General Motors is cutting the price for the Chevrolet Bolt and Bolt EUV by about $6,000 and is adding a new, sporty trim option to the lineup.
On Wednesday, Chevrolet announced the 2023 model year Bolt EV will start at $26,595. The 2023 Bolt EUV, an SUV styling of the EV, will start at $28,195. Both prices include the delivery fee.
The starting price for the 2023 Bolt EV is $5,900 less than the 2022 model, and starting price for the 2023 EUV is $6,300 less.
The price reduction does not mean you’ll get less car, said Chevrolet spokesman Shad Balch.
“Nothing has been removed,” Balch said. “This reflects our ongoing desire to make sure Bolt EV/EUV is competitive in the marketplace. As we’ve said, affordability has always been a priority for these vehicles.”
Jesse Toprak, chief analyst at Autonomy, an EV subscription company, said GM’s decision to lower the price of the Bolt by over $5,000, indicates “they are going all-in with their EV transformation.”
“It’s unlikely that the Bolt will be generating a net profit for the automaker at this price point but it will make it the cheapest EV available today, therefore potentially bringing in a new cluster of customers who are just looking for the most economical vehicle to purchase and own,” Toprak told the Free Press.
Here is how the Bolt compares to the outgoing model year:
2023 Bolt EV
- 1LT starts at $26,595. Model year 2022 was $32,495
- 2LT starts at $29,795. Model year 2022 was $35,695
2023 Bolt EUV
- LT starts at $28,195. Model year 2022 was $34,495
- Premier starts at $32,695. Model year was $38,995
Chevrolet is also introducing the Redline Edition, which is available only on the 2023 Bolt EUV for $495. It is a sporty appearance package with 17-inch gloss black painted aluminum wheels with red accents, black and red Bolt EUV badge, red accent decals on the outside mirror caps and a jet black leather interior.
Production of 2023 Bolt EV and EUV will begin this summer at Orion Assembly plant in Orion Township.
Chevrolet restarted production in April at Orion after idling it for months so that GM could work with its battery maker LG Energy Solution to focus on finding a fix for defective batteries in all 2017-22 model year EVs and EUVs.
The batteries posed a potential fire risk so GM had a stop-sale as part of global recall on the 140,000 vehicles. In the meantime, GM stopped building new Bolts late last year to focus on fixing the batteries in that recall.
In April, GM said it had the fix under control and enough new batteries to also restart production. But ramping up production will be critical to Bolt sales this year considering the most Bolts Chevrolet ever sold in one year was 24,000 and Chevrolet is expected to surpass that “pretty significantly,” said Chevrolet spokesman Kevin Kelly.
It comes down to how quickly GM can ramp up production amid complexities in the supply chain across the industry.
Balch declined to provide the status of fixes made to the recalled Bolts, but said, “We continue to prioritize battery module replacements for our customers and are making progress every day.”
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Contact Jamie L. LaReau at 313-222-2149 or jlareau@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @jlareauan. Read more on General Motors and sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber.