Affordable Electric Vehicles: The End of America’s Lowest-Priced Option

We’re gathered here to mourn the loss of one of the most affordable EVs. As GM rethinks and tweaks its EV strategy , there was one major casualty — the Chevrolet Bolt is dead, as GM is discontinuing its production.

General Motors CEO, Mary Barra, has announced the car maker’s intentions to cease production of the Chevy Bolt EV and EUV by the end of 2023. The car is among the more affordable EVs currently in the market, with a starting price of $24,000, a price tag that could go even lower after accounting for the $7,500 EV tax credit .

The move doesn’t mean that GM is abandoning EVs. Rather, it’s reshifting its focus towards building electric trucks and SUVs instead, with cars such as the Blazer EV, the Silverado EV, and Equinox EV making up the bulk of electric vehicles belonging to the Chevrolet brand. These cars are all based on GM’s new Ultium battery architecture, which the Chevy Bolt notably doesn’t use — instead, it uses the older BEV2 platform.

Really, though, the writing was on the wall for the Chevy Bolt. Its sales were slowly but steadily displaced by the Tesla Model 3 since its release in 2018, and there was also a recall of a wide range of cars (2017 to 2019 models) because of them being prone to fires. We can’t say we didn’t see this coming. However, the discontinuation does leave potential EV owners with fewer options for a budget car. The Nissan Leaf is a similar car, but it starts at $28,040 for the 2023 model, while the Bolt EV starts at $26,500 (both prices are excluding any tax credits).

The Equinox EV will take Bolt’s place as GM’s most affordable electric car. And GM plans to go all-in on EVs by 2025 with a big investment in an effort to overtake Tesla’s #1 spot. So who knows? We might see a revival of the Bolt sooner than later — or at least a replacement.

Source: The Verge