General Motors will significantly increase production of the Chevrolet Bolt EV hatchback and Bolt EUV crossover SUV after sales more than doubled between the second and third quarters of 2022.
Announcing its EV sales earlier this month, GM reported that the Bolt and EUV combined for 14,709 sales in Q3; a single-quarter record for the family, and more than twice the sales volume of Q2. Consequently, GM said it plans to increase production of Bolt-family EVs from around 44,000 worldwide in 2022 to over 70,000 in 2023. Depending on how far over GM’s talking, that could amount to a 60-percent production increase.
The reason for the Bolt family’s bounce-back after its battery recall fiasco may be attributable to their unchallenged status as the cheapest EVs in the United States. Earlier this year, GM instituted discounts of thousands of dollars on both models, reducing their starting prices to $26,595 for the hatchback and $28,195 for the EUV crossover. That makes them even cheaper than the Nissan Leaf or Mini SE, which desperately lack range by comparison. The Bolts’ momentum looks set to carry through the end of the year, too, as GM confirmed in September that it’d extend its Bolt discount program through the final quarter of 2022.
While the discount is set to expire at the end of the year, the potential for GM EVs to again become eligible for tax credits means EV buyers could continue to be drawn to Bolts—and that’s before considering GM’s other incentives. GM is currently paying for Bolt buyers to get either free public charging sessions with EVGo or a Qmerit home charger installation, which almost two-thirds of buyers have chosen. (Most EV drivers do over 80 percent of their charging at home according to GM.)
Between Chevy aggressively pushing Bolts, and preparing to launch the similarly affordable Equinox EV, it looks like GM will have the economical end of the EV market locked down for a good while. Nothing as affordable is supposed to materialize from Ford, Stellantis, or its rivals abroad any time soon—assuming that cheap VW EV doesn’t make it here, anyway.
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