Remember just a few months ago when General Motors broke our hearts by announcing that the Bolt was no more? Sure, the writing appeared to be on the wall for the budget electric vehicle, what with all the fire issues, but it was still a shock to the system. Well if you were as upset as me, I’ve got good news as Chevrolet is actually now working on a replacement for the Bolt EV.
According to General Motors boss Mary Barra, Chevrolet has backtracked on its plans to completely kill off the Bolt, which has so far seen its sales more than double in 2023. Now, the company is working on a next-generation Bolt, which will join Chevy’s other electric models: the Silverado EV, Blazer EV and Equinox EV.
“We will keep the momentum going by delivering a new Bolt,” said GM Chair and CEO Mary Barra in a statement shared by the company.
“We will execute it more quickly compared to an all-new program with significantly lower engineering expense and capital investment by updating the vehicle with Ultium and Ultifi technologies and by applying our ‘winning with simplicity’ discipline.”
For anyone wondering what Barra means by this, Ultium and Ultifi are two technologies employed by GM across its EV lineup. As such, the Bolt will be built on battery tech from its Ultium platform, which underpins the Cadillac Lyriq, and the Ultifi software platform, which allows for seamless over-the-air updates for GM’s models.
Because of the technology being adopted from other GM models, the company says the new Bolt will be ready at an “accelerated timeline,” with more details of the new model set to be announced “at a later date.” However, GM has so far not announced a timeframe for its unveiling, nor any specific details of what the new car might be like.
The company has, however, confirmed that it will remain in line with the outgoing Bolt. As such, it will place “affordability, range and technology” at the heart of the new car.