A mere three months ago, General Motors announced that the Chevy Bolt – one of the older all-electric vehicles on sale – would be discontinued, a somewhat surprising revelation given the fact that the all-new Bolt and Bolt EUV just debuted for the 2021 model year, and both were strong sellers, to boot. With a sub-$30k price tag, the Bolt was a value proposition in a segment that doesn’t offer many of them, largely because of the fact that it wasn’t profitable, well-publicized recalls cost GM a fortune, and it rides on an old platform. However, GM CEO Mary Barra also hinted at the time that the Chevy Bolt nameplate may not be going away entirely, and now, that’s apparently the case, after all.
GM has reversed course and announced that it will in fact develop a next-generation Chevy Bolt, which Barra herself revealed during the automaker’s quarterly earnings call with investors. Barra didn’t reveal too many details about what the new Bolt might look like, but did note that it will deliver the same “great affordability, range, and technology” customers have come to expect from the model. The next-gen Bolt will also ride on the automaker’s Ultium platform, as well as utilize Ultifi software when it debuts at an as-yet-undetermined future date – on an “accelerated timeline.”
“Our customers love today’s Bolt. It has been delivering record sales and some of the highest customer satisfaction and loyalty scores in the industry,” Barra said. “It’s also an important source of conquest sales for the company and for Chevrolet. We will keep the momentum going by delivering a new Bolt…and we will execute it more quickly compared to an all-new program with significantly lower engineering expense and capital investment by updating the vehicle with Ultium and Ultifi technologies and by applying our ‘winning with simplicity’ discipline.”
The current-gen Chevy Bolt is more affordable than the Ford Mustang Mach-E, which is currently The Blue Oval’s closest rival and starts out at around $43k. However, with FoMoCo working to reduce the price of its EV crossover and an unclear future for the Bolt in regards to its sizing, performance, or range, the two could become much closer competitors with the arrival of the next-gen model.
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Comments
And when will GM or Ford produce rivals to real EV’s like the Porsche Taycan, the Audi e-tron GT, the Tesla Model S, the Tesla Model 3 or the Lucid Air just to mention some?
The Bolt isn’t a rival to the Mach E anymore than the Kia Forte is a rival to the ICE Mustang.
I personally have a 2023 Bolt EV (not EUV) and I love it. This little car is comfortable, quiet, handles well and the EV side has far exceeded my expectations based on GM’s own numbers. Now that it’s warmer out (Southern California near the coast temps), I’ve changed my max charging to 90% and I’m still getting almost 300 miles of range still. It’s fast and has all the tech I ever need. My only wish is that it was more like a sedan and drop the ugly black plastic all around the wheels and bottom. That cheapens the car a lot.
So I see two problems here. First, the morons at GM already put the kill tag on the Bolt, thus already caused damages. I know for a fact that GM totally pi**ed me off with that announcement. The second problem is that this “new Bolt” will be much more expensive. There is/was just no need to place the Bolt on the Ultium platform and push the tech higher. Not everyone wants all that stuff and they don’t want to pay a lot more for what they don’t need. I am one of those people.
Wouldn’t it be super nice if Ford, GM or perhaps Stallantis, Toyota or VW were to develop and market a small pickup with quick charging, good range and a relatively low price? Ford proved there is a huge market for reasonably sized pickups with the Maverick, this would be a HUGE hit with an electric at a reasonable price point.
Just because it’s an EV doesn’t mean it’s a rival. I think the Bolts target audience and mustang E target audience have one thing in common – 1sr time buyers, after that nothing. Why not throw in the lucid air and Cadillac IQ car whatever they call it. I’m sure GM via Chevy or Buick will have a rival within the next 4 years and it’s name will be familiar and not start with B.
If GM revives the Bolt, then Ford should compete with an electric Fiesta or another electric Focus.
@Ford Owner: Exactly. Ford certainly needs to offer a smaller sedan/hatch (NOT SUV) EV for the many who want them.
I think there will be a hot market for a sharp looking, briskly performing BEV with a 300 mile range, 15 minute full recharge on the long trips via NACS charging, and most of all a $25,000 to $35,000 price range. We are now at most just one or two years away from this BEV.
In response to Ford Owner, how about a BEV Ford Puma!
If Ford would make a true competitor to the Bolt, such as a Focus EV with LFP batteries and a 250 mile EPA range, 0-60 in 6.0 or less, 125KW charging, at a sub $26K price point, I for one of many would buy it. Ford needs to be a player in this segment.