A Tesla Model 3 and an all-electric Chevy Bolt recently battled on the streets of Moscow. The short race, which was conducted on an open road by the Moscow Tesla Club, provided a good glimpse of the difference in the performance of both vehicles. As it turns out, the Model 3 completely outclasses its GM-made rival.
The Chevy Bolt, rebadged and sold in the European market as the Opel Ampera-E, is GM’s entry into the same segment as the Model 3. The two vehicles have been extensively compared in the past, considering that on paper, the base Model 3 and the Bolt EV were reasonably matched. The Bolt, after all, boasts decent performance and range that is comparable to Tesla’s vehicles.
Reviews of the Chevy Bolt have been highly favorable, with publications such as Car & Driver dubbing the 2018 variant of the electric car as a “pioneer among electric cars thanks to its affordability, practicality, and long driving range.” Equipped with a 60 kWh battery pack and a front-mounted electric motor, the Bolt is capable of sprinting from 0-60 mph in as little as 6.5 seconds, far quicker than other electric cars such as the Nissan Leaf and the Toyota Prius Prime. The Bolt’s EPA-rated all-electric range of 238 miles is also considered as one of the car’s most attractive features.
While it is easy to see that the Bolt is a superior vehicle compared to competitors such as the Leaf and the Prius Prime, the Model 3 is an entirely different animal. The Model 3 has far more modest specs than its supercar-dominating siblings like the Model S and Model X; with Tesla only selling the RWD, long-range version of the vehicle today. This particular variant is equipped with a range of 310 miles and a rated 0-60 mph time of 5.1 seconds.
As observed by YouTube’s DragTimes, however, the Model 3 is actually much faster than what Tesla claims. Brooks, the owner of the channel, managed to record the mass market compact electric sedan going from 0-60 mph in as little as 4.6 seconds. As we noted in a previous report, the Model 3 also defeated a V8-powered Pontiac G8 GT in a drag race, with the electric car dominating its ICE-based rival.
As could be seen in the video from the Moscow Tesla Club through the KindelTech YouTube channel, the Chevy Bolt is not even in the same ballpark as the Model 3 when it comes to straight-line performance. The two vehicles briefly stopped to align themselves before flooring their accelerator pedals, but as soon as the race began, it was immediately clear which electric car was faster. From the start of the race, the Model 3 pulled away from the Chevy Bolt, and then it just kept going, and going.
Just a few seconds into the race, the Model 3 could be seen a few car lengths’ ahead of the Chevy Bolt EV. As noted by KindelTech, they recorded the Model 3’s 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) time at 5.7 seconds and the Chevy Bolt’s 0-100 km/h run at 7.3 seconds. Interestingly, the Model 3 in this recent race did not even perform as fast the electric car in DragTimes’ test. Regardless of this, the Model 3 in the recent race still outclassed the GM-made electric car.
Watch the Model 3 vs. Chevy Bolt EV race below.
