New EV Bolt Concept Could Be Promise Chevy Can’t Keep

Chevy had a couple of tricks up their sleeve for the Detroit Auto Show, and while the all-new 2016 Chevy Volt took center stage in all its smugness, the smiley new Bolt concept—which made its official debut today—showed that the automaker is focusing their efforts on electricity. Affordable electricity to be more specific.

As of right now, the Bolt is nothing more than a conceptual design, a blueprint for the future of Chevy EVs, but as a price tag in the ballpark of $30,000 has already been attached to it, it’s likely that a model closely based on the design—or at least loaded with the same equipment—will be making its way to the market.

The only problem is that the equipment has yet to be named, or even built for that matter. Throughout the press conference, it was noted that the Bolt is “a vision” of a 200-mile EV. Essentially what that means is that the automaker has absolutely no idea what its range will actually be. 200 miles could be nothing more than a pipe dream.

Currently, the Spark serves as the only Chevy EV in the lineup, and with a range of just 82 miles, it’s not likely that the automaker will be able to pull from the parts bin. They will have to start from scratch if they hope to obtain their vision, and that means it could be quite a while before we know how close they will come to achieving their goal.

There hasn’t been a time table attached the the Bolt, but we have a feeling that once its equipment is built and the design is tweaked for production that it will completely replace the Spark, which is already being surpassed by its competition, as well as advances in technology. Swapping out the Spark for the Bolt would come with a jump in price of about $10,000, but with a range of 200 miles—more than double the amount of the current EV—the increase in undoubtedly justified.

Before that happens, however, we’ll see if Chevy is able to make their electric dream a reality. A promise has been made and all eyes will be on them to see if they will be able to jumpstart the future of affordable EVs. We have a feeling that they won’t quit until they are successful, however, as failing to hit the 200-mile mark will surely wipe the smile from the Bolt’s face.