GM plans to stop production of the Chevrolet Bolt before the end of the year

General Motors plans to end production of the Chevrolet Bolt electric model at the end of this year, CEO Mary Barra announced to investors. The Chevy Bolt EV and its larger Bolt EUV subsidiary have so far accounted for most of the company’s electric vehicle sales.

The Bolt was unveiled at CES in Las Vegas in 2016. Barra announced that he would be leaving soon while presenting the first quarter results.

The company plans to produce more than 70,000 Bolt models this year to reach its goal of 400,000 EVs to be sold in North America between early 2022 and the middle of next year. According to the manufacturer, the expiration date of the series has been reached. Especially since the batteries in the cars use older cells than the group’s new electric vehicles based on the Ultium platform, which are now in the starting blocks.

Recent orders in the triple-digit range, such as from Domino’s or New York City, underscore that Bolt is still looking for customers. For a long time, however, General Motors had previously caused problems with the recall of the Bolt EVs and Bolt EUVs that were once manufactured and the suspension of production linked to the Stromers. According to Barra, the Orion plant near Detroit, where models are still rolling off the assembly line, should be converted to prepare for the production of the electric Silverado EV and GMC Sierra models scheduled for 2024. According to the GM boss, the number of employees there it will “almost triple” during the next full production run and capacity will reach 600,000 electric vehicles per year.

Chevrolet will launch new EV models later this year based on the Ultium platform in key segments, including the Blazer EV SUV, Silverado EV pickup and Equinox EV compact SUV. The latter is most likely to be considered Bolt’s successor. The Equinox is also expected to have a starting price of around $30,000 when it launches this fall.
cnbc.com