Chevrolet Bolt EV and EUV: GM will stop production in 2023

General Motors will stop making the Bolt in EV and EUV model versions (see video) at the end of 2023. According to solid media reports, CEO Mary Barra confirmed this during a conference call. The electric vehicles should make way at the plant in Orion Township in the US state for other electric models that are based on GM’s Ultium electric system and use battery packs designed around it. The Bolt EV and EUV are based on the old BEV2 platform and use battery cells from Korean electronics company LG.

Along with the electric compacts, GM introduces two affordable electric models whose base price list currently starts at 26,500 (currently equivalent to a good 24,000 euros) or 27,800 dollars (around 25,200 euros) and which are also eligible for full financing American electric car. 7,500 dollars (about 6,800 euros). To date, GM has sold approximately 161,000 units of the Stromer two-wheeler in the United States. In Orion City, they will be replaced by the Chevrolet Silverado EV and GMC Sierra EV Denali electric pick-ups, which are likely to be more expensive and also promise higher per-vehicle sales.

Recall of expensive batteries

With the end of the Chevrolet Bolt EV and EUV, the period of suffering will also end. One should remember the mega recall due to bad battery, which even caused the car’s only fire. The recall began in October 2020 and also affected the sister model of the Opel Ampera-e (see the image display at the top of the article). 1,489 Opel Ampera-e were affected in Germany and more than 140,000 Chevrolet Bolt EVs in the United States.

As part of the recall campaign, Opel, like GM and the Bolt, replaced the defective battery modules in the affected vehicles. According to GM, the entire restoration cost about two billion US dollars (a cool 1.8 billion euros). However, GM had accepted billions in compensation from LG suppliers. GM reported special earnings of $1.9 billion (about €1.7 billion) in the third quarter of 2021. It was said at the time that this almost covered restoration costs.

Semi-annual production break

In order to be able to carry out the recall campaign and replace the faulty battery modules, production of the Bolt EV has been stopped since October 2021. It was not until April 2022 that General Motors released new copies of the Chevrolet Bolt EV and EUV again. These cars were run on production lines parallel to those where the battery modules were being replaced. Now it’s clear: It was a short comeback for Bolt.