GM’s EV plans are starting to take shape with new, cheaper Chevy bolts

DETROIT – The linchpin of General Motors to become an all-electric vehicle company by 2035 begins to take shape as the automaker prepares to release two Chevrolet Bolt models this summer, ahead of a $ 113,000 GMC Hummer EV flagship pickup later this year.

The all-electric Bolts – a redesigned hatchback and new crossover – will both start at $ 34,000. They are the beginning of what GM hopes will eventually be a full line of “affordable” electric vehicles as the company builds scale to lower the cost of its next-generation electric vehicles, such as the Hummer, with new battery systems and platforms.

“When you look at what the GMC Hummer EV represents and what the Bolt EVs can represent in the body,” Jesse Ortega, chief engineer of GM’s battery-electric vehicle architecture, said at a news conference. “That really gives us the solid bookends of what we can do.”

It is a two-pronged approach to address the mainstream and luxury market. The price difference between those “bookends” is largely due to the battery technologies in the vehicles. The Bolt models are located on the automaker’s current EV platform and feature batteries that offer less range than GM’s next generation Ultium platform and batteries, which debut on the Hummer EV.

All three vehicles are part of the automaker’s plan to launch 30 new or redesigned EVs by 2025 under a $ 27 billion investment plan in electric and autonomous vehicles.

“You can see the deliberate strategy we have here,” said Tony Johnson, Chevrolet’s marketing director. “The purpose of these two offerings is really to chase the high street and really spread the adoption of electric vehicles across the board. Obviously, the other brands within the company each have their own roles to fill our journey here.”

GM currently has no plans to move the bolts to the next-generation platform, Ortega said.

GM CEO Mary Barra and President Mark Reuss have said the next-generation vehicles will be profitable unlike the Bolt EV. Johnson and other GM officials declined to comment on whether the Bolt models launching later this year will be profitable.

After four years on the market, GM’s engineering team has “done a phenomenal job of improving quality, increasing consistency and cutting costs out of the system,” Johnson said. He said the progress led the company to lower the Bolt’s price.

The new 2022 Bolt utility vehicle starts at $ 33,995. That’s comparable to the Bolt EV that starts at $ 31,995 – more than $ 5,000 lower than the 2021 model.

Profitable or not, the vehicles give GM an EV that’s priced lower than other competitors, such as the $ 43,000 Ford Mustang Mach-E crossover (before a federal tax credit of up to $ 7,500 that GM and Tesla buyers can no longer received) and Tesla Model 3, which starts at around $ 37,000.

The Bolt EV has a range of 259 miles on a full charge, while the Bolt EUV reaches 250 miles. That’s comparable to GM’s Ultium technology vehicles which are expected to reach 450 miles per charge.

GMs have also added additional technology to the Bolt models to make them more competitive. Most notably, the Bolt EUV will be Chevrolet’s first to feature GM’s hands-free Super Cruise semi-autonomous highway driving system, which uses facial recognition to identify if the driver is paying attention so they don’t have to touch the steering wheel. while the system is running.

Offering cheaper vehicles is part of the company’s new “everyone in” marketing campaign aimed at increasing the adoption of electric vehicles. With this, the company hopes to attract new buyers to the segment and keep them for years to come. That also means they may trade in a cheaper car for a next-generation electric car as the costs go down.

“Our vision is that we want customers for life,” said Ortega. “So as their needs grow and their lifestyles change, we want to offer them an EV for that.”

At the heart of that cost reduction is expected to be GM making its own battery cells through a joint venture with LG Chem in Ohio. The $ 2.3 billion facility is currently under construction. It is expected to be completed in 2022.