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Will the 200 mi, $30k Chevy Bolt challenge Tesla’s Model 3?
The Chevy Bolt and Tesla Model 3 will be priced nearly the same and will have about the same range. Is there room enough in the market for both or will one dominate the other in sales?
Chevrolet unveiled its production all electric Bolt at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this week. Promising a range of 200 miles on a single charge, and at a price point in the $30,000 range, the Chevy Bolt has many wondering how this will stack up against Tesla’s upcoming mass market Model 3, to be unveiled in March.
Price and Range
Both cars will be similarly priced. Tesla says the Model 3 will start at $35,000. Mary Barra, GM’s CEO said at CES on Wednesday the Bolt will start at $37,500 before incentives and rebates. Though she didn’t give any details about trim levels and options, we know that a fully equipped Chevy Volt costs about $8,000 more than the base model. Add the same amount to the Bolt and you have a retail price just north of $45,000.
In all likelihood, Tesla will offer a number of options on the Model 3 including a choice of battery sizes, single or dual motors, and possibly falcon wing doors as hinted by Elon Musk. It wouldn’t take much to get the price of a Model 3 above $45,000. We wouldn’t be surprised if a fully loaded Model 3 nudges the $60,000 mark.
Styling
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, which couldn’t hold more true when it comes to the looks of the Chevy Bolt. Some have said it resembles a BMW i3 in the front and a Honda Fit in the rear. Despite the compact look of the Bolt, it’s quite roomy inside. The front seats are a monopost design similar to what Tesla uses for the second row seats in the Model X. The center console floats between the seat, leaving lots of foot room for rear seat passengers. The Bolt’s flat floor means it’s easy to slide in and out. It also has slightly more cargo room than the Honda Fit.
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- Roomy Chevy Bolt storage capacity
No one knows yet what the Model 3 will look like, but Tesla has done an excellent job designing its cars so far. The Model S still looks modern even though it has been on the road for 4 years. We hear reports that Elon is pushing his engineers to get the coefficient of drag on the Model 3 below .20, which may require some extreme exterior designs. From what we know, the Model 3 will be larger than the Bolt, but is expected to be a sedan, at least initially. The Bolt is more of a crossover utility vehicle.
Connectivity and Autonomous Driving
Tesla has an enormous lead over other manufacturer thanks to its Autopilot software that shares what it knows with other Teslas via the cloud. It also has one of the user interfaces in the business. The touchscreen in the Bolt is adequate but not groundbreaking. The area where the Bolt and the Model 3 may be direct competitors is in the market for on-demand car sharing.
Ms. Barra announced the Bolt will have app based software that will make it suitable for car sharing. The corollary is that General Motors just invested a half billion dollars in Lyft. It clearly is positioning itself for the new transportation paradigm in which people don’t own cars anymore. They simple request the kind of car they need when they need it and pay the appropriate fee. Particularly for people in crowded urban areas, that model makes perfect economic sense.
But Tesla has its eye on that market as well. Who can forget Elon’s awkward moment during a recent conference call when analyst Adam Jonas asked him if Tesla was interested in pursing on-demand car sharing? Musk’s demeanor made it clear that Jonas’ question had hit a nerve. That’s where the collision between the Chevy Bolt and the Tesla Model 3 may occur, as both attempt to exploit new market opportunities.
Timing
Mary Barra confirmed Wednesday that Chevy Bolt production will begin late in 2016. That should give it about a one year head start in the market on the Tesla Model 3 — assuming Tesla keeps to its stated timeline. If it does, it will be the first time in company history. If it is delayed, it may spot the Bolt such a massive lead that it will never be able to catch up.
Elon Musk has challenged other automakers to make more and better electric cars. The Chevy Bolt is GM’s first attempt to rise to the challenge. Whether it is a Tesla killer or just a pretender won’t be known until at least a year from now.
Elon Musk
NASA’s first human outpost on the Moon starts now – SpaceX on deck
NASA named the rovers, landers, and vendors that will build America’s first Moon Base.
NASA has laid out its most detailed Moon Base plan to date, describing a permanent outpost near the Moon’s south pole that the agency intends to build over the coming decade as a direct stepping stone to Mars. “The Moon Base will be America’s and humanity’s first outpost on another celestial world,” NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said, adding that every mission crewed and uncrewed “will be a learning opportunity as we return to the lunar surface, build the infrastructure to stay, and master the skills required to live and operate in one of the most demanding and dangerous environments imaginable.”
The plan is structured in three phases involving both uncrewed and crewed missions to deliver equipment, vehicles, and infrastructure to the surface, with the first three moon base missions targeted to launch before the end of 2026.
Moon Base I, targeting fall 2026, will use Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 1 lander to deliver scientific instruments to the Shackleton Connecting Ridge, the same region where Artemis astronauts will land. Moon Base II will send Astrobotic’s Griffin lander carrying more than 1,100 pounds of cargo including Astrolab’s FLIP rover to begin developing mobility systems on the surface. Moon Base III will carry the Lunar Vertex science mission on Intuitive Machines’ Nova-C Trinity lander to study lunar swirls near the south pole, with ESA and Korean science payloads aboard.
On the rover side, NASA awarded Astrolab $219 million and Lunar Outpost $220 million to build the first phase of Lunar Terrain Vehicles, with both rovers targeted for deployment to the lunar surface by 2028. Astrolab’s crewed rover weighs roughly 2,000 pounds and can reach over 6 mph. Lunar Outpost’s Pegasus rover can operate autonomously or via remote control at over 9 mph. Blue Origin separately received $188 million with an option worth $280.4 million to deliver cargo landers for rover transport.
