General Motors Chair and CEO Mary Barra said Tuesday the automaker will stop producing its two top-selling EVs: the Chevy Bolt and its larger sibling, the Bolt EUV, by the end of 2023.
Barra told investors during the company’s earnings call that its Orion Michigan factory, which currently assembles the Bolt, will be retooled for electric truck production.
The decision comes as GM launches a new slate of EVs such as the GMC Hummer and Cadillac Lyriq that are outfitted with the company’s Ultium architecture that includes a new battery cell design.
However, it also puts an end to GM’s highest volume EVs and takes one of the few affordable electric vehicle models off the market. It also means the end of the Chevy Bolt AV, the autonomous vehicle version that GM’s self-driving unit Cruise uses for its robotaxis.
GM brought the Chevy Bolt to market in 2016, at the time presenting one of the few EV options to buyers and directly competing with Tesla.
Bolt never had the same cachet as Tesla. And while consumers did buy the vehicle, its sales lagged behind the Tesla Model 3.
Two years ago, GM revealed a refreshed Chevrolet Bolt EV and a new, bigger — yet still compact — crossover called the Chevrolet Bolt EUV. The vehicles went on sale in summer 2021. GM lengthened the wheelbase of the EUV by about three inches. In all, the EUV — a GM acronym that means electric utility vehicle — sits some six inches longer than the Bolt EV. The result is a compact crossover with 39.1 inches of rear seat legroom.