General Motors announced in April that it is ending production of the Chevy Bolt and that its Orion Assembly plant will transition to building EV pickup trucks. You can still build and price your 2023 Bolt EV on the Chevrolet site, but after this year, the Bolt EV and EUV will be done. The Bolt recently recovered a new sales record after bad press from its battery fire recall.
GM To Focus On EV Pickup Models
Even though the Bolt EV and EUV are electrified models, GM is planning to focus more on electric pickups in the future. The Orion Assembly plant where the Bolt is built will be retooling to start building GM’s electric pickups in 2024. The Bolt has an admirable albeit short history. When it first arrived in 2017, it was one of the few EV models with a decent range. It featured a range of roughly 238 miles with the base model and this improved to 259 miles in 2020.
A styling upgrade came in 2022 with the Bolt EUV, which was meant to capitalize on the growing demand for crossovers. However, Bolt sales never quite met GM’s expectations. It lagged well behind Tesla, and the controversial battery recall in 2021 didn’t help. However, GM cut the price of the Bolt to under $30,000 for the 2023 model year, and that helped sales bounce back.
Bolt Duo Off To Hot Sales Start
Thanks to the price cut for this year, the Bolt duo is off to a hot start. About 19,700 Bolts have been sold so far this year. Last year, there were 38,120 deliveries. Despite the strong surge in sales, the Bolt features dated LG battery technology that has been well-surpassed by other models. GM has already launched its new electric lineup with the Ultium platform, which debuted with the GMC Hummer EV.
Despite the end of production coming soon, there aren’t any replacements in the queue for the Bolt EV and EUV. However, the Chevy Equinox EV will be offered for sale this year, and it could be considered a replacement in that it’s an entry-level EV crossover. The main difference is that its starting price is over $30,000.
What’s Next?
GM plans to focus heavily on its EV pickups in the upcoming year. The Orion factory expects to construct as many as 600,000 EV trucks per year at full capacity. The Chevy Silverado EV pickup is set to hit the market this year and the GMC Sierra EV pickup will follow in early 2024. You can build and price your Chevy Silverado EV now, or get in on the last of the Bolt EVs before the end of the year.
With nearly every automaker focusing on EV models, you can expect more to be offered for sale in the next few years. However, you can also expect some older models with older technology to be discontinued.
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