Is this now the Beginning of the End for Petrol Power?

A Bolt getting a Volt.

We have heard for a number of years now that Electric Vehicles are going to replace all of our petrol cars in the very near future, but as of yet, the market penetration has been limited. 

This is really because of five key factors, as far as the customer is concerned. Primarily, the cost of an EV is significantly higher than a petrol-powered car in most markets, and although you save on fuel in the long term, you will still end up out of pocket. On top of that, it simply doesn’t go far enough; in fact, most only go about 360 kilometres at present, and when you do run out of juice, it takes too long to charge - over an hour - if you can find a charging station with the correct plug. Recently, oil has become so cheap and only the hemp-wearing trouser brigade has taken EV’s seriously thus far. Perhaps the biggest problem though, is that most of us are living in apartments where you simply cannot get an extension cord long enough to reach from your living space to the car parking space.

Undeterred, Chevrolet has launched its latest incarnation of the Bolt, and now the company believes that it can change our mindset and personal prejudices; well, at least in the Land known as American Suburbia, an almost mythical place where everyone can park their ride on their own driveway and plug into their own charging station.

Chevrolet's promise is of an affordable electric vehicle with a range of about 380 kilometres - which is of course well within the range required for just about all of our daily needs, for ordinary commuters and soccer mums, that is - but sadly still not far enough to consider a drive from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore. One of the primary appeals of the Chevy Bolt, though, is the price, set to be around the US$33,000 mark. This will allow it to compete with the Tesla Model 3, the success of which undoubtedly spurred the development of the Bolt, after Elon Musk’s gang proved that there really is a market of an EV with a real range.

Whether you like it or not, EV’s will rule the future once we have worked out how we are going to generate all of the extra electricity we need to keep the darn things charged. Petrol power will remain the dominant force for the time being, though, but the Chevrolet Bolt will definitely be a game-changer for the automotive industry, and of course Chevrolet has one big advantage over Tesla - it has been at the automotive game for over a century and has an international dealer network that they can tap into.