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The Bolt is a new electric car from Chevrolet. It is said to be able to get 200 miles per charge. But is it a practical choice?

Let’s look at the market today. Gas prices have gone down. There is a strong race for creating and coming up with the best electric vehicle. General Motors is set to release the Chevrolet Bolt to compete with Tesla’s more expensive electric car that debuted last year.

In the North American International Auto Show, the much awaited electric car was showcased. A retro hatchback design and a hefty price tag are the challenges that have been overcome by the Chevrolet Bolt.

What’s in store for possible owners of this car?

First off, the battery electric concept is already a big enticing feature. This five-door compact car promises to be able to run 200 miles after each full charge. The price tag for this car is $30,000 which already includes federal tax credits that would be available for all electric vehicles purchased in the US. Without the tax credits offered by the government, the selling price would be $37,500.

In the race for all electric cars that happened this year, Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, promised to come up with a car that focuses on speed, that is, the Model S, a luxury electric sedan car and its price range is from $70,000 to $100,000.

Fortunately for General Motors, they were able to beat Tesla in coming up with such a car…. Furthermore, the Bolt looks ready for production. This is definitely a feather to GM’s cap. The beauty with the Bolt is its game-changing electric vehicle design. Additonally, it focuses on making the car realistic and more importantly, attainable. That is probably the biggest pull yet for GM and its appeal to the market for those who wish to buy the electric cars.

The plug-in hybrid looks to be gaining more popularity to many alternative energy vehicles out in the market.

Battery technology that was developed by General Motors themselves is probably one of the selling points of both the Bolt and the Volt. This was developed with LG Chem. The size of the battery is reduced in the Volt which means lesser number of cells to be charged, plus the weight is also decreased. Another point for GM is the new drive system that would increase efficiency and this could be found in the Volt.

Green Car Reports, John Voelker, shared that the choosing of the name, Bolt, could open GM to not quite so funny jokes.  This brings to mind another name given to one of the previous models of Chevrolet, Nova, which in Latin America means ‘no go’.

On another note, entirely separate from electric cars, the Jaguar Land Rover will be building its first sports utility vehicle. This would mean an additional 1,300 jobs for its factory in central England.