GM will discontinue the Chevrolet Bolt EV hatchback and Bolt EUV small crossover at the end of the year, GM CEO Mary Barra told investors on Tuesday. The Orion Assembly plant used to make the Bolt EV will shift production to electric trucks such as the Silverado EV that use GM’s more sophisticated Ultium propulsion system.
That marks the end of one of the most affordable electric cars and a pacesetter for the nascent electric car market when it launched in 2017. It won Green Car Reports’ Best Car To Buy 2017 for its high range and affordable price, at the time.
Back then, the Bolt EV cost $37,495. Last year, in June, Chevy slashed the price on the Bolt EV and larger Bolt EUV to $26,595 and $28,195, respectively, making them the most affordable electric cars with a relatively long range of 259 miles (247 for the EUV). Both Bolts employ a 65-kwh battery pack.
Arriving at a time when seemingly every other automaker was increasing prices on gas and electric vehicles, the price cut aimed to both spotlight the Bolt EV’s affordability at a time when the average new car price exceeded $46,000 and to draw back customers in the wake of a widespread battery fire recall. GM paused production of the Bolt EV and Bolt EUV for six months while it identified the reasons for the fires, and ultimately had to replace battery modules on the certain models and expand the recall to every Bolt EV made, which totaled about 141,000 vehicles in North America.
GM raised the price this year by $900 once the federal EV tax credit of $7,500 was reinstated as part of the revised Inflation Reduction Act. That makes the 2023 Chevy Bolt EV and EUV at least half the price of most other electric cars, except for the Nissan Leaf. The battery recall affecting most Bolt EVs resulted in new battery packs to many, likely including some of the leftover inventory of older Bolt EVs.