2020 Chevy Bolt EV Premier

Tomorrow? Yes…in less than 15 years, GM plans to make EVERY VEHICLE all electric.

No pistons…no spark plugs…no hybrids…just batteries. ALL electric. And most manufacturers have similar plans.

Don't be afraid. Chevy's all-electric '20 Bolt is an entertaining ride…and it's made EV range-anxiety almost a thing of the past.

259 miles. That's roughly what you can expect out of a full charge. And public charging stations are getting pretty common out there. There's 40,000 of them nationwide, in fact.

And to make it as easy as they can for you, the Bolt has a mobile app that will calculate the most energy-efficient route for you to take, plus it'll show you where the nearest charging stations are and give you automatic weather updates, too.

So what does the Bolt give you these days…besides an EPA equivalent 118 combined city / highway MPG?

A nimble five-door hatch that can easily carry four or five…or a twosome + 56.6 cubic feet of "stuff" with the rear seats folded. And it'll easily fit into your garage…or one of those all-to-common parking spaces where the SUV next to you is way over the line into your space.

Oh…and here's something that you maybe didn't expect: A 0 to 60 time of just over six seconds. Yes…electric doesn't mean slow.

Chevy's Bolt comes in two levels of trim, with the LT starting in the mid $30's and the Premier in the low $40's. As for the $7,500 federal tax credit, Chevy has sold so many Bolts that their federal credit has expired. But that isn't going to stop Chevy. At the time of this writing, Chevy has various programs that can cut over $14,000 off the Bolt's window sticker. And your state may offer additional tax credits on top of that.

The Premier edition comes with many of the niceties that come with most of today's upscale vehicles. You'll get heated front and rear seats, heated steering, surround-vision, a rear mirror camera, lane-change and blind-side alerts, rear parking assist plus various trim upgrades…all for an additional $4,400.

Back to charging for a moment. The standard 120 volt charger gives you up to four miles of range for every hour plugged in. So if you're only driving 30 – 40 miles a day, you can pretty much "top off" your Bolt each evening while you eat dinner, brush your teeth and put on your jammies. Provided, that is, that you can plug in within range of the roughly 25 foot long charger cord. Extension cords are not allowed.

If you're regularly driving more that those 30 – 40 miles each day, you'll probably want to have a 240 volt system installed. Chevy, Amazon and others can handle that for you. Figure around $599 plus installation. That'll give you 25 miles of range for each hour on the charger…allowing you to go from "empty" to "full" in around 10 hours.

And the Public DC commercial charging stations can pump you up with around 100 miles of range in only 30 minutes. You'll see more and more of these at gas stations, shopping malls, office complexes, restaurants, motels and hotels, medical complexes and more. Yes…electric is here now…with non-stop innovation in the years to come.

So what about gas stations? You'll still need chips, drinks and restrooms, right?