Whereas electric vehicles before it have attracted customers through unique and quirky designs, Chevrolet is confident that the Bolt will bring electric vehicles to the masses thanks to its more restrained design and the fact that it just looks like a normal car.
Speaking with Automotive News, Chevrolet revealed that it made the Bolt look and feel like a normal internal combustion engine car to ensure that potential buyers weren’t turned away by any unnecessary quirkiness.
“If you’re going to go to the masses, it can’t be this quirky thing. There are lots of people who like the car not because it’s zero-emissions but because of the way it drives,” Bolt chief engineer Mike Lelli said.
“There was an emphasis in making the car special rather than stand out as weird. We need it to work for more than just the die-hard EV fans.”
When designing and developing the Bolt, Chevrolet had different goals than it did when creating the Volt. Whereas the Volt stands out like a sore thumb in the brand’s line-up and the wider plug-in hybrid market, the Bolt has been better integrated into the brand’s family largely thanks to its more conservative and market-friendly design.
Beyond looking like a modern-day hatchback, the Bolt has cemented its position as the industry’s first affordable EV with a range easily surpassing 200 miles (321 km), giving it a big advantage over the yet-to-be-launched Tesla Model 3.
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