An Unfair Comparison with Interesting Results

Consumer Reports offers a wide variety of tests each year in order to test products against each other including vehicles. One aspect that Consumer Reports doesn’t typically pay attention to is the class of vehicle, especially when looking to make a full comparison of models that offer new technology such as the new EV class that has become more and more popular and now has new additions to allow us to have vehicles that can provide the long range we want to have from a single full charge of the battery pack.

In this recent test the Consumer Reports team put the Chevrolet Bolt up against the Tesla Model S 75D. Considering you can purchase more than two full Bolt models for the price of one Model S this doesn’t’ seem like a direct comparison, but the results for the range were surprising. The Bot was able to drive to a full 250 miles during the test before it ran out of juice while the Model S only reached 235 miles. Considering the Bolt is EPA rated at 238 miles and the Model S is rated at 259, this is a serious flipping of the script.

This team also used the Model X 90D which is rated at 257 miles to see how it would perform and it also stopped early at only 230 miles. While there are other variants of both the Model S sedan and Model X SUV that can provide much more range, the fact that the Chevrolet Bolt lasted 12 miles past its rated range is something to pay attention to. The new Bolt is the first low-cost long-range EV model to make its way to the market that can even be put up against the Tesla brand at all.

The results of the testing that was performed puts the Chevrolet Bolt in second place overall. The Model S does receive the top spot, and the Bolt was rated behind it because of the braking, charging time, bumpy ride and seats. When you consider the cost of one Bolt model versus the Model S you’ll be more than happy to have the second best EV and know it will reach the intended range on a daily basis when you drive it wherever you need to go. This is where the Bolt is rated for now with the new Model 3 getting ready to hit the market with public deliveries.

When you consider the cost per mile of driving, which is another excellent way to review the vehicles in this EV class, the longer range Model 3 will be the one at the top as the lease expensive per mile. This Model will give us 310 miles of range which will cost $141.94 per mile with the Chevrolet Bolt coming in second with a cost of $157.54 per mile, the base Model 3 will be in third with a price of $160.54 per mile and the Hyundai Ioniq Electric offering a fourth place cost at $237.90 per mile when this fully electric model of the car does make its way to the dealers later this year.