The withering dream of a cheap American electric car

It's weird the Chevy Bolt wasn't mentioned. After the $7500 tax credit, you could get a brand new Chevy Bolt for under $20k. If you haven't driven a Bolt, I can't recommend it more. It's about as perfect as car as I could reasonably dream up. It's a hatchback, minimally gimmicky (compared to, e.g, a Tesla, where so many things are "different" for the sake of being different), unnecessarily fast—truly, it's shocking how quick it is, very respectable range of ~270 miles, has Apple CarPlay (or Android's equivalent if you're into that sort of thing), and it's cheap.

I picked up a used 2023 for $14k last month. Hertz is unloading their fleet of EV's, so they're ridiculously cheap if you don't mind driving a former rental car.

Didn't they recall all of them for a few years due to some safety issues? Are they fixed yet?

Yeah, it was just a software patch. Real quick fix.

Yes, an in fact IMO that makes the used models even more of a steal. Get a several year old model with a pretty much new battery. The battery is pretty much the main wear item in the whole drivetrain, so its like buying a used ICE with a brand new drive train.

Yeah they are fixed. A Bolt is a nice vehicle to buy if you don't mind its slow charging; and judging by the number of Bolts on the road plenty of people don't mind.

No, the Bolt had a manufacturing defect which could result in an internal short and cause a battery fire.

All Bolts were available for a recall maintenance where the entire battery was replaced under warranty.

Picked up a used Bolt as well. Certified used with 7 years left on the battery warranty for about $15k.

Anyone who actually wants a cheap EV can buy a cheap EV.

There's just too many people that think they need a 3 row EV SUV with 500 miles of range, and that it should be under $35k.

Also the goal posts keep getting moved. Used to be people would say EVs will never take off until they hit $35k. Now that there are new EVs that can be had for that price, the new problem is that EVs will never take off unless they're $25k.

Meanwhile just about every EV sales graph shows an upward trajectory regardless of these "requirements".

> After the $7500 tax credit, you could get a brand new Chevy Bolt for under $20k.

searched online for about 10 minutes and couldn't find this.

Absolutely! I just picked up a 2023 for $17k. It's basically the perfect commuter car.