) sold 19,700 Bolts in the first quarter of 2023. That’s a record for the model.
The Bolt came out before Tesla’s ( TSLA ) Model 3. Both are similar in terms of size, but they don’t really compete in the market. No electric vehicle can match the Model 3 and subsequent Model Y in terms of global popularity.
Tesla has sold about 3.5 million Model 3 and Model Y electric vehicles worldwide during the life of the program. (The 3 and Y are produced on the same vehicle platform.) The Bolt has sold about 160,000 units in the US since its introduction.
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A Tesla Model 3 starts at around $42,000. It currently qualifies for the same incentives as the Chevy Bolt. So in Connecticut, most could own a Model 3 for about $32,000.
That’s not a bad deal either. But it’s not as good as the Bolt.
GM shares are down 12% over the past 12 months. Tesla shares are down 46% over the past 12 months. This is worse than the
S&P 500
i
Dow Jones Industrial Average,
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that are disabled have a discount of around 9% and 3%, respectively, in the same period.
Investors are a bit more concerned about auto stocks amid rising interest rates and declining affordability, for most autos, that could hurt sales for all automakers. automobiles
Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com
