I had a chance to see a Bolt on a showroom floor (in Disney World actually) recently. After all I'd heard about size, headroom, and overall space in the vehicle I expected much more. First, getting into the vehicle I hit my head...hard. To be fair, I'm a fairly large guy at 6'2"-ish. But I don't have any issues getting into or out of the Prius or Leaf comfortably. I used to have serious problems with this in my wife's old Subaru Impreza. Anyway, that was discouraging. But even after I was in all the way it didn't feel as spacious as I had hoped. Just a little cramped. Before this "hands on" with the vehicle I was leaving the door open on the Bolt being my first long range EV. I was obviously leaning towards the Model 3, but this more or less just sealed the deal. And I have years to wait, so that won't be an issue for me.
Is there a sun roof, and is there a version without sun roof. They tend to compromise head room. Maybe also someone had jacked the seat up? But I know what you mean about first impressions, I recall hopping into a car at a show: first my head bumped, then I tried touching some dash gizmo and it came off in my hand, lol.
Not sure about the sun roof. But hatch space was decent. I would say comparable to a Leaf or Prius. Maybe slightly less. I'm sure the stats on that are out there somewhere though. And ya, seat was a little far forward. So I moved it back and tried again. Didn't hit my head, but still didn't seem as easy as it should have been.
This reminds me of the my thought process .. I must have placed a deposit for the Tesla 3 in late 2016 and was given vaguely 18 months of waiting time. I'll be bold and say that 18 Musk months equals approximately 30 months on planet Earth. There were a few other things that made me a little concerned, such as the shortness of testing, the RWD-only initial production, and the riskiness of the Tesla's business model (if a $35K Tesla 3 is as good as it should be for most folks, how on Earth is Musk going to sell his $100K X's and S's?). And then, while the Musketeers continued to tempt with with sleek spy photos and "it's just around the corner" buzz, the Bolt had quietly undergone a year or more of real-life, on-the-road testing, worked its way into dealerships in a dozen states, and garnered a few awards. So, as a last resort I also tried to convince myself that Bolt was not good, using similar mind tricks: oh, the doors are too clumsy .. too much plastic ... what's that piece of weird $h!t under the hood ... the main readout is behind the steering wheel, how terrible .. it didn't occur to me to sabotage my head, although I am 6'2". And now it's too late, as kEVin is sitting on my car port, drinking juice We'll talk about Tesla 3 vs. Bolt vs. Leaf when I can go to their show room, and take it home in a week or two max. By that time there may be 200+ mile surprises by other manufacturers, too.
Congrats! Give us an initial report when you get time. I, too, wonder how the M3 rollout will play out. How many folks like you drop out of the cue over the months and months of waiting? By the time the 3 hits the promised big numbers (if?), it will be years down the road and there will be so many other EV's out there by then that, I think, it will have lost too much of its initial luster that help build that massive waiting list.
Congrats on the new vehicle! Sounds like you made a wise decision for yourself. Everyone's needs are different. I think at it's core for me, even though I didn't mention it in the OP, is the quick charging dilemma. In the whole region (excluding KC), there are only a couple DCQC options, whereas there are plenty of Supercharger stations. A long range EV for me needs to be exactly that...long range. We will have a Leaf for short range use, but will need our long range EV to take us on very long road trips (ideally with Autopilot). I realize I will be waiting quite a while. But that's ok, our PiP has many many good years in it left.
Since Elon Musk has a cult following, I do not think people will stop buying Teslas even when there are dozens of other models on the market. The initial report on Bolt would be, a roomy, powerful car, with huge for its size trunk size. The way I drive it with AC and heater off (so far), about 4.5 miles/kWh, so one "tank" is good for 270 mi. To my eye, it's a very cool, meticulously thought-out design, and I don't know why some "specialists" call it dorky. It doesn't have a single deal-breaker for me, and I think it beats the Tesla 3 in 2 categories at least: high sitting position and the utility of the cargo carrying space.
saw my first bolt this morning in a nice looking blue. guy pulled up next to me a a light, so i got a pretty good look. very cute!
