Chevrolet made a smart decision regarding the Bolt EV’s future, clarifying today that the car will get a next-generation offering after previously planning to axe the vehicle.
General Motors held its Q2 2023 Earnings Call earlier today, and CEO Mary Barra announced that the Bolt, which accounts for a substantial portion of the company’s EV sales due to its price point, would be developed into a next-generation design.
Barra said (via Detroit News):
“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. 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.”
The changes in design to the next-gen Bolt weren’t highlighted during the call, but Barra did go into detail about improvements in engineering expense and capital investment by updating the vehicle with the proprietary Ultium platform and Ultifi technologies.
This effort has Barra and GM adopting their “winning with simplicity” method.
The Bolt EV has sold 33,000 units so far this year, and in a shocking move, the company had plans to axe the vehicle altogether, bringing closure to what many thought was a staple in the company’s lineup.
In April, Barra announced during the Q1 Earnings Call that GM would phase the Bolt EV and EUV out of production “at the very end of the year.”
“When the Chevrolet Bolt EV launched, it was a huge technical achievement and the first affordable EV, which set in motion GM’s all-electric future,” Chevy spokesperson Cody Williams said. “Chevrolet will launch several new EVs later this year based on the Ultium platform in key segments, including the Silverado EV, Blazer EV, and Equinox EV.”
In June, Barra was already beginning to hint that the Bolt would make a return as an Ultium-based vehicle, which made sense, considering it was basically the heart and soul of GM’s EV efforts.
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