It is Not Simply The Bolt. A ‘Household’ Of Low-Value EVs Is Coming, GM President Says

The Chevy Bolt is again, higher than ever and simply as low cost as earlier than it went on hiatus. But it surely’s not the one inexpensive electrical car Common Motors is cooking up.

Throughout an interview for the Plugged-In Podcastairing Friday, I requested GM President Mark Reuss concerning the “household of Bolts” he talked about on stage at an investor occasion a couple of yr in the past. What can we anticipate these to be like?

“What comes after this, whether or not it’s referred to as a Bolt or not, will likely be a household of issues that’s low priced,” he stated. “And after I say household, they gained’t be adopted. They’ll be in the identical vein of dimension and value.”

So, the relations will not all be Bolts, however they are going to share its normal value level and dimension. That’s, they’re going to be compact electrical autos that price round $30,000. The launch-edition Bolt goes on sale for $29,990 early subsequent yr, and Reuss stated the upcoming fashions can be “round that value level, so plus or minus.”

The large query, then, is what sorts of EVs to anticipate. Understandably, GM is enjoying it near the chest, as none of those autos have been formally introduced. However Reuss did say broadly that they may slot into “white areas” within the EV market.

“I additionally assume there’s some white areas in dimension, class, of types—not solely the Bolt that we simply launched but additionally some various things, for various folks’s styled tastes,” he stated.

Photograph by: Chevrolet

Photograph by: Chevrolet

Photograph by: Chevrolet

Images by: Chevrolet

There’s one evident “white area” to me, and that is the compact electrical pickup phase. Ford has seen nice success with the Maverick, however there is no electrical equal to that but. Ford is engaged on a roughly $30,000 electrical pickupand Slate is on the brink of launch one within the mid-$20,000 ballpark.

It would not be in any respect stunning if GM was contemplating the identical factor, particularly as a result of hulking, costly, big-battery vans just like the Silverado EV have not precisely taken off within the market. Plus, we all know the automaker has not less than toyed with the thought in its inexpensive EV design studio.

In any other case, I would financial institution on one other Bolt-sized compact crossover. Chevy stated the 2027 Bolt will likely be “restricted run,” and GM will seemingly need one other small SUV to fill instead within the EV lineup beneath the roughly $36,000 Equinox EV. A small sedan or hatchback appears unlikely, since GM has largely exited that phase.

Earlier this yr, GM stated a mysterious “next-gen inexpensive EV” will likely be constructed at its Fairfax Meeting Plant in Kansas Metropolis, the place the Bolt is produced.

The brand new Bolt is {a partially} redesigned tackle the most recent model, packing a brand new 65 kWh lithium-iron-phosphate battery pack, higher charging and a brand new motor into the identical normal bundle. Reuss steered that the cheaper “household” will use totally different underlying know-how from GM EVs that got here earlier than. That would imply a wider adoption of LFP batteries, or one thing totally different just like the lithium-manganese-rich (LMR) cells it is engaged on to chop prices.

Ford, for its half, has developed a ground-up platform and manufacturing system designed to make its next-generation EVs cheaper to construct. GM is attempting to drive down manufacturing prices, too.

“I feel it’s one other alternative for us to have a look at battery chemistry and type, and a unique structure beneath that may be much more environment friendly, and provides folks much more automobile for the cash,” Reuss stated.

Contact the writer: Tim.Levin@InsideEVs.com