Yes, I'm super excited for the Bolt. Haven't driven it, but am a total car nut both personally and professionally. Also a former Nissan Leaf owner...R.I.P. it fell victim to a nasty hail storm.
Pure electric cars are definitely less expensive to operate. No gas, no oil to change, less maintenance overall. Make sure you know what your electric prices are and if there's a time of day when charging is cheaper (typically overnight).
The Bolt is the first car that will put a decent driving range (over 200 miles) in a car that is more affordable. The Leaf could only do between 60-100 miles, depending on conditions. The Mitsu i-Miev was even less. A few things to know about electric cars:
They have awesomely fun low end torque. In other words, when you hit the "gas" from a stop light, the car can take off like a shot. Beyond that, the driving "feel" is no different than a regular car, except that it is dead silent, which is eerie.
They have regenerative braking. Let off the gas and the car will begin to slow down, as if you were hitting the brakes some. That helps put power back into the battery, and saves wear/tear on your brakes. If done right, in a suburban setting, you can actually drive the car without touching the brake pedal at all.
Since they have no gas engines, they have to rely on electric sources for the heater. That will significantly reduce your range. So if the range is 200 miles on a warm sunny day, it may be 130 miles on a very cold day. The heater takes up battery power...newer ones are much better than what the original Leaf had, but still use power. So does the a/c, but to a lesser extent. Most electric cars have heated seats and steering wheels to help you stay warmer (they don't use much power).
Your range will vary widely depending on driving. Highway cruising above 60mph is a battery killer. Wind resistance makes the car work hard. My Leaf could do 90 miles in suburban driving, but if I was just cruising the highway, I'd be lucky to get 70 miles. Rain will reduce your range a little...tires have to fight through the water. Flooring the pedal reduces range...drive smooth.
Battery range will decrease as the car ages. If it's 200 miles now, when the car is 5 years old and has 70,000 miles, the range may be 150 miles or maybe 140. That's no different than any rechargeable battery. Replacements are very, very expensive, but dropping. The price will/shoulld continue to fall as aftermarket suppliers flood the market.
Resale value for electric only cars, at least so far, has been horrendous. Their value plummets like a boulder dropped from an airplane. You can buy a 2015 Nissan Leaf with under 20k miles for around $8k. It was a near $30k car when new (or after incentives, still around $22k). You can buy a Mitsu I-Miev for far less, around $6k, nearly new. I'm hoping the Bolt follows the same pattern, as I'd be first in line to pick up a used one in a year or so. We built our house new 2 years ago and I had a 220V line put in the garage specifically for an electric car. My commute is 120 miles round trip, so right now the Leaf wouldn't work for me, otherwise I'd own one. Don't want to buy a Bolt new and take the huge hit, and can't afford a Tesla.
