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Chevrolet Bolt Family. Part 2.

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Chevrolet is apparently coming up with more than just one new Bolt EV later this year. The illustrations above show what a compact EV Bolt Pickup and a more off-road-oriented Bolt could look like.

When asked about the next-generation Bolt a while ago, Mark Reuss mentioned it would be ” just one member of a family of Bolts. Including an even lower cost option”.

Quite a vague statement that could mean a number of things. He also mentioned the next Chevrolet Bolt might not be as cheap as the previous one which started at under $29,000. This is fine since it will no doubt charge much faster and could even have a longer range thanks to the Ultium platform.

The big change for GM will be making a profit from the next Bolt. Since they have just announced they are now making money from their current EVs. Something Ford has yet to achieve. That’s probably why they are even mentioning a “cheaper “lower-cost option”.

Since the regular Bolt is already a smaller hatchback, there is only one body style that could fit the “lower cost option”. And that would be a pickup. A small pickup with Chevrolet Bolt design cues. Ford’s cheapest model these days is the Maverick pickup. GM could do the same with a cheaper Bolt pickup. A small pickup based on the Ultium platform would probably be a bit cheaper to produce than the regular 4-door Bolt. A small affordable EV pickup would also create a brand-new segment in the industry and would position GM ahead of everyone else.

Another possibility would be a more off-road model that would compete against existing cars like the Subaru Crosstrek. That wouldn’t really be a “first” since Volvo is coming out very soon with a cross-country version of their new EX30 EV. Still, an off-road AWD Bolt would be quite a bit cheaper.

No matter what, it’s great to see that GM understands what they have with the Bolt brand. And new models will be pretty exciting to see.

Conversation 8 comments

  1. Why electric, WHY, WHY?
    Why not a hybrid model or even regular efficient turbo 3 Cylinder engine?
    Electric vehicles are not selling outside Cali, a fact.
    Just built a nice looking vehicle, specially a small pickup truck. NOT everyone likes the huge one. I’m not the only one that would drive a small pickup truck like the Maverick. Trucks got too big, even the Tacoma is way to big for people like me. The worse thing is the price. Toyota lots are packed with Tacomas and Tundras, not selling.

  2. GM didn’t say their EVs are profitable. What they said was that very soon they believe the cost of materials and production for their EVs would reach parity with the sales price. That’s not really profitable as they are leaving out cost of development, a pro-rata share of GM’s overall business cost to include staffing, marketing, product support, etc. Given the tremendous cost GM has sunk into development of Ultium and building battery plants and many other costs, their EVs may not generate any true return-on-investment for many years. Right now it seems they are using somewhat fuzzy math to make a misleading claim. To be sure, they are upfront that it is material and production costs will equal the vehicle sales price but what people actually hear from that statement is “EVs + profitable”

  3. that little pickup is EXACTLY the kind of excitement Chevy needs – EV or otherwise. Why not both?

  4. Small pickup trucks couldn’t meet the fuel economy requirements for their class, so everyone stopped making them. I imagine that EVs finally make it possible for manufacturers to produce them again. People have been asking for a new S10/Ranger… I’m guessing this is the answer for what they can do. Google CAFE to learn why they went away (Corporate Average Fuel Economy)

  5. Please let it be an EV. I haven’t had to go to gas station in years and don’t plan on it anytime soon.

  7. Pickups are cheap to build, but no one would sell one for less than a similar car or SUV in US. Pickups are cash-cows. There will probably be a hatchback similar to the old Bolt with a shorter range to slot below the mainstream model that will be similar to the old Bolt EUV in shape and stature.

  8. Yes, more EV’s please. I save so much money with mine. They drive like a dream. I can’t even imagine why anyone in their right mind would want a smoke-spewing, oil-leaking, Dino-burning ICE vehicle anymore. They are far superior.

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