Die-hard Chevrolet Bolt fans rejoiced when General Motors announced it was bringing a facelifted version of the EV subcompact back into production.
The GM brand gave a lot of credit to those owners — and Bolt supporters within General Motors — for reviving the car. But fandom alone doesn’t reboot a multi-million dollar program. Math should be printed in more than one way.
An examination of GM’s business and market conditions at the time it was approved suggests what compelled the automaker to bring back the Bolt.
It started with GM’s factory capacity. The American automaker was able to save money at the Fairfax assembly plant in Kansas. The plant previously built the Chevy Malibu, which finished production two years ago, and it won’t start making Chevy Equinox SUVs until mid-2027 or Buick Envisions until 2028. Into that gap went the Bolt, too.
Perhaps most critical to the Bolt’s comeback has been the wider availability of EV-specific components, which has helped lower the cost of the new model. It’s not built on a flashy new platform, instead it relies on incremental improvements to make the final product better.
TechCrunch recently drove the new Bolt. It’s exciting enough to suggest that it will give GM a boost in EV sales in an uncertain US market.
The original 2017 Bolt was GM’s first dedicated EV in 20 years. It was a major effort, which meant the company had to design and build the motor and battery management system while also in coordination with LG Chem (now LG Energy Solution) to make the battery pack. The car got a completely new chassis that wasn’t a revamped version of an internal combustion engine platform. None of these items are cheap.
Fast forward to today, and GM sells about a dozen all-electric models in the US under the Chevrolet, Cadillac and GMC brands. This gave him plenty of spare parts and experience to draw upon when building the new Bolt.
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For drivers, this influence is felt the moment they sit in the car. The large touchscreen runs the Android Automotive operating system, which keeps you informed of the battery’s charge status. This allows it to recommend chargers on a route and prepare the battery so that it can be charged as quickly as possible.
Under the hood, the new Bolt borrows the Chevy Equinox’s front engine. With 200 horsepower it matches the previous generation exactly. But at 169 pound-feet of torque, it seems too small. However, because of what GM has learned over the years, this new engine revs faster and more efficiently, allowing Chevy to use a lower gear in the single-speed transmission. At the wheel, the engine produces about as much as before.
The new engine combined with more efficient power electronics means the 2027 Bolt can travel around 15 miles further than the previous Bolt EUV, the body style on which the new model is based.
GM expects the new Bolt it will be profitablesomething the old model struggled with.
The transition to EVs has not been smooth for GM or many other traditional automakers. The company said in January it would take a $6 billion charge in the wake of slower-than-expected EV adoption. However, GM said it remains committed to producing electric vehicles. And so far, it has not backed down on its commitment to phase out fossil fuel vehicles by 2035.
The cynical view of the new Bolt is that it’s a half-measure, a revamp of an old model to lure more of its most loyal customers.
The new model should perhaps be seen as a case for technology sharing and incremental improvements. A 15-mile range improvement from a new engine and battery management system might not seem like much, but if GM can keep going at a steady pace, the next decade could be transformative for the company and the electric vehicle market. Fancy new platforms make for great titles, but not every breakthrough requires a multi-billion dollar investment.
