Bolt of Lightning

Has history caught up with the electric car?

I mention in my column on the other side of the magazine this month that Ford made a big
impression at this year’s Detroit Auto Show, with the latest iteration of its iconic GT (nee GT40). However, Ford was not the only American manufacturer to stir up a lot of media buzz with its debut. Crosstown rival General Motors nabbed a lot of press with its debut of the Chevrolet Bolt. What caught the pundits’ interest was not just that the Bolt is a plug-in, all-electric hybrid that would surpass the gold standard 200-mile-before-recharge level but, significantly, it would do so for a $30,000 price tag. Unlike the much ballyhooed Tesla, whose 200-mile capability comes with a $100,000-plus price tag, the pundits glommed onto the Bolt as being a potential game changer in that it might finally provide an affordable and practical electric vehicle that could make the electric car a mainstream automobile for Americans. While I think this is a great development, I have to chuckle when I read that this is “revolutionary.” Apparently, automotive history hasn’t caught on with the electric car crowd just yet.