The Chevrolet Bolt will go away at the end of this year, but it won't be gone for long. The EV will return in 2025, according to General Motors CEO Marry Barra.
Speaking at an Automotive Press Association event in Detroit, Barra said she had heard from owners who loved their Bolt. "That's been something that has been really great this year, and that informed the decision that we'll have that back again in '25," she said, according to Automotive News.
Chevy confirmed that the next-gen Bolt rides on the Ultium EV platform and will use a lithium-iron-phosphate battery (LFP). "In the process, we are saving billions in capital and engineering expense, delivering a significantly cost-improved battery pack using purchased LFP cells, we're getting to market at least two years faster, and our unit cost will be substantially lower," Barra said in October.
No powertrain or range specs about the new Bolt are available yet. Based on Barra's statement, the LFP battery should help keep the vehicle's costs down, even while switching to the Ultium platform. The current car starts at $27,495 after destination charges, but before any government incentives.
The company released a single teaser image of the new Bolt back in July. It offered a glimpse of the re-shaped taillight housing but not much else.
Chevy currently builds the Bolt at the Orion Assembly Plant, though next-gen model could shift assembly to Fairfax, Kansas. The United Auto Workers' tentative agreement with GM mentions a $391-million investment there for a "future electric vehicle." Anonymous sources speaking to Reuters said these upgrades were possibly for producing the next-gen Bolt.
Despite preparing for production to end in December, the Bolt is having great sales this year. As of the third quarter, Chevy has delivered 49,494 of them (GM bundles the figure with the EUV variant) in 2023 – an increase of 124.9 percent over the same period last year.
