The Electric Chevy Bolt receives a successor – ecomnto.de

General Motors is re-entering Europe, focusing on electric vehicles. This means that models from the Chevrolet subsidiary are also attractive to local drivers. The company has not yet revealed which one will be exported. A new, viable candidate is the next-generation Bolt compact car.

General Motors Chairman Mary Barra announced that Chevrolet will launch the next generation Bolt. Like its predecessor, which has been built since 2016, this one should deliver what customers expect from it: “great affordability, versatility and technology”.

The Bolt was also sold in this country for a few years from 2017: in a visually modified version from the Opel subsidiary. The SUV version, the Bolt EUV, has been available in the US since 2021.

The Bolt regularly made headlines for a while because parked cars caught fire across the United States. The catalyst was batteries supplied by South Korean electronics company LG. Chevrolet has been forced to issue numerous recalls for the Bolt due to the risk of smoke, meltdown and fire caused by a manufacturing defect in the battery cells. This also affected owners of the technically similar Opel Ampera-e.

In 2021, General Motors agreed with LG to pay billions in damages for battery problems. LG was covering the costs associated with the recall of Chevrolet Bolt and Bolt EUV electric vehicles that are prone to fires due to manufacturing defects, it was said at the time.

What the new Bolt will offer remains to be seen. This time the technology is likely to come mainly from the General Motors Group itself. In the current model, LG provides other electrical components along with the battery, including the motor. According to Barra, General Motors is relying on its Ultium technology for batteries and motors for the new model.

The launch schedule for the new Bolt is not yet known. This also applies to plans to launch in markets outside the USA. General Motors is reportedly planning to start selling all-electric cars in Europe this fall. The European range will be an electronic-only portfolio that includes group designs from more than one brand.