Chevrolet Bolt EV sales decreased in every trackable market in the fourth quarter of 2018, including the United States, Canada, Mexico and South Korea.
Chevrolet Bolt EV Sales - Q4 2018 - United States
In the United States, Chevrolet Bolt EV deliveries totaled 6,212 units in Q4 2018, a decrease of about 31 percent compared to 8,995 units sold in Q4 2017.During the complete 2018 calendar year, Bolt EV sales decreased about 23 percent to 18,019 units.
| MODEL | Q4 2018 / Q4 2017 | Q4 2018 | Q4 2017 | YTD 2018 / YTD 2017 | YTD 2018 | YTD 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BOLT EV | -30.94% | 6,212 | 8,995 | -22.66% | 18,019 | 23,297 |
Chevrolet Bolt EV Sales - Q4 2018 - Canada
In Canada, Chevrolet Bolt EV deliveries totaled 684 units in Q4 2018, a decrease of about 18 percent compared to 830 units sold in Q4 2017.During the complete 2018 calendar year, Bolt EV sales increased about 23 percent to 2,604 units.
| MODEL | Q4 2018 / Q4 2017 | Q4 2018 | Q4 2017 | YTD 2018 / YTD 2017 | YTD 2018 | YTD 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BOLT EV | -17.59% | 684 | 830 | +22.71% | 2,604 | 2,122 |
Chevrolet Bolt EV Sales - Q4 2018 - Mexico
In Mexico, Chevrolet Bolt EV deliveries totaled 5 units in Q4 2018, flat compared to 5 units sold in Q4 2017.During the complete 2018 calendar year, Bolt EV sales increased about 5 percent to 20 units.
| MODEL | Q4 2018 / Q4 2017 | Q4 2018 | Q4 2017 | YTD 2018 / YTD 2017 | YTD 2018 | YTD 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BOLT EV | 0.00% | 5 | 5 | +5.26% | 20 | 19 |
Chevrolet Bolt EV Sales - Q4 2018 - South Korea
In South Korea, Chevrolet Bolt EV deliveries totaled 27 units in Q4 2018, a decrease of about 82 percent compared to 147 units sold in Q4 2017.During the complete 2018 calendar year, Bolt EV sales increased about 739 percent to 4,722 units.
| MODEL | Q4 2018 / Q4 2017 | Q4 2018 | Q4 2017 | YTD 2018 / YTD 2017 | YTD 2018 | YTD 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BOLT EV | -81.63% | 27 | 147 | +738.72% | 4,722 | 563 |
Competitive Sales Comparison
Chevrolet Bolt EV sales continued to disappoint in the fourth quarter. In fact, Chevy’s battery electric car-turned-crossover saw the biggest decline in sales volume among mainstream electrified vehicles (now-discontinued Volkswagen e-Golf notwithstanding).
The circumstance puts the Bolt EV in third place in the dedicated electric and dedicated electrified vehicle segment, behind the Toyota Prius and Honda Clarity. GM’s own Chevy Volt took fourth place (see Chevy Volt sales), while the Bolt EV’s most direct rival – the Nissan Leaf – saw sales grow 722 percent, propelling it to fifth place. We should also note that the Bolt EV still outsold the Hyundai Ioniq, BMW i3, and Toyota Mirai.
Sales Numbers - Mainstream Small Battery Electric Cars - Q4 2018 - USA
| MODEL | Q4 18 / Q4 17 | Q4 18 | Q4 17 | YTD 18 / YTD 17 | YTD 18 | YTD 17 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PRIUS | -26.34% | 18,665 | 25,341 | -19.39% | 87,590 | 108,663 |
| CLARITY | +256.73% | 6,860 | 1,923 | +721.75% | 20,174 | 2,455 |
| BOLT EV | -30.94% | 6,212 | 8,995 | -22.66% | 18,019 | 23,297 |
| VOLT | +1.24% | 5,063 | 5,001 | -10.04% | 18,306 | 20,349 |
| LEAF | +722.24% | 4,029 | 490 | +31.03% | 14,715 | 11,230 |
| IONIQ | +25.36% | 3,470 | 2,768 | +34.64% | 15,076 | 11,197 |
| I3 | -22.61% | 1,270 | 1,641 | -2.53% | 6,117 | 6,276 |
| E-GOLF | -38.44% | 514 | 835 | -61.69% | 1,354 | 3,534 |
| MIRAI | -31.36% | 545 | 794 | -7.51% | 1,700 | 1,838 |
| TOTAL | -2.43% | 46,628 | 47,788 | -3.07% | 183,051 | 188,839 |
We should note that Toyota Prius and Hyundai Ioniq sales figures are not exclusive to completely electric Prius and Ioniq models, but also include Hybrid and Plug-In Hybrid variants of each vehicle. The case is similar for the Honda Clarity, which is available as Plug-In Hybrid, Electric and Fuel Cell flavors.
