2017 Chevy Bolt EV Drive & Walk Around (Video)

The 2017 Chevy Bolt EV is an affordable all electric vehicle with more range than the Tesla Model 3, and you can buy it today.

We recently spent an afternoon with Chevy and were able to test the 2017 Chevy Bolt EV out on a closed course to see how it handles.

The 2017 Bolt EV offers 238 miles per charge, goes 0-60 in less than 6.5 seconds and delivers nice acceleration when zipping into traffic, or when you need to merge onto a highway.

Here are our first impressions after driving the 2017 Chevy Bolt EV in a simulated city driving experience.

The 2017 Chevy Bolt EV doesn’t go to great lengths to scream that you are driving an electric car, which is something we like. Instead, the Bolt EV simply looks like a small car that is perfect for city driving.

There is a surprising amount of room in the 2017 Chevy Bolt and we didn’t feel cramped. There are nice accents and two-tone colors that carry over the modern look from exterior to interior. The rear seat folds down to offer a good amount of storage.

Inside you’ll see a large screen on the dash for your speedometer and other information and a large center screen as well. Chevy supports Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and you can use an app to remote start the car, manage charging and much more.

When it comes to driving the 2017 Bolt EV we left impressed after this short period behind the wheel. While we couldn’t test out the range like we did with the Chevy Volt, we were able to see how well this car drives on a closed course and check out the one pedal driving that you can accomplish with the regen button on the back of the steering wheel.

Instead of pressing the brake, you can push this button to slow the car and get more energy back. Of course, the brake is still important, but you can use regen to go further on a single charge.

Thanks to the electric motor, the 2017 Chevy Bolt EV is quite zippy. We could only get up to 30 to 35 miles per hour on this course, but it was enough to simulate joining traffic or quickly crossing a busy street.

From a maneuverability standpoint, the small size of the car and responsive steering delivers a good driving experience. Even on this wet course with a lot of turns, we remained in control. The low center of gravity helps with the feel while cornering at speed.

Additional tech options include a 4G LTE connection that you can use as a personal hotspot while in the car, and this allows you to use a Chevy app to unlock the doors. There are 10 airbags and a high strength steel frame as well as a number of useful safety features. When you need to park there is a virtual birds-eye view with cameras that allow you to see everything around the car.

There are 10 airbags and a high strength steel frame as well as a number of useful safety features. When you need to park there is a virtual birds-eye view with cameras that allow you to see everything around the car.

The Chevy Bolt EV starts at $37,495 before tax credits, which can drop the price to $29,995.