LIKES
- Roomy hatchback
- Bargain prices
- Super Cruise availability
- Large touchscreen
- Safety tech comes standard
DISLIKES
- Front-wheel drive only
- Bolt EV and EUV are almost the same
- Mundane handling
- Mundane looks
BUYING TIP
The inexpensive Bolt is a great gateway to the EV world, though it doesn’t charge as quickly or look as cool as some rivals.
What kind of vehicle is the 2023 Chevrolet Bolt EV? What does it compare to?
An electric hatchback offered in smaller and larger body styles, the Chevrolet Bolt EV competes against EVs such as the Ford Mustang Mach-E, Tesla Model Y and Model 3, Nissan Leaf, and Hyundai Ioniq 5.
Is the 2023 Chevrolet Bolt EV a good car?
High-efficiency is the Bolt’s bread and butter and it also offers plenty of space, earning it a TCC Rating of 7.0 out of 10.
What's new for the 2023 Chevrolet Bolt?
The Bolt EV and Bolt EUV are virtual twins, though the latter looks like a puffed up version of the former. Both have a six-sided, blocked off front “grille,” a floating roofline, and a tall and narrow egg-like shape, but they don’t share any sheet metal. With a taller ride height, the EUV can be interpreted as a crossover, but no Bolt offers all-wheel drive.
The larger footprint gives the Bolt EUV more rear seat room, but not more cargo space. Both offer good space for four passengers, with about 57 cubic feet for cargo. Both also come with a 10.2-inch touchscreen for infotainment and an 8.0-inch digital instrument cluster. Heated seats come standard, with cooling available, but the front seats lack the padding and bolstering for best comfort and support.
Chevrolet outfits the Bolt with a single motor up front that makes 200 hp and 266 lb-ft of torque. It’s powered by a 65-kwh battery pack that delivers 259 miles of range in the Bolt EV and 247 miles in the Bolt EUV. The Bolt is efficient, even for an EV, delivering in excess of at least 3.5 miles/kwh. The motor makes it fairly quick, too, with a 0-60 mph time below seven seconds, but the Bolt isn’t tuned for sporty handling as it feels heavy and its low-rolling resistance tires aren’t the best for traction. It does ride smoothly, though.
Chevy offers driving modes that allow for coasting or one-pedal driving almost down to a stop. An 11-kw onboard charger allows the Bolt to charge to full in about seven hours on a 240-volt home outlet. However, on a DC fast charger, it maxes out at 50-55 kw. While that will add 100 miles in 30 minutes, it’s much slower than most newer EVs.
The Bolt comes with the right standard safety features, including automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, active lane control, and automatic high beams. Also offered are adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitors, a surround-view camera system, and GM’s Super Cruise hands-free driving system.
How much does the 2023 Chevrolet Bolt cost?
After two years of price cuts, the 2023 Bolt EV starts at $26,595 and the Bolt EUV is priced from $28,195, both including destination. Both come standard with an 8-way power-adjustable driver seat, wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, Amazon Alexa compatibility, wi-fi hotspot capability, remote start, LED headlights, and 17-inch alloy wheels.
Just outside of Detroit, Michigan.
Styling
The Chevrolet Bolt EV neither offends nor attracts.
Is the Chevrolet Bolt EV a good-looking car?
The Bolt hatchback is purpose-built to maximize space, not to attract eyeballs. Short and tall, the Bolt is perfectly average looking: you won’t notice it and you won’t despise it. That’s the definition of a 5 in our book.
The Bolt EUV stretches 6.3 inches longer than the standard Bolt and it rides a 2.9-inch longer wheelbase, but the cars look almost the same unless they’re parked next to each other. Both have something of an egg shape, a floating roof design, and horizontal LED taillights in a bezel that extends the length of the rear end. Up front, both have a blocked off grille design, but the taller EUV rides 2.5 inches higher and has a larger air intake at the bottom. That’s the best way to tell the cars apart.
Performance
The Bolt is quick off the line, but the battery weight offsets any agility advantage of its compact size.
A heavy compact car, the Bolt’s handling neither impresses nor disappoints. Its electric powertrain gives it sprightly acceleration, which earns it a point here to a 6.
Is the Chevrolet Bolt EV AWD?
No, the Bolt only comes with single-motor front-wheel drive.