NASA also confirmed that MoonFall, a mission deploying four survey drones to scout Artemis landing sites, has selected Firefly Aerospace to build the transport spacecraft, with a 2028 launch target.
SpaceX sits at the center of that commercial layer. SpaceX holds the NASA Human Landing System contract for the Starship-derived lander that will put astronauts on the surface under Artemis IV, currently targeting 2028. Before that can happen, SpaceX must demonstrate in-orbit propellant transfer at scale, a process requiring multiple Starship tanker launches to fuel a single mission. Water ice at the lunar south pole is central to the base’s long-term viability, as it can be converted into drinking water, breathable oxygen, and rocket fuel, directly reducing dependence on Earth resupply. That resource loop becomes far more practical if Starship can land and be refueled on or near the Moon itself.
Elon Musk has publicly stated that Starship V3, which recently completed its first flight, should be capable enough for initial Mars missions. The Moon Base plan announced Tuesday is the infrastructure layer that connects everything between those two ambitions, and SpaceX is the only American company currently contracted to build the rocket that gets humans to either destination.
A new Tesla patent that has been granted to the company this week has revealed a potential strategy for solving a major issue that could impact both the Full Self-Driving suite and Optimus.
The patent, which is No. 12,636,684, describes a “Lens Cleaning System,” and was submitted by Tesla in May 2025.
The language in the patent details a lens cleaning system that can dispense fluid and wipe it away with a wiper assembly.
Optimus can see you now… 🤖👁️
The patent for @Tesla_Optimus‘s eye structure just dropped. $TSLA pic.twitter.com/Jac4VhDmKH
— SETI Park (@seti_park) May 26, 2026
This would effectively clean any debris that would potentially impact the visibility of the cameras on Tesla automobiles or Optimus’s camera eyes. Perhaps the most pertinent example is through the Full Self-Driving suite, as debris that can accumulate on the vehicle’s exterior cameras can impact the suite’s ability to operate effectively.
This requires a remedy through manual cleaning, but this patent hints that Tesla could be planning to implement this new technology on its upcoming vehicles.
Interestingly, we have started to see it on some Robotaxi vehicles, and it will likely be included in the Cybercab, especially as that vehicle will enable full autonomy.
Back in January, the first Model Y Robotaxi units were spotted with camera washers on the side repeaters, as the video below shows fluid squirting and rinsing off any debris that is limiting visibility.
🚨 Tesla looks to have installed Camera Washers on the side repeater cameras on Robotaxis in Austin
pic.twitter.com/xemRtDtlRR— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) January 23, 2026
This hardware patent does bring up an interesting question for those of us who own Teslas with AI4 and have been told that our cars will one day be capable of full autonomy: Will this washer be available as a retrofit on already-built cars?
Perhaps the “Lens Cleaning System” patent is a good look at one way Tesla plans to combat one of the most obvious issues of autonomy that utilizes a camera-based system. For Optimus, it could be less needed as it could be manually cleaned by owners. For cars, it seems like a bigger necessity, especially as autonomy nears and Tesla gets close to launching a feature-complete FSD suite.
SpaceX’s Starlink product has just gotten its latest airline adoptee, and the move marks the successful partnership of three of the “Big Four” U.S. airlines.
American Airlines announced on Tuesday that it would utilize Starlink in more than 500 narrowbody aircraft beginning in the first quarter of 2027. These include the Airbus aircraft in its fleet, including the new A321XLR and A321neo.
With the new partnership with American Airlines, Starlink is now present on three of the largest airlines in the country: American, United, and Southwest.
Starlink gets its latest airline adoptee for stable and reliable internet access
Starlink’s VP of Enterprise Sales, Jason Fritch, said:
“We are proud to bring Starlink on board American Airlines, delivering fast and reliable internet to passengers and crew. Whether traveling for leisure or business, Starlink enables a fully connected experience gate to gate, making every flight smoother and more enjoyable.”
Additionally, American Airlines Chief Customer Officer, Heather Garboden, said:
“As a premium global airline, we are continuously seeking out world-class partners like Starlink to deliver what our customers need and want. The addition of Starlink solidifies American as a leading airline in keeping passengers connected in flight.”
Starlink has been on a tear over the past year, as it has continued to be adopted by a wide variety of airlines as a more consistent and reliable way to provide WiFi to its passengers. It has already gained a great reputation among residential users, but its biggest commercial application appears to be how it is being used in the air.
American Airlines will adopt Starlink on more than 500 of its narrowbody aircraft beginning in Q1 2027
“As a premium global airline, we are continuously seeking out world-class partners like Starlink to deliver what our customers need and want,” said American Airlines Chief… pic.twitter.com/XY2wflycc0
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) May 26, 2026
The only airline of the Big Four not to adopt Starlink thus far is Delta, which chose to opt for the alternative, which is Amazon Leo. CEO Ed Bastian said to Bloomberg that Delta chose Amazon’s product over Starlink’s because “the opportunities, in terms of the improved bandwidth with a much lower price point than what we’ve ever seen from Starlink, will make a big difference.”
Delta will not start installing Amazon Leo until 2028.
“Of course, we expect Starlink will be warning people that we’re going to go with an inferior product,” Bastian said. “But I’m not too worried about partnering with Amazon.”
NASA’s first human outpost on the Moon starts now – SpaceX on deck
Tesla patent reveals strategy for solving major Full Self-Driving, Optimus issue
