GM reveals new Bolt electric utility vehicle
General Motors showed the world this week the first new electric vehicle of the 30 new EVs that it will bring to market by mid-decade.
Chevrolet revealed the new 2022 Bolt EUV alongside a redesigned 2022 Bolt EV five-door hatchback car. Chevrolet has sold the car since 2017, but the Bolt EUV is brand new and it’s longer and heavier than the Bolt EV, providing more rear-seat legroom, so Chevrolet considers it an electric utility vehicle.
“The Bolt EV and Bolt EUV share the same architecture, but the EUV has different exterior sheet metal, a more muscular design, is six inches (15 cm) longer than the Bolt EV … and it features Chevy’s high-eye daytime running lamps,” said Jesse Ortega, architectural chief engineer of the Bolt EV. “It has three inches more rear passenger leg room than Bolt EV.”
The Bolt EUV will also offer GM’s hands-free driving technology called Super Cruise. Both vehicles will have all-new interiors and extra features to make range anxiety a thing of the past, Ortega said.
The starting price for the 2022 Bolt EUV is $33,995 US and the 2022 Bolt EV starts at $31,995 US, said Steve Majoros, director of Chevrolet marketing. Both are priced less than the 2021 Bolt EV, which starts at $36,500 US.
“We’ve been building the Bolt now for four years, so we continue to build a supply base that has a lot more scale,” Ortega said, explaining how GM is able to offer more for less money with the new Bolt vehicles. “We’ve had more sales volume with it and that has allowed us to leverage costs. We are giving more for less, for a better value.”
The reveal video can be seen at chevrolet.com/ev. Chevrolet ran a 90-second ad called “Magic is Electric” for the Bolts during American Idol Sunday on ABC. Chevrolet has partnered with Disney World Resort around the Bolt marketing.
The Bolt has been the only long-range full-electric car GM has offered. GM has sold about 100,000 Bolts worldwide.
GM sold more than 6.8 million vehicles globally in 2020 alone, so the Bolt sales volume is a drop in the bucket. But the vehicle is important for other reasons, especially since GM aspires for all its light-duty vehicles to be zero emissions by 2035.
Majoros said about threequarters of Bolt EV buyers in the United States are new to GM. He declined to say whether the Bolt is profitable.
“We don’t discuss that publicly, but we know that EV adoption is critical and we know that as time goes on, we’ve gotten better with cost reduction and we think we’re giving the customer the features they’ve been asking for,” Majoros said.
GM has also developed its own proprietary battery system called Ultium, which will underpin the 29 other new EVs GM will bring to market in the next few years, starting with the GMC Hummer EV pickup due out late this year. But there are no plans to move the Bolt vehicles onto the Ultium platform any time soon, Ortega said.
GM also faces the challenge of going to production amid a massive shortage of semiconductor chips that are used in many car components. The chip deficit has derailed production at nearly all carmakers including GM, which shut down three North American plants this week. But Majoros said the problem is not expected to disrupt production of the 2022 Bolt vehicles.
“We’ve been all over this situation,” Majoros said. “We’re prioritizing products that you’d imagine like full-size trucks and launch productions are part of that too. So nothing to announce there, but we’ll be monitoring the situation closely.”
The Bolt EUV will be the first Chevrolet-brand vehicle to offer Super Cruise, which provides hands-free driving on about 200,000 U.S. and Canadian compatible highways. Super Cruise is currently available only on certain Cadillac models.
A single-motor drive unit powers both Bolt vehicles and it delivers 200 horsepower and 266 pound feet of torque.
The Bolt EV will get an estimated 420 kilometres of range on a full charge, Ortega said. The Bolt EUV will get 400 kilometres of range despite being taller, longer and “a bit heavier” than the Bolt EV, he said.
Standard on the Bolt EUV and available for purchase with the Bolt EV is a new dual level charge cord. It will eliminate a customer’s need to buy a separate charger for their home. It has a changeable plug that allows the customer to plug into a standard 120-volt three-prong outlet or a 240-volt outlet common in most homes.
The cord can be used to charge at DC Fast Charger station too. For maximum Level 2 charging speed, both vehicles are now capable of 11 kilowatt Level 2 charging, but separate charging equipment is required.
Chevrolet will cover the cost of standard installation of Level 2 charging capability for eligible customers who buy or lease a 2022 Bolt EUV or Bolt EV, Majoros said.
Chevrolet has partnered with home EV-charger installation company Qmerit to give Bolt owners access to faster charging at their homes, he said. That’s a significant savings given that installation of a Level 2 charger could cost up to $2,000, according to Realtor.com. No standalone charging station is required in this case because of the dual-level charge cord.
Likewise, GM has partnered with fast-charging network EVgo, to triple the number of fast chargers in the country by adding 2,700 by the end of 2025.
Finally, the myChevrolet app gives owners location access to more than 80,000 chargers in North America.
“Range anxiety is a term we need to get rid of because once you own an EV it becomes a non-issue,” Ortega said.
Besides different exterior sheet metal parts used on each and the EUV’s extra six inches in length, there are some other distinctions between the two.
The Bolt EUV, which is part of the small SUV market segment, has a modern, muscular design and a roomier interior and ample rear legroom, Ortega said. It also features a sculpted grille in front with standard LED headlamps and Chevrolet’s brand-specific, high-eye daytime running lamps that double as turn-signal indicators.
For the Bolt EV, the design updates include a more upright front fascia, which refers to the car’s front-end features such as the grille, headlamps and front bumper. It also has new front and rear lighting including the high-eye daytime running lights in front.
Both cars have new instrument panels, vehicle controls and seats, with a 10.2-inchdiagonal infotainment colour touchscreen and integrated climate controls.
Ortega also got rid of the traditional gear shift. Instead, there’s an electronic gear shift design that uses pull toggles and push buttons to free up more interior space.
Many of the new features came from customer requests, Ortega said.
“Our current Bolt EV customers are some of GM’s most passionate and vocal. We had plenty of firsthand feedback about how we can make these vehicles even better,” Ortega said.