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Chevrolet had an EV hit on its hands with the popular Bolt and Bolt EUV until a problem with battery fires caused recalls. Now, GM Chair and CEO Mary Barra says Chevy is bringing back its popular EV with new, improved Ultium technology. Chevy is promising great affordability, range and technology.
“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.”
2023 Bolt Model Still Selling Well
Chevrolet should be able to revamp the Bolt models fairly easily on the Ultium platform. Chevrolet is not saying when the new Bolt will be available, but the company is accelerating the timeline for its most affordable EV. I would not be surprised if the new Bolt is one of the new models unveiled at the upcoming Detroit Auto Show. GM is promising to unveil two new models during the auto show known as the North American International Auto Show. The image the company has released of the next-generation Bolt shows the new logo on a vehicle, so obviously planning is already well underway.
The Bolt is expected to join Chevrolet’s growing lineup of all-electric vehicles, three of which are launching this year — Silverado EV, Blazer EV and Equinox EV.
2023 Bolt Continues the Model’s Success
From the moment it debuted in 2017, the Chevrolet Bolt has been viewed as a great improvement from Chevy’s original EV called the Volt. The Bolt was Chevrolet’s 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. According to Chevrolet, eighty percent of Bolt owners are loyal to Chevy and nearly 70 percent of buyers who are trading in a vehicle for Bolt are trading in a non-GM product. That is why it is called a conquest vehicle, because it brings in buyers from other automakers.
Chevrolet says availability and pricing will be announced in the future, but I would guess we will know a lot more in September.
Chevrolet Photo
Mary Conway is a professional automotive journalist and has decades of experience specializing in automotive news analysis. She covered the Detroit Three for more than twenty years for the ABC affiliate, in Detroit. Her affection for the Motor City comes naturally. Her father ran a gas station while Mary was growing up, in Wisconsin.
Follow Mary Conway at @MaryConwayMedia and send her car news tips for future stories.
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