GM will discontinue production of the Chevrolet Bolt EV and Bolt EUV electric cars by the end of 2023, GM CEO Mary Barra told investors on Tuesday. The Orion assembly plant used to make the Bolt EV will shift production to electric trucks like the Silverado EV that use GM’s more sophisticated Ultium propulsion system.
The announcement of the end of the Bolt EV comes as it is experiencing its third consecutive quarter of record sales, Barra said in a LinkedIn post. She also calls this “a groundbreaking year for the GM EV and the Ultium Platform.”
That marks the end of one of the most affordable electric cars and a go-to positioner for the nascent electric car market when it launched in 2017. It won. Green Car Report Best Car To Buy In 2017 for high range and affordable price, at the time.
Back then, the Bolt EV cost $37,495. Last year, in June, Chevy discount of the larger Bolt EV and Bolt EUV are $26,595 and $28,195 respectively, making them the most affordable electric vehicles with a relatively long 259-mile range (247 for the EUV). Both Bolts use 65 kWh battery packs.
The price cuts are intended to highlight the Bolt EV’s affordability at a time when the average price of new cars exceeds $46,000 and attract returning customers following a widespread battery recall. GM halt production of Bolt EV and Bolt EUV for six months while determining the cause of the fire, and finally replace battery module on certain models and expands the recall to every Bolt EV produced, to a total of approximately 141,000 vehicles in North America.
GM raised prices this year by $900 after a $7,500 federal electric vehicle tax credit was reinstated as part of the revised Inflation Reduction Act. That makes the Chevy Bolt EV and EUV 2023 at least half the price of most other electric cars, with the exception of the Nissan Leaf.