The mainstream new energy vehicle segment expanded a slight 2.63 percent in Q4 2018 while shrinking 3 percent during the 2018 calendar year.
The GM Authority Take
As we mentioned last quarter, these results are very concerning, especially given GM’s strategy of delving into diving head first into the electric vehicle space by introducing a planned 20 electric vehicles by 2023.
We sincerely hope that either Chevrolet Bolt EV sales turn around in 2019, or that GM knows something we don’t as it relates to the vehicle’s disappointing sales performance.
About The Numbers
- All percent change figures compared to Chevrolet Bolt Q3 2017 sales, except as noted
- In the United States, there were 77 selling days in Q4 2018 and 76 selling days in Q4 2017
- South Korea sales figures reflect actual vehicle registrations rather than wholesales
- China sales figures represent retail deliveries and not wholesales
- Toyota Prius sales include Prius, Prius Prime, Prius C and Prius V
- Toyota Mirai sales include Mirai fuel cell vehicle
- Hyundai Ioniq sales include Ioniq Electric, Ioniq Hybrid and Ioniq Plug-In Hybrid
- Honda Clarity sales include Clarity Plug-In Hybrid, Clarity Electric and Clarity Fuel Cell
The Chevrolet Bolt EV is a battery-electric vehicle (BEV) from General Motors’ Chevrolet brand. Officially positioned as a crossover by Chevrolet, the five-door subcompact hatchback offers over 200 miles of range on a full charge while also featuring advanced connectivity technologies designed to enhance and personalize the driving experience. The 2017 Bolt was first shown as the Chevrolet Bolt EV Concept at the 2015 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. It is based on GM's BEV2 platform (a derivative of G2 platform) The Chevy Bolt EV received a few minor updates and changes for the 2019 model year, which is its third model year of the first-generation Bolt EV in the United States market. In addition to three new colors, the Bolt EV also received the following: The Bolt EV is assembled at the following plants:
About Chevrolet Bolt EV
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Comments
Funny how you don’t mention YTY GM actually produced more Bolt EVs this year than last. Thousands of Bolts when to South Korea and Canada this year.
I think it’s a shame that more people don’t Consider the bolt when car shopping. If you are buying a commuter car for any price around $25k you should test drive a bolt.
I paid $35k for a nicely equipped LT, minus $7500 tax credit, minus $1000/year in fuel, maintenance, and repairs = 5-year total cost of ownership equal to a $25k ICE car. Best of all the car is dead silent, as smooth as a Mercedes (no gear shifting) and it hauls ass- super fun to drive, and it has one-pedal driving which one must experience to appreciate, its fantastic. Wife has an suv, so lack of super chargers is irrelevant to me.
Hopefully GM CEO Mary Barra won’t be treating the Chevrolet Bolt like the Chevrolet Cruze or Volt and proposing the cancellation of the Bolt in a year’s time.
Didn’t the Cruze sell more units then the Bolt last year?
2018 Cruze total year sales -142,617. Bolt total year sales 11807
You’re a bit off on Bolt EV sales. It’s 18,019 for 2018 for the US only. Granted the overall point is still true about Cruze sales. But the Cruze starts at almost a third of the Bolt price so that’s to be expected.
From any angle it is an awfully ugly car. I wouldn’t be caught dead in one. It couldn’t be any gaudier.
5 comments says it all…sales figures prove it. This car will never be successful. What an atrocity.
I bought a 2017 Bolt 24 Dec 2017. I was actually looking at Equinox SUV Diesel but asked the dealer to try out the new bolt. The sales guy really didn’t know too much about them. Right off I noticed the head rest was leaning way to far forward for my 6 foot 3 frame. I ended up going to several chevy dealers in my area. To me it seemed the ones built after OCT 2017 had different foam in the seats but I can’t confirm this. In any-case I drive about 30k miles a year and burn about $7000 in diesel and gas. I put 22,000 miles on the bolt during 2018 and with free charging at work the cost savings has been HUGE!!! The commute is now a fixed cost vs a variable one. I pay the monthly payment and drive the car. Simple. Charge at home or at work for free. I did have a few bugs with the car that took a few trips to the dealer but everything seems sorted. Typical GM first year issues I guess.
