Just three months after announcing theChevy Bolt’s retirement, GM says it’s preparing the “next generation” of Bolt. We don’t know when the new Chevy Bolt will arrive, but it will use the modern Ultium platform, and it should retain its “affordable” price.
This announcement isn’t too surprising. Chevy Bolt is one of the few EVs to carry a sub-$30,000 price tag, and it outsells many of Chevrolet’s more expensive electric vehicles. When the Chevy Bolt went into “retirement,” it was mainly due to its outdated BEV2 platform, which created manufacturing headaches for GM and may have contributed toa battery recallin 2021.
Chevrolet will use the Ultium platform to build its new Bolt. This will streamline production and reduce costs, as the Ultium system is shared by several other GM electric vehicles. It may also improve Chevy Bolt performance and charging speed. (Interestingly, Chevy claims that the Ultium platform will accelerate the Chevy Bolt’s reintroduction to the market—the revised EV may arrive a lot sooner than expected.)
Additional details are unknown. That said, this is an affordable vehicle, and GM hopes to get it out the door quickly. Aside from the new Ultium system and Ultifi software, we don’t expect any groundbreaking changes to the Chevy Bolt. It will presumably be a very similar car with the same sub-$30,000 price tag that we’ve come to appreciate. (Current-gen Chevy Bolts start at about $26,000 and qualify for theEV tax credit. They ain’t cheap, but they’re far cheaper than most electric vehicles.)
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Note that Chevrolet is launching three new EVs in 2023—theSilveradoelectric truck, theEquinoxcrossover, and theBlazermid-size SUV. Clearly, the carmaker is taking this market very seriously, and it will provide stiff competition for Tesla, Ford, and Rivian in 2024.
We aren’t sure when the revised Chevy Bolt will arrive. But based on GM’s so-called “accelerated” timeline, plus the production halt on current-generation Chevy Bolt vehicles, we can probably expect a launch in one or two years. Note that this is a very generous estimate. Electric vehicles often require several years of development.
