After moving the Bolt EV’s production start date back from October, Chevy has started shipping out a significant volume — somewhere in the low thousands — of them to dealers in Northern and Southern California. Right now, Chevrolet is only sending Bolt EVs to California and Oregon. Customer buzz (no pun intended…OK, maybe it was) about pending deliveries has already started in online forums. If you’re expecting a Bolt EV of your own, feel free to tell us about it and when you’re scheduled to receive it in the subforum here on Chevrolet Forum.
Chevy will start shipping Bolt EVs to Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Vermont in the first half of 2017. The Bolt EV will also be hitting Canadian dealerships within that same time frame. Bolt EVs will be fully rolled out to US dealers by the middle of next year. Later in 2017, they’ll be available to European customers as the Opel Ampera-e.
Here in the states, the Bolt EV offers an all-electric cruising range of 238 miles thanks to its 60-kWh lithium-ion battery pack. That can be fully charged in less than 10 hours using an available 240-volt charger. DC Fast Charging provides 90 miles of range in approximately 30 minutes. Although the Bolt EV’s base price is close to $40,000, that can be brought down by as much as $7,500 to the sub-$30,000 mark with federal tax credits.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
