Chevrolet Bolt Returning as Affordable EV

Encore performance.

Chevrolet will introduce a next-generation Bolt, GM Chair and CEO Mary Barra said in a deftly crafted announcement during the company’s quarterly earnings conference call. This reverses an earlier GM decision to drop the recalled nameplate after sales more than doubled in Q2. (AutoInformed: Chevrolet Bolt EVs Recalled for Fires; GM Posts Strong Q2 Results with $3.2B in Earnings).

“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. 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.”

Timing and specific details about the next-generation Bolt will be announced at a later date. The Bolt will join Chevrolet’s growing lineup of all-electric vehicles, three of which are launching this year – Silverado EV, Blazer EV and Equinox EV with the Cadillac Lyric Already launched this year. (AutoInformed: The Sweet Song of EVs – Cadillac Starts Lyric Production)

From its market introduction in 2017, the Chevrolet Bolt was arguably the first long-range, mass-produced EV available to customers at an affordable price. Sales of Bolt EV and Bolt EUV through the first half of 2023 have been the strongest to date. It turns out 80% of Bolt owners are staying loyal to Chevy and ~70% of buyers who are trading in a vehicle for Bolt are trading in a non-GM product.