[ad_1]
The opposite shoe has dropped on GM’s choice to take its solely quantity EV mannequin out of manufacturing: a revised Bolt utilizing the brand new Ultium battery is coming.
Common Motors CEO Mary Barra stated this morning an up to date Chevrolet Bolt EV will come to market “on an accelerated timeline,” with new Ultium battery cells changing the LG Chem design used within the present mannequin. In April, GM stated the Bolt would exit of manufacturing by the top of this yr.
The announcement of the up to date Bolt got here throughout GM’s second-quarter earnings name, on which Barra was questioned in regards to the gradual rollout of the corporate’s long-awaited quantity EV lineup: Chevrolet Silverado EV full-size pickup truck, Chevy Blazer EV mid-size SUV, and Equinox EV small SUV. These automobiles, together with the GMC Hummer EV and Cadillac Lyriq, depend on manufacturing of latest Ultium battery cells from three new crops in Warren, Ohio; Spring Hill, Tennessee; and Flint, Michigan.
GM had anticipated manufacturing of these Ultium cells to ramp up a lot quicker, Barra stated. She cited delays in battery-pack manufacturing owing to delays by an “automation provider,” however offered no additional specifics.
Replace, not a clean-sheet design
“We’ll hold the [EV] momentum going by delivering a brand new Bolt,” stated Barra. “And we’ll execute it extra rapidly [than] an all-new program, with considerably decrease engineering expense and capital funding, by updating the car with Ultium and Ultifi applied sciences and by making use of our ‘profitable with simplicity’ self-discipline.”
Few different particulars are identified in regards to the next-generation Bolt EV. GM stated solely, “Timing and particular particulars in regards to the next-generation Bolt will likely be introduced at a later date.” A attainable clue to a brand new design might are available in a rendering posted on the GM Design Instagram feed late in April. The caption famous the “distinctive proportions and surfacing” of the sketch by Logan Phillips.
How GM matches its Ultium cells right into a car that will use some or a lot of the present Bolt’s understructure stays to be seen. The oblong Ultium cells utilized in North America seem too extensive to put in them within the two parallel rows seen within the Equinox and Blazer EVs. GM has lengthy touted the flexibleness of its Ultium cells, nonetheless, which could be packaged into modules of various shapes for the whole lot from low passenger and sports activities automobiles to tall full-size vans and SUVs.
“With GM struggling to scale-up its next-generation EV choices, course-correcting and never ending the Bolt’s future—which has achieved a type of cult-classic standing—is a brilliant step,” stated Corey Cantor, senior affiliate for EVs at Bloomberg New Power Finance.
Bolt simply hitting its stride
A brand new Bolt makes rising sense on condition that the present fashions—one now in its seventh mannequin yr—are having their greatest yr up to now. In Could 2021, GM rolled out its bigger Bolt EUV model and recast the pair of Bolt hatchbacks as EV worth entries. However inside weeks, it needed to cease gross sales as a consequence of roughly a dozen Bolt battery fires. These finally led to a recall of tens of 1000’s of automobiles to switch their packs, for which LG Power Options finally reimbursed GM the price of $1.9 billion.
This yr, although, GM famous that first-half gross sales of Bolt EV and Bolt EUV have been the strongest because the first deliveries of Bolt EVs in December 2016. From January by way of June alone, Chevrolet delivered 33,659 Bolts—towards 38,000 for all of final yr. That first-half complete compares to 2,316 Lyriqs and a mere 49 Hummer EVs (a car going by way of its personal battery recall).
In different phrases, the Bolts made up the majority of GM’s EV gross sales for the primary half of the yr throughout which the Ultium fashions had been going to hit the market. On the decision, Barra confirmed the corporate’s aim of fifty,000 EVs constructed (not offered) within the first half, plus an extra 100,000 from July to December.
Barra first telegraphed a brand new Ultium-based Bolt throughout a radio interview in June. It makes appreciable sense: It’s the corporate’s best-known EV nameplate, particularly now it’s not confused in showrooms with the discontinued Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid. And with Chevrolet now solely an SUV and truck model (excepting the largely ignored Malibu mid-size sedan), the Bolt was the one method Chevy may convey new clients into the model. “Almost 70 % of consumers who’re buying and selling in a car for [a] Bolt are buying and selling in a non-GM product,” the corporate stated—and 80 % of them plan to remain loyal to Chevy.
Low-cost competitors from China?
Plans for an up to date Bolt may additionally have been spurred by the looks of the 2025 Volvo EX30 subcompact SUV. The 268-hp rear-drive mannequin of the EX30 sports activities a premium model, a claimed vary of 275 miles—and a beginning value of $36,145. Notice that quantity consists of the 27.5-percent U.S. import responsibility levied on any car inbuilt China (Sweden’s Volvo is owned by China’s Geely).
Whereas GM has promised a “$30,000 Equinox EV” in some unspecified time in the future sooner or later, it’s not prone to seem instantly. Slotting in a redesign Bolt beneath the Equinox EV lets Chevy proceed to supply an “entry degree” EV with a beginning value akin to the present mannequin’s, presently $27,800.
“It’s no shock that GM is planning on preserving the Bolt EV alive,” stated Jessica Caldwell, govt director of insights at Edmunds. “Barra’s transfer acknowledges the truth that EV costs should transfer downward with the intention to encourage mass adoption. Center-income People presently face not solely excessive car prices but additionally excessive rates of interest. Whereas there may be presently a strong choice of EVs at excessive costs, there are far fewer selections on the decrease finish—the market area of interest the relaunched Bolt will fill.”
BNEF’s Cantor pressured EV affordability as nicely. “In a number of quick years, the U.S. will see a extra aggressive EV market within the below-$35,000 value vary—from automobiles together with Tesla’s next-generation EV and Volvo’s EX30. The Bolt, if upgraded correctly, will get a head begin from its current model identify and lets GM occupy an necessary area within the burgeoning entry-level EV market.”
However, Cantor warned, “The questions remaining are much less in regards to the potential for a next-generation Bolt and extra about GM’s capability to scale its Ultium platform. This announcement reveals GM acknowledges the potential area its new EVs ought to occupy, however does nothing to alleviate the battery-related challenges the corporate continues to face.”
Supply: GM
[ad_2]