- The 2023 Chevy Bolt EV and its EUV counterpart will end production after this year, GM today announced in an investor call.
- The factory where the Bolt is built will switch to producing electric trucks, with the Chevy Silverado EV set to arrive at the end of 2023.
- The Bolt recovered from its battery fire recall to hit a new sales record last year at 38,120 and is off to a strong start in 2023, with 19,700 units delivered through the first quarter.
The Chevy Bolt EV and EUV are living on borrowed time. General Motors today announced plans to end production of the electric hatchbacks by the end of 2023. CEO Mary Barra revealed the Bolt’s planned demise during an investor call, explaining the Orion Assembly plant in Michigan where it is built will begin retooling in order to start churning out the company’s electric pickup trucks next year.
When the Bolt arrived for the 2017 model year, it was one of few EVs with respectable range, returning a 238-mile EPA estimate from its 60.0-kWh battery. An upgrade to a 66.0-kWh pack brought a 259-mile rating for 2020, while a styling update for 2022 also saw the introduction of the EUV—an attempt to tap into the surging market for SUVs. Bolt sales never took off quite as much as GM hoped, lagging far behind Tesla, although Chevy still shifted around 20,000 units each year.
Fires caused by defective batteries resulted in a controversial recall in 2021, which saw sales briefly dwindle, but price cuts to under $30,000 for the 2023 model year helped the Bolt bounce back with its best year yet, with 38,120 deliveries in 2022. The Bolt duo is off to a hot start in 2023 as well, with 19,700 Bolts finding homes in the first quarter.
Despite the recent surge in sales, the Bolt’s older LG battery technology has been surpassed as GM launches a new electric lineup based on the Ultium platform, first introduced on the GMC Hummer EV. The Bolt EV and EUV don’t have direct replacements waiting in the wings, but the Equinox EV going on sale this year will take over the role of GM’s entry-level EV, albeit with a starting price over the $30,000 mark.
Barra predicted that the Orion factory will, at full capacity, be capable of constructing 600K electric trucks each year. The Chevy Silverado EV is set to go on sale this year, with the GMC Sierra EV following in early 2024.
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Caleb Miller began blogging about cars at 13 years old, and he realized his dream of writing for a car magazine after graduating from Carnegie Mellon University and joining the Car and Driver team. He loves quirky and obscure autos, aiming to one day own something bizarre like a Nissan S-Cargo, and is an avid motorsports fan.
Source: Motor - aranddriver.com
