Chevy Bolt And Tesla Model 3 Head For Culture Wars

Chevrolet and Tesla may be heading for a culture clash when the Tesla Model 3 eventually emerges.

Both Tesla and Chevrolet are trying to head up the electric vehicle market, with the Chevy offerings being more of an everyman's vehicle up to now and Tesla being more in the luxury department. However, with the upcoming Tesla model 3 aiming to be a more affordable EV for the masses, it's likely that both companies are going to butt heads sooner rather than later.

It's something that is apparent to many an automotive writer as mentioned over at forbes.com with them highlighting how a visit to a few Chevy dealers didn't offer that many Volt or Bolts for sale, which concluded that without a larger portion of their EV vehicles in the marketing department, they may not be able to shift as many vehicles and spread the word by the time the Tesla model 3 appears at the end of the year.

There is in comparison an increasing number of Tesla vehicles on the road along with plenty of the likes of the Toyota Prius. This means that moving forward GM will have to start shifting more units and doing far more promotion or Tesla will possibly catch up, or even bypass them in the next five years.

The odd thing is that GM do have a head start in the market as the Volt has won lots of praise and the Bolt appealing to a Japanese and German car buying public at present. It's not that they are not shifting units as they are clearly selling in the likes of Los Angeles and other eco conscious states. However, GM need to start to target a wider reach as plenty of their competitors are gearing up for their next generation of EV vehicles. With the likes of Hyundai providing a wide range of electric and hybrid vehicles, Toyota and BMW also producing midpriced offerings, the competition is soon to hot up in the midpriced arena.

Tesla are also planning to move a lot of their model 3s in 2018 and with a planned price tag of $35,000 compared to the Bolt's $37,000, means the more affluent eco-conscious may just plump for a Model 3 over its competitor.

Tesla are also making inroads into being a more fashionable item from the rest of its competitors. Having an aura of a more tech conscious company which appeals more to the smart phone generation may give Tesla the edge in the EV market. Being just an Electric vehicle manufacturer and constantly pushing on social media their latest advances, along with other endeavors like solar panels and battery production make the company seem like a more futuristic and popular offering than the rest. Chevy in comparison, have all their gasoline vehicles which are still the main selling point through their dealers.

It seems that the GM electric vehicles are worthy of a bigger share of the market, but it seems they have to put their marketing boots on to spread the word more before the Tesla Model 3 starts its song and dance on its release. Bets are on that news channels will be stuffed with Model 3 news on its release and for months afterwards. Both companies have fantastic EV vehicles, but it's in the average consumer market where the future battles seem to lay.