The Chevrolet Bolt and Bolt EUV’s future is up in the air because of the ongoing recall and General Motors’ decision to turn the Orion Township facility into a second factory for its upcoming electric pickups. And now, a report from GM Authority hints toward the possibility of a new electric vehicle that will undercut the upcoming Chevrolet Equinox EV, further adding fire to the idea that the Bolt family won't survive much longer.
As the outlet reports, GM is planning to come out with a new electric car that utilizes its Ultium platform and batteries. The vehicle will be more affordable than the upcoming Equinox EV and carry a starting price tag that’s in the $30,000 range. It should go on sale before the end of 2023.
An electric vehicle that costs less than $30,000 is something a lot of automakers have been working toward, but few have been able to follow through on. During GM’s fourth-quarter earnings call, CEO Mary Barra explained how the flexibility and modularity of its Ultium platform and batteries allow it to be able to come out with more affordable options in the future.
“The efficiencies created by the Ultium platform are a key reason why we will be able to deliver truly affordable EVs like the Equinox,” Barra said during the call reports the outlet. “Affordable EVs are part of the market that start-ups aren’t targeting, but they are key to driving mass adoption of EVs, which is a national and a global priority. That’s why we plan to follow the Equinox with an even more affordable EV.”
With a $30,000 price tag, we expect the upcoming electric car to be similarly sized to the Bolt EV and Bolt EUV. The vehicle could be the replacement for the Bolt models, which are based on GM’s BEV2 platform. While similar in size, the Ultium platform and battery packs will allow GM to get far more range out of the vehicle than the automaker can with its old technology. The Bolt EV and Bolt EUV come with GM’s 65-kWh battery pack that uses the automaker’s old chemistry for a range of up to 259 miles.
After years of hearing about an affordable electric car from Tesla, CEO Elon Musk confirmed that the automaker has put the $25,000 car on the back burner. The CEO claimed that Tesla had too much on its plate to worry about coming out with the affordable vehicle. Tesla announced the vehicle in 2020 and stated that it would arrive by 2023. It doesn’t look like Tesla will be hitting that timeline anytime soon, leaving the market open for GM.
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