General Motors CEO Mary Barra unveiled the Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicle at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Production of the current Bolt will end in December, but GM says an improved version is on the way.
Patrick T. Fallon Bloomberg | Getty Images
General Motors surprised investors and EV fans in July when it said the small Chevrolet Bolt electric car would be revamped rather than discontinued entirely at the end of 2023 as originally planned.
During GM’s earnings call on Tuesday, Chief Executive Mary Barra shared more details behind the decision to keep the Bolt while hinting at what Bolt fans can expect when the revamped electric car becomes available.
Barra said that General Motors originally planned to launch a series of newly designed electric vehicles in the entry-level segment at a total cost of about US$5 billion. But given the Bolt’s current popularity – 2023 is already the model’s best sales year ever – revamping the existing car makes sense.
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“By leveraging the best features of today’s Bolt EV and our latest software, Ultium and NACS, we will deliver a better driving, charging and ownership experience in a vehicle we know our customers love,” said Barra. “In the process, we Saving billions of dollars in capital and engineering expenses, using purchased LFP cells provides a significantly lower cost battery pack.
The Bolt was launched in late 2016 and was initially aimed at the ride-sharing market, but sales never reached GM’s original expectations. But a series of price cuts, the launch of a roomier “EUV” variant of the crossover in 2021 and steadily growing interest in electric vehicles among U.S. consumers have combined to give the Bolt a sales surge in what would have been its final years. .
The sales surge was a big reason why GM decided to keep the Bolt. Sales will grow by more than 50% in 2022, reaching more than 38,000 vehicles. Sales this year have already surpassed that number, with nearly 50,000 Bolts sold by the end of September.
To be clear, the Bolt will be on hiatus for a while. GM still plans to end production of the current Bolt model at its Michigan plant at the end of the year and has not said when the revamped model will go on sale or where it will be built. (Bolt’s current plant in Michigan will be converted to build electric versions of General Motors’ Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks.)
But with a durable and relatively cheap lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery, GM’s improved Ultium platform and latest software, and a NACS charging port that allows it to use Tesla’s Supercharger network, the new Bolt looks set to continue to win over new buyers
“We will be at least two years faster to market, and our unit costs will be significantly lower,” Barra said.
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