Chevy Bolt Order Dates By States Revealed

Chevrolet promised its Chevy Bolt electric car would be available in all 50 states by the summer of 2017. A recent chart prepared by Chevrolet confirms that goal — if only by a whisker. Customers in 19 states will be able to take delivery of a new Chevy Bolt by August of this year. Those in the other 31 states will have to wait until September arrives. Since the autumnal equinox that heralds the last day of summer happens on September 21, it looks like Chevrolet will have kept its promise.

In the chart above, the left hand column is the month when dealers can begin ordering the Chevy Bolt for customers or for inventory. The second column shows the month when the cars are expected to actually arrive on dealer lots. Not surprisingly, the first states to get the Bolt are California and the other 9 states that have adopted the California Air Resources Board zero emissions mandate.

Using data from sales of the Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid, the company is planning to supply Bolts first to areas of the country that have shown an interest in electric vehicles. Chevrolet says 1,200 of its approximately 3,000 dealers coast to coast have been trained and certified to sell and service the Bolt.

But the company is well aware of the issues surrounding the Volt. Customers have complained long and loud about clueless dealers who didn’t know the Volt has a battery or needs to be plugged in. Others found dealers who tried to strong arm them into buying a conventional car instead, actually bad mouthing electric cars in general and saying no one wanted to buy one.

To counter such resistance within its own dealer network, Chevrolet has created a special website page called ChevyEVLife.com where interested customers can go to learn more about the Volt and the Bolt and the EV lifestyle in general. It includes an EV charging station locator as well.

Kata Beslic — Chevy’s advertising and marketing manager for electric vehicles — has a piece of advice for those who find their dealer uninformed or unhelpful. She suggests that people firmly and clearly indicate to the dealer that they want to buy an electric car. If all else fails, Chevy has a toll free number people can call to bypass the dealer altogether. It is 800-950-CHEV. There is also a live chat function available on the ChevyEVLife webpage.

If you purchase a Bolt and would like to share your purchase and owner experience with our readers, please let us know.

Source: Green Car Reports