Current Bolt EV and EUV axed suddenly earlier this year
New model coming, but no word when
Chevrolet has just announced that there will be a new generation of the Bolt EV. The company’s CEO made the announcement during an earnings call, saying that the second-gen Bolt would continue to offer affordability and range.
When Chevrolet announced the death of the Bolt EV and EUV earlier this year it came as a surprise. Sales of the low-priced EV are up by 300 percent this year and the announcement came with no news of a replacement. GM CEO Mary Barra acknowledged the popularity of the current model on the call today, saying that “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.” She added that “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,” Barra said. “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.”
Using GM’s Ultium platform, which is already under the GMC Hummer EV, Cadillac Lyriq, and upcoming Chevrolet Equinox EV, offers the potential for long range and flexibility, in addition to bringing the car to market more quickly.
Barra and Chevrolet didn’t announce how soon “more quickly” meant, but the announcement said we can expect more information to come.
GM calls the Chevrolet Bolt EV, launched in 2017, “the first long-range, mass-produced EV available to customers at a truly affordable price.” 80 percent of Bolt buyers stay in the Chevrolet brand and nearly 70 percent came from a non-GM product. The company is looking to continue that legacy with the new model.
