 You can probably count the number of fully electric cars available on one hand. There's the Nissans, the BMWs, and of course the Teslas. But this is the Chevy Bolt. It's the first fully electric car that can realistically bridge the gap between practical range and affordable price. It's the same promise Tesla is making with the long delayed and much hyped Model 3, the car that's supposed to bring Tesla's design and style down to a much more affordable price. But the Bolt is here now, and you can buy it today. Driving in Manhattan is not fun. I don't know why anybody who lives here would own a car. So my first concern when getting in this electric car and having it for a week is where I'm going to recharge this battery. Because it's not like you can just go to any gas station and fill up the tank and be on your way. So the Chevy people, when I picked up the car, told me to download this app. It's called PlugShare. It's like a social network for electric vehicle owners. And it's got listings for all of the electric charging stations nearby. Now, I'm down here in Manhattan where I got the car, and they're everywhere. You can see these green dots all over the map. And so there's a lot of electric stations. There's probably more there than there are gas stations. They might not all work, but there's so many of them that it doesn't really matter. And the thing is, that's probably not the case where you live. It's certainly not the case where I live and drive the most. So the Bolt has a lot of responsibilities on its pretty small shoulders. It's supposed to be the day-to-day electric car that can work for anybody. It's also pretty inexpensive at under $40,000. And when you factor in the tax incentives on top of that, it's even more appealing. But it's still early days for electric vehicles, and not everything is ready for a world of electric cars. I've been driving the Bolt around the suburban areas of New York State for the past week. And while I do really like it, there are definitely some things you need to consider if you're thinking about going fully electric for your next car. So the app I was using earlier brought me here, and I'm plugged into this charger. And unfortunately, it doesn't work because this Golden Corral shut down like three weeks ago, and nobody's updated the listing in the app. And I guess that's just one of the things you have to deal with as an early adopter of electric vehicles. Let's start with what it's like to drive the Bolt. Surprisingly, or not, it's not hugely different from driving a standard car with an internal combustion engine. So the electric engine in this, you probably think it's kind of wimpy, but it actually has a lot of power. And when you hit the pedal, it'll go. Like right now. And I'm not going to drag race this thing, I'm not going to win any races on the streets with it, but when I need to get on an on-ramp on the highway, I've got plenty of power on top. It's called a small crossover, which means that it sits a little higher on the road than the average sedan. It offers more headroom for taller people. But it's still a pretty compact car. It's definitely shorter and squatter-looking than your typical sedan or small SUV. And it doesn't look anything like a Model 3, which is low-slung and sporty. Instead, it kind of looks like a $16,000 Honda Fit. Now inside the Bolt is more roomy than you might expect, because Chevy was able to maximize space savings due to the lack of the engine and drivetrain. The wheels are pushed to the far corners of the car, so interior legroom is plentiful, and the rear seat actually has a flat floor. But again, this is not a big car at all, and I was easily able to fill up the back seat with car seats for my two kids. Also, the trunk space is pretty cramped. A small, single folding stroller pretty much eats all of it up, leaving me little room for groceries or other stuff. The interior design of the Bolt is also mixed. It has a slightly futuristic decor that will probably look super dated in just a couple of years, but it is ergonomic and comfortable. Now this isn't a luxury car by any stretch, but it does have leather seating options, heated seats, and automatic climate control. The main screen is where you can see things like how much range is left, what's been using the car's battery, and program charging times. It's resistive, which is a little bit of a bummer, but it's responsive enough if you hit it hard enough. So Chevy says that the maximum range you're going to get between charges is about 240 miles. But that varies a lot depending on how you drive, how much climate control you use, the terrain you're driving on, and even the temperature outside. Now in my time with it, it's been closer to about 200 miles per charge, at least based on the meter inside the car. And certain things you do can instantly change the power, so if I turn off the climate control here, it instantly gives me another 10 miles of range. But if I turn it back on because it's hot outside, I've just knocked 10 miles off my range right there. There are three different ways to charge a Bolt's giant 60 kilowatt hour battery. That's about 4,000 times bigger than your phone's battery. There's level one, which is your standard 120-volt outlet. It will take about 50 hours to fully charge a depleted Bolt this way. Then there's level two, which is what most electric car charging stations are. These run at 240 volts and can fully charge a Bolt in about nine hours. And then there's level three, which is a new fast charging option that's available in just a handful of areas. Chevy says you can get 90 miles of range in as little as 30 minutes of charging with this. Now if you're going to buy a Bolt and you live in the suburbs like I do, or anywhere outside of a major metro area, you really need to invest in a level two charger for your garage. It'll run you about $1,000 to get one installed, but it lets you get a full charge overnight and eliminates many of the range anxiety concerns. Now I've been stuck with the super slow level one charging in my garage, so it's taken a lot of time to get even a little bit of charge, which has made this week with the Bolt a little bit more stressful than normal. Well, you don't want to become a slave to the gauge. So you don't want the range to be constantly dictating how you're driving and what you're using. This bus just cut me off. So the thing is, if you're driving around and your windows are fogging up and you're afraid to turn the defroster on because it's going to shorten your range, that's stupid. Turn the defroster on and clear your windows up. Come on. That's ridiculous. Would I buy this car? Probably not, because the infrastructure where I live and where I drive just isn't built out yet. Now those are the same issues that any other electric car has, even a Tesla. Electric vehicles are still beta experiences, but at the end of the day, when you beta test a Tesla, you still own a Tesla. And when you beta test a Bolt, you're driving a Chevy. I think I know which one I'd rather have. Yeah, I think they closed. I think it closed. No, no, I think it opened and then it closed. Yeah. I have no idea. It was in the newspaper a couple of weeks ago. It was kind of weird.