ICE is dead. Once they figure out how to charge the battery faster that will be the final nail for the ICE for MOST people. I understand there will be a following for performance or maybe folks wanting to drive off road. The Range really isn’t the issue is the charge time and there is no place to charge a bolt. Its kind of a pain in the ass actually but with the range the BOLT offers i kind of forgot about it. I know i can get to the places I need to without any concern. I don’t even think about it anymore.
The big thing for me was the ‘phantom fill ups’, as i call them, during the first week of ownership. I always filled up Mondays and second time around thursday. So the first Monday i found myself turning into the gas station as I have been for YEARS. It was until the third week that I broke myself of that habit. it was hard to break that urge to turn into the gas station. it was weird. I don’t buy anything inside. Just fuel at the pump.
I purchased a Bolt last summer, it was a difficult exercise, taking 100 days from decision to delivery. GM/Chevy are not serious about selling EVs. The American, and other consumers are serious about trying and buying. EVs need a separate (from ICE) dealer network, with independent marketing budget. Outside the ZEV states, with their tax incentives, EV models cannot compete for market share, or ad revenue, against the ICE – SUV/PU juggernaut.
Have owned my Bolt since May 2017. It has had first model year issues thathave been sorted by GM. My wife has a Cruze ECO that gets 38-42 MPG that we will be looking to change out soon. May purchase another electric car because they just do it all so much cheaper and easier than an ICE vehicle. No gas, no exhaust, no oil changes, maintenance is minimal, always starts in cold weather, quiet, plenty of interior room, one pedal driving, stability of electric prices, charging anywhere there is electricity (at varying times), and a calm driving experience. While I’ve had my order in for the $35k model 3 for 3 years, I may finally get my money back and get another Bolt. The car just works!
I hope EVs don’t bankrupt GM as I want a new silverado in a couple of years to replace my 2018.
I am beginning to get the impression that many commenters think the Bolt is a Volt in a SUV body. This is not surprising considering the totally inadequate marketing GM did with the Volt. There is no comparison between the economy and usefulness of the Volt in suburban America, particularly in a single car family, and the Bolt, which has all the range anxiety problems that plague battery only cars. The back-up generator feature of the Volt would have given GM market dominance in almost all EV markets, if they had only explained and marketed it, as they do pickup trucks, etc, ad nauseam. I wonder if GM brass even understood the true value and engineering excellence that the Volt power train represented? As a long time GM customer and an extremely happy 2018 Volt owner, I am very disappointed to see such a good product relegated to the trash heap. This is the technology that would be the best choice for pickup truck and SUV applications as well as mid size sedans. And as far as Cadillac goes, our dealer loaned us a new Cadillac as our Volt was in for minor service, and we couldn’t wait to get our Volt back, as the Caddy seemed so crude compared to the silken smoothness of the Volt!
Wake up Mary, you know not what you do!
The problem with the Volt and its technology is cost. You have the cost of two drivetrains. So it will always cost more than an equivalent EV or ICE only vehicle. If you scale it to truck you have the same problem and need a lot larger battery so you have more weight and cost. So in the end your either go all EV or hybrid – not plug-in hybrid.
I can remember when America was great and American manufacturers knew how to take a great product and scale up production and drive down costs and successfully market the resulting product. This is what made the “Big Three” once the wonder of the world. The only thing this crop of so called managers know is “Move to China for cheap labor”.
To your point, the cost and weight of batteries to get really usable (?) range in a battery EV probably will still outweigh the cost and weight of the small ICE that the Volt uses. Maybe the cost and size of the batteries will come down some day, but given the questionable supply chain for the exotic materials the current crop needs, I wonder how soon?
My point is GM already has the best EV/PHEV for the bulk of the American market right now but instead of aggressively marketing it they choose to kill it and sell a poor Korean made, inadequate substitute called the Bolt.
Rural/Suburban American infrastructure is not yet ready for the EV car. We Volt owners laugh when the new Tesla owner, after impressing all their friends, finally thinks about taking their expensive new toy on a real “Road Trip” and realizes what a “boat anchor” the need to find and use a charging station really is. That in spite of Musk’s huge nationwide investment in Tesla rapid charging stations.
If you want a golf cart to ride around town, then perhaps a Bolt is for you, but if you want a real (mostly) electric car, chose the Volt. We are getting a lifetime average of over 62mpg, even after several long road trips. We go months between gasoline fill-ups!
Buyer beware!
My 19 Cruze consistently gets 34MPG around town with the way I drive. But I did see the Bolt at a dealer and it’s a damn good looking car.