Automotive News recently had a chat with GM North America president Marissa West, who promised that General Motors would have the most affordable electric vehicle on the market by 2025. The official said that GM would launch the all-new Bolt EV by 2025, although that's not possible.
At the beginning of May 2024, the Detroit-based automaker confirmed that 2025 is the final year of the Malibu at Fairfax Assembly & Stamping. In late calendar year 2025, the Kansas-based facility will start production of the second-generation Bolt EV, meaning that it's coming to dealers for model year 2026.
West reiterated that Bolt EV will transition to GM's Ultium architecture, but she didn't go into the finest of details. Even so, we do know that it's getting LFP chemistry for the high-voltage battery and Tesla's NACS (North American Charging Standard) charging port. In December 2023, the folks at SAE International standardized NACS as SAE J3400.
We further know that second-gen Bolt EV uses the Ultify software platform. Big kahuna Mary Barra let it slip that Bolt EV Take 2: Ultium Boogaloo isn't a clean-sheet design, which probably means that it's derived from the BEV2 platform of the first gen.
What's more, GM confirmed that Bolt EV and Cadillac XT4 would be produced on the very same assembly line at Fairfax Assembly & Stamping. While that may seem a little weird, bear in mind that General Motors can easily respond to changes in demand for said models without idling the plant.
Photo: Chevrolet
That being said, only time will tell how affordable the next-gen Bolt EV will be. In December 2023, as in the final month of production for the first generation and the mechanically similar Bolt EUV, the lesser sibling used to retail at $26,500 sans destination charge and optional extras. The Bolt EUV was $27,800 from the outset, whereas the BEV3-based Equinox EV kicks off at $34,995.
Given the aforementioned, it's easy to imagine a starting price of around $30,000 for the 2026 Chevrolet Bolt EV. However, that's not good enough because Nissan is charging $28,140 for the 40-kWh version of the Leaf. The long-range version with the 60-kWh battery retails from $36,190.
Speaking of which, Nissan has a brand-new Leaf in the offing for 2025. The next-gen Leaf could start production at NMUK in the United Kingdom as early as March 2025, meaning that American customers would get said vehicle as a 2026 model. Based on the CMF-EV platform, the next-generation Leaf will transition from a hatchback with twist-beam rear suspension to a crossover with – all fingers crossed – a multi-link rear end.
Relatively affordable battery-electric vehicles available to configure right now in the US further include MINI's Coope SE Electric Hardtop 2 Door (starting at $30,900) and Fiat's 500e ($32,500). That being said, the largest automaker of the Detroit Big Three looks poised to undercut said competitors with the starting price of the 2026 Bolt EV.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?
Google News