Chevy Bolt 2016 - 2023
Last week I wrote on the dismaying trend toward ever-larger vehicles in the US and expressed the hope that the transition to EVs might help shift our preferences to something more sustainable than the trucks and SUVs that most Americans now purchase.
So much for that. Yesterday, GM announced that it is shutting down production of the Bolt EV (and its very slightly larger EUV sibling) and converting the Bolt plant in Michigan to instead assemble Blazer and Equinox EV SUVs.
GM’s exit from the small-EV space is disappointing. The Bolt was an extremely competent, if unexciting, little car. On paper it did everything well. The Bolt EV and EUV start at around $26k, meaning they can be had for less than $20k when factoring in the federal tax credit. This is less than half of the average purchase price of a new vehicle in the US. They also have a decent range of around 250 miles, depending on trim. They have all the expected safety and technology features like lane keep assist, Apple carplay, wireless phone charging, and heated and ventilated seats as standard. At 3500lbs, they are pretty light for an EV, but still have enough space for four 6ft adults and cargo. They are even reasonably quick with a 0-60 time of 6.7 seconds.
If the Bolt models have any major flaw, it's that its fast charging is capped at 55kW, making them decidedly inconvenient for road trips (charging from 10-80% would take about an hour). That said, for most owners this would be a factor pretty infrequently. As a city car or a commuting runabout, they are ideal. They even sold reasonably well, with GM planning on selling 70,000 of them this year, certainly making them GM’s current best selling EV.
The larger Ultium platform EVs are newer technology and will likely sell in larger numbers than the Bolt. These vehicles will definitely offer greater range, power and size, but will also cost twice as much as the Bolt.
While I knew it was unlikely that consumer preferences would shift overnight to smaller, more efficient vehicles, I had hoped that the Bolt’s compelling combination of capability and affordability would have persuaded GM to bring the advantages of the 800V Ultium architecture to a Bolt-sized vehicle, in addition to the larger SUVs that are its bread and butter. It seems a shame that consumers will no longer even have the option to buy a small, quietly competent, well-priced EV.