If you were lamenting the discontinuation of the Chevy Bolt, America's most affordable all-electric vehicle, you can put away your kleenex box. Because a next-generation all-electric Chevrolet Bolt is on the way.
Earlier this year GM Chair and CEO Mary Barra confirmed the Bolt and Bolt EUV would be discontinued at the end of 2023 as GM's Orion Assembly plant in Michigan focuses on Chevrolet's upcoming all-electric pickup trucks.
But last week during a quarterly earnings conference call, Barra announced that Chevy will build a next-generation Bolt.
“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,” said Barra. “It’s also an important source of conquest sales for the company and for Chevrolet.”
GM says that sales of Bolt EV and Bolt EUV through the first half of 2023 have been the strongest to date. (CarPro Show host Jerry Reynolds reviewed the 2023 Bolt EUV earlier this year and you can check out his review here →.) The automaker also says eighty percent of Bolt owners are staying loyal to Chevy and that nearly 70 percent of buyers trading in a vehicle for Bolt are trading in vehicle from another brand.
“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.”
GM first introduced the Bolt in 2017. A larger Bolt EUV joined the lineup in 2021.
Stay tuned for more details. It's certainly a busy year for Chevrolet. The brand is also preparing to launch three other all-electric vehicles this year: the Chevy Silverado EV, Blazer EV and Equinox EV.
(Photo by Jeffrey Sauger for Chevrolet.)
Photo Credit: Chevrolet