Despite the fevered arguments of conspiracy theorists and the sort of people we can only refer to as drooling wackos, General Motors’ infamous decision to kill its first electric car was entirely rational. The EV1 proved comprehensively that in the mid-1990s, an era when gas frequently dropped below a buck a gallon, the world was not ready for combustion-free mobility.
Twenty years on, gas is still relatively cheap and we’ve still not reached the ion-fueled future the Jetsons promised, but we’re getting closer. The Chevrolet Bolt touches down in a different world, one that is edging toward the point where EVs start to make sense to people other than the sort of folk who campaign against cruelty to fruit. The Bolt isn’t an excuse-free electric car, but it earns its place on the 10Best list by being the one that comes closest to rebutting two of the biggest criticisms that have been levied against the genre: expense and range.
