Back in January, attendees at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas found out that a new electric car would be rolling out soon, taking us further into what seems to be a complete EV takeover. What was just a concept back in 2015 was becoming a reality: General Motors' all-electric Chevy Bolt would be in production by the end of the ear.

Well, the end of the year is coming, and GM is making good on its promise. According to a report last week, the company has escalated production of the Bolt at a factory in Michigan, putting it on track to begin deliveries of vehicle units by the end of 2016, in accordance with Chevrolet's previous announcements on their site.

Chevrolet

The all-electric car is a follow-up to the Chevy Volt, the company's popular gas-and-electric hybrid. It has been called a "game changer" by GM CEO Mary Barra due to its superior mileage — on Chevy's site, they estimate that the Bolt can travel about 383 kilometers (238 miles) on a single full charge.

The arguable frontrunner in the EV market, Tesla's Model S, boasts a similar mileage of 426 kilometers (265 miles) for its 60kWh battery pack model. The kicker is the price difference: while Tesla's Model S is priced at a steep $70,000, the Chevy Bolt is expected to cost about half that with an MSRP of $37, 495, which drops to roughly $30,000 after EV incentives.

More affordable but technologically comparable alternatives to Tesla could be just what the EV market needs to go mainstream.


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