LAS VEGAS -- The Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicle that rolled onto the stage at the Consumer Electronics Show last week served as General Motors' rebuttal to the view that legacy automakers aren't nimble enough to respond to the fast changes in the way people get around.
More than three years ago -- when Uber still wasn't quite a household name -- GM engineers and designers began work on a car that could not only serve as a private buyer's daily driver but also fit well into a ride-sharing world.
"This car says we've been thinking about the future for a long time," said Pam Fletcher, GM's executive chief engineer for electrified vehicles. "We recognize that the sharing economy is coming."
The car's introduction at CES came two days after GM announced an alliance with the networked ride service Lyft that includes the creation of a fleet of shared GM vehicles available for Lyft drivers to rent.
The Bolt EV offers features tailored for a car that can be used by multiple drivers. For example, a new app combines owner and vehicle information, such as charge status, and allows users to preset the cabin temperature. The car can be accessed by an encrypted key or a code sent to a user's handheld device by another user or a ride-sharing service, transforming the smartphone into a key fob.
The starting point, though, was a purpose-built EV platform that gave designers the freedom to create an airy layout that maximizes space through a flat, lower floor and wheels pushed to the corners.
"We had a blank canvas on the Bolt EV," said lead designer Stuart Norris.
They also had a compressed time frame. Chevy was in a race with Tesla to be first to market with an affordable, long-range EV. Tesla has said it will be out in 2017 with its Model 3, said to have a 200-mile range for around $30,000. The Bolt is due to start production later this year.
"We consciously said, 'This is our opportunity to show the world what "Find New Roads" really means,'" GM North America President Alan Batey said, referring to Chevy's marketing tag line. "We really pushed to be first."
