GM’s EV plans are starting to take shape with the new lower priced Chevy Bolts

DETROIT: The pivot of General Motors to become a fully electric vehicle company in 2035 is will begin to take shape as the automaker prepares to launch two Chevrolet Bolt models this summer ahead of a $ 113,000 GMC Hummer EV flagship pickup later in the year.

All-electric bolts, a redesigned hatchback and a new crossover, will start at less than $ 34,000. They are the beginning of what GM hopes will finally be a full range of “affordable” electric vehicles as the company builds a scale to reduce the costs of its next-generation electric vehicles, such as the Hummer, with new systems and batteries.

“If you take a look at what the GMC Hummer EV stands for and what the Bolt EVs can represent in the body,” Jesse Ortega, chief engineer of GM’s electric battery vehicle architectures, said during a media briefing. “That really gives us the solid roofs of what we’re capable of.”

It is a two-pronged approach to addressing major and luxury markets. The price difference between these “notebooks” is largely due to vehicle battery technologies. The Bolt models are on the car’s current EV platform and include batteries that offer less battery life than GM’s next-generation Ultium platform, which will debut on the Hummer EV.

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

“You can see the intentional strategy we have here,” said Tony Johnson, Chevrolet’s director of marketing. “The goal of these two offerings is to really go to the main street and start spreading the adoption of electric vehicles everywhere. The other brands in the company obviously each have their own role to complete our travel 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 company’s next-generation vehicles will be profitable unlike the Bolt EV. Johnson and other GM officials declined to comment on whether the Bolt models to be launched later this year will be profitable.

After four years on the market, GM’s team of engineers has done a “phenomenal job of driving quality, consistency and system output costs,” Johnson said. He said the advances led the company to lower the price of the Bolt.

The new Bolt 2022 utility vehicle will start at $ 33,995. This compares to the Bolt EV which will start at $ 31,995, more than $ 5,000 less than the 2021 model.

Profitable or not, vehicles offer GM an EV at a lower price 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 buyers and Tesla can no longer receive) and Tesla Model 3, which starts at about $ 37,000.

The Bolt EV has a range of 259 miles at full load, while the Bolt EUV reaches 250 miles. This compares to GM vehicles with Ultium technology that are expected to reach up to 450 miles per load.

GM also added additional technology to the Bolt models to make them more competitive. The EUV Bolt will be Chevrolet’s first to be equipped with GM’s semi-autonomous Super Cruise hands-free driving system, which uses facial recognition to identify if the driver is attentive and doesn’t need to touch the steering wheel. while the system is running.

Offering lower-priced vehicles is part of the company’s new “everyone there is” marketing campaign, focused on the growing adoption of electric vehicles. In doing so, the company hopes to attract new buyers to the segment and retain them for years to come. This potentially includes switching to a lower priced vehicle for a new generation electric vehicle as the cost is reduced.

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

GM is expected to create its own battery cells as a key point of this cost reduction 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.