The Bolt is powered by a single front motor that spins up 200 hp and 266 lb-ft of torque. The latter comes on immediately, contributing to quick launches and a 0-60 mph time of less than seven seconds. The motor is driven by a 65 kwh battery pack.
Bolt drivers can choose between a normal drive mode that acts like a gas car. In this mode, the Bolt coasts when the driver lets off the throttle, and it creeps forward when the driver lets go of the brake at a stop. Switch to the regen mode and the Bolt allows one-pedal driving that slows the car down, almost to a stop, when letting off the throttle.
The powertrain can deliver efficiency of more than 3.0 miles/kwh, as we experienced on a drive in 90-degree temperatures with the air conditioning and seat coolers on most of the time.
The trade-off, however, is a smooth ride. Thick tire sidewalls help filter out the affects of bumps, and the car’s weight smothers them as well.
Comfort & Quality
The Bolt has good space for people and cargo for its size, but it would benefit from more comfortable front seats.
The Bolt carries four passengers well and has plenty of cargo space, but its seats could be more comfortable. That earns it a 6 here.
Passengers front and rear have good head and leg room in the Bolt, though the hatchback is too narrow for three adults to fit comfortably in the rear. The seats are also thin on padding and bolstering, and their tall position and short seat bottoms make them feel like barstools. We wish they were more supportive.
Both Bolt models have good-sized cargo holds, and, oddly, the Bolt EV offers slightly more room back there than the larger EUV. The Bolt EV has 16.6 cubic feet of cargo space behind the rear seats and 57.0 cubic feet with the rear seats folded down. The numbers for the EUV are 16.3 and 56.9.
Safety
The Bolt EV has good safety features but no crash-test scores.
How safe is the Bolt EV?
That’s yet to be determined as the Bolt has no crash test ratings. However, it does come with a healthy set of safety features. We won’t give it a rating until crash-test scores come in.
The Bolt comes with automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, active lane control, and automatic high beams. Buyers can also get adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitors, rear cross-traffic alerts, a surround-view camera system, and rear parking sensors. GM’s Super Cruise limited hands-free driving system is also offered. It can take over the controls on hundreds of thousands of miles on mapped highways in the U.S. and Canada.
Features
Two years of price drops have made the Bolt a real value.
Despite losing the $7,500 federal tax credit, the Bolt is a value thanks to a pair of price decreases. Team that with good infotainment and plentiful standard features and the Bolt earns an 8 here.
The Bolt got a $5,500 price cut for 2022 and this year it drops another $5,900 for the Bolt EV and $6,300 for the Bolt EUV, bringing the base prices to $26,595 and $28,195, respectively. The Bolt EV comes in 1LT and 2LT trims and the Bolt EUV offers LT and Premier trims; the higher trim levels get commensurate price drops as well.
The Bolt EUV’s new Red Line appearance package features gloss black wheels with red accents, a black and red Bolt EUV exterior badge, red accent decals on the mirror caps, and black leather upholstery with red accent stitching.
Base Bolts come well enough equipped to be the best choice. They come standard with a 10.2-inch infotainment touchscreen, wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, wi-fi hotspot capability, remote start, an 8-way power-adjustable driver seat, an 11.5-kw onboard charger, LED headlights, and 17-inch alloy wheels. Every Bolt has an average warranty of 3 years/36,000 miles, but battery components are covered for 8 years/100,000 miles.
How much is a fully loaded Chevrolet Bolt EV?
The Bolt EUV Premier adds heated and cooled front seats, a heated steering wheel, and ambient lighting for a total price of $32,695. It tops $37,000 with options such as Super Cruise and a package that includes a sunroof, navigation, and Bose audio.
Fuel Economy
The Bolt has good range, but it’s falling behind on charging rates.
Is the Chevy Bolt EV good on fuel?
While 2023 EPA ratings are not yet available, the 2022 ratings should hold and they earn the Bolt lineup a perfect 10 here, even though its battery is smaller and range shorter than the class leaders.
Both the Bolt and Bolt EUV use a 65-kwh battery pack and a single motor. The 2022 Bolt EV has a range of 259 miles and a 120 MPGe EPA rating. The taller Bolt EUV is rated for 247 miles of range and a 115 MPGe rating.
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