Get America's cheapest electric car while you still can
- One of the best deals on the EV market is going away.
- Chevrolet plans to stop making both versions of the Bolt in late 2023.
Say goodbye to the Chevrolet Bolt.
General Motors is axing the electric hatchback (and its SUV relative, the Bolt EUV) from its lineup this year, it announced Tuesday.
Ending their production will make way for GM's next-generation EVs, with the company planning to build electric GMC and Chevrolet pickup trucks at the Michigan plant where the Bolt is currently assembled.
It's bad news for any EV shoppers on a budget.
The Bolt EV, which launched in 2016, is America's cheapest EV at $26,500 (or $19,000 after a $7,500 federal tax credit). The Bolt EUV, a small SUV based on the same platform, retails for $27,800.
EVs tend to lean toward the luxury end of the spectrum, with the average one changing hands in March for around $59,000. The cheapest Tesla costs $39,990 before any incentives.
GM plans to introduce a new $30,000 option in the form of the Equinox EV, but that won't arrive until sometime in 2024.
A lot has happened in the EV world since the Bolt first hit the scene in 2016. While it may have been cutting-edge at some point, GM is looking to focus on its next-generation platform (called Ultium), which will underpin a slew of new models from GMC, Chevrolet, Cadillac, and Buick.
In the years the Bolt has been on the market, Tesla went from a startup on the brink of failure to the world's most valuable carmaker (led by one of the most famous people on Earth). Some governments, like California's, have put an expiration date on the sale of new gas-powered vehicles.
Car companies, GM included, have committed billions to shifting their vast businesses away from fossil fuels. Brands that didn't have a single EV on the road a few years ago, like Toyota and Ford, now do. Startups like Rivian and Lucid Motors debuted their first models and are selling them by the thousands.
All this momentum has the old Bolt looking a little stale. It can't charge as quickly as more modern EVs, and these days small hatchbacks aren't nearly as popular as SUVs. Plus, battery fires triggered a massive Bolt recall that stopped production for months in 2021.
Chevrolet has sold just over 161,000 Bolt EVs and Bolt EUVs to date and plans to sell 70,000 this year, so there will be plenty on the used market for years to come. So while it may be a sad day for Bolt enthusiasts, it's not like when GM scrapped its early EV1 electric car in 2002, forcing all leaseholders to return their cars.
EV1 owners held a funeral in Los Angeles, complete with bagpipes, a hearse, and a Segway rider leading the procession: