Chevy Bolt Outsells Nissan Leaf 2 to 1 Despite Being Off the Market

Although GM ceased new vehicle sales of the Bolt and Bolt EUV line during Q3, the results are still pretty solid.

General Motors posted some surprising Q3 delivery results today. The headlines followed the usual pattern; Trucks! Big Huge SUVs! Corvettes! All with gasser V8 engines. However, if you are an EV fan and scan down a bit to the Bolt and Bolt EUV deliveries section, there was an interesting tidbit.

Related Story: Chevrolet Plans To Resell Bolt EVs It Bought Back After Fire Recall

Despite GM stopping all sales of the Bolt and Bolt EUV during the quarter, Chevrolet dealers still managed to move 4,515 units into the driveways of new owners. That is down about 20% over the same quarter last year. Not at all bad considering some of the horror stories being reported today regarding vehicle sales results.

Even more impressive is that GM’s year-to-date total deliveries of all things Bolt is 76% higher than last year at this same time. GM has delivered 24,803 Bolt family vehicles this year so far. That is more than Ford delivered Mustang Mach-Es, Volkswagen delivered ID.4s or Toyota delivered RAV4 Primes.

Most interesting of all, the Chevy Bolt outsold the Nissan Leaf by more than two to one so far year to date. Nissan has only delivered a measly 10,074 Leafs in 2021. Yikes.

Much of the reporting of these deliveries ignores the impact of the market upheaval of the past 20 months. Affordable EVs were selling at higher volumes years ago. But that inconvenient truth is greenwashed away by the exciting news that a new Super Sedan EV costing $80K+ is finally available. Or that a compact EV truck is now available at the bargain price of just $70,000!

We’re rooting for the Bolt and Bolt EUV to return to the market with a bang by early 2022. Is it biased to hope for an affordable EV to succeed? If so, we’ll live with that.

John Goreham is a long-time New England Motor Press Association member and recovering engineer. John's interest in EVs goes back to 1990 when he designed the thermal control system for an EV battery as part of an academic team. After earning his mechanical engineering degree, John completed a marketing program at Northeastern University and worked with automotive component manufacturers, in the semiconductor industry, and in biotech. In addition to Torque News, John's work has appeared in print in dozens of American news outlets and he provides reviews to many vehicle shopping sites. You can follow John on TikTok @ToknCars, on Twitter, and view his credentials at Linkedin

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