The Chevrolet Bolt is an all electric vehicle from Chevrolet. With manufacturers slowly phasing out their traditional ICE powered cars, Chevrolet has thrown its hat in the ring with the Bolt. It is funky, futuristic and has ZERO emissions. The 2019 Chevrolet Bolt is available in two trims, namely LT and Premier, and is priced between $36,620 – $40,905.

Through this article, we tell you 5 reasons why you should opt for this futuristic vehicle, which does feel ahead of its time.

Design and Styling

Unlike most electric cars, Bolt is very funky and futuristic, but still manages to look pleasing. Even though it’s built to a cost, you never realise the places where corners have been cut, such is the level of fit and finish. There are a lot of tricks that designers have used to hide its boxy design, such as rising window line and deep creases on the side profile and boot.

The interior of the Bolt is utterly surprising for a car that’s affordable. Quality of dashboard materials is acceptable, and nowhere do you evident cost cutting, everything looks and feels well-finished. All the controls are thoughtfully arranged, and the seats offer tremendous comfort for all the occupants.

Overall, the design and interiors don’t make you feel that Bolt is actually a budget hatchback, it looks funky and futuristic from every angle.

Features

Being a car that actually belongs to the future, Chevrolet has loaded the car to the brim with top-notch features. Standard features include automatic xenon headlights, LED daytime running lights, heated mirrors, a rearview camera, automatic climate control, ambient interior lighting, a configurable gauge cluster display, a 10.2-inch touchscreen, Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone integration, and a six-speaker sound system. To top it off, optional features include leather seats, heated rear seats, a center rear armrest, a top-down parking camera system, a camera-based rearview mirror function, seven-speaker Bose audio system and wireless smartphone charging

Performance

The Chevrolet Bolt EV is an all-electric hatchback, which is powered by an electric motor, which produces 200 hp of power and 266 lb-ft of torque. It also gets a large 60-kWh battery that is capable of delivery about 238 miles of range on a full charge.

Now, there have been a lot of preconceived notions regarding Electric Vehicles, whether they are as fun to drive Internal-Combustion engine cars, or whether they really stand up in ride and handling department. That’s exactly where Bolt surprises everybody. It is peppy, and offers a lot of thrust right from the start! The car oozes a lot of oomph when you accelerate really hard, and does a 0-60 mph sprint in 6.8 seconds, which is very quick. Ride and Handling balance is very sorted, and the car feels very eager to be thrown around corners, thanks to a mature suspension and a well calibrated steering. Brakes, too are sure footed and inspire a lot of confidence, never do you feel you’re driving a small hatchback.

Easy to Charge, and run

A lot has been said about lack of infrastructural support for promotion and acceptance of electric vehicles.

Chevrolet has ensured that owners don’t feel neglected, and the car comes equipped with a 7.2-kWh onboard charger. Another significant option is DC fast-charging capability, which allows the car to use SAE Combo 400-volt Level 3 charge stations, that can fill the battery to 80 percent in little more than an hour. Talk about peace of mind, and Bolt doesn’t disappoint on this front.

Safety

As futuristic as it looks, it is loaded with top-notch safety technology, which includes blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, rear parking sensors, a top-down parking camera, forward collision warning system with pedestrian detection and low-speed automatic emergency braking, a lane departure warning and lane keeping system and automatic high beams.

With so much safety tech on offer, Bolt offers a superb combination of both safety and performance.