GM Will Ax the Chevrolet Bolt, and the Affordable EV Dies With It

It’s official: The long-running Chevrolet Bolt hatchback and related Bolt EUV crossover are not long for this world. General Motors CEO Mary Barra announced that the two wallet-friendly EVs will be discontinued as the company increases production of vehicles riding on the BEV3 platform and utilizing GM’s Ultium batteries. The older BEV2 platform underpins the Bolt and Bolt EUV, which also use previous-generation batteries that aren’t quite as advanced.

In addition to the older tech, Bolt sales haven’t been spectacular over the last few years, and a huge (and rather fiery) recall didn’t help either. Even so, the Bolt’s death is something of a blow for cheap EVs. It carried a starting price of $30,000, and that’s before factoring in the full federal EV tax credit it offered.

Despite the death of the Bolt, GM isn’t abandoning the segment altogether — a good thing, considering the Volkswagen ID.4 and Tesla Model 3 are the next-cheapest EVs that qualify for the EV tax credit. Both start around $40,000. Chevy says that the upcoming Equinox EV will carry a base price of around $30,000, though this version of the car won’t be available when it launches this fall.