We just drove the 2020 Chevrolet Bolt EV at a media event in the Pacific Northwest, and while we can’t share driving impressions until Monday, we had to share something rather interesting that happened while we were out on the drive. That something interesting are three different GM electric vehicles occupying the same small parking lot in the same small town on the West coast. That’s right, while getting lunch in Astoria, Oregon, we came across a Chevrolet Spark EV and a second-gen Chevrolet Volt, making for an impromptu GM electric vehicle meet-up. What are the odds?
Slim, to say the least. Let’s start with the Spark. The first-generation launched in 1998, followed by a second-generation in 2005 and the current, third generation in 2010. The all-electric version was called the Chevrolet Spark EV, and was introduced as a variant of the second generation for the 2013 model year to be sold in California and Oregon. It was the first all-electric passenger car GM had offered since the EV1, and the first-ever full battery electric Chevrolet model.
The Chevrolet Volt should be more familiar, hitting the U.S. market in 2010 right after GM’s bankruptcy. It was then sold as the Holden Volt in Australia, the Vauxhall Ampera in the U.K., and Opel Ampera in the rest of Europe. Initial plans to sell the Volt as the Buick Velite 5 in China fell through. The second-generation Volt was introduced for the 2016 model year, and that’s the model we saw at our serendipitous meetup.
Finally, we have the 2020 Bolt EV that we were driving. The 2020 model represents the fourth model year for the nameplate.
These three GM electric vehicles in one spot is a rare event, because neither one is astoundingly popular. The Volt was never a runaway sales hit (see our Chevrolet Volt sales tracker), making it relatively uncommon. The factor eventually caused its unfortunate demise after the 2019 model year. Meanwhile, the Spark EV was even more limited, making it a truly rare thing to find in the wild.
Put all those together, and this impromptu GM electric vehicle meet-up all the more serendipitous, especially given that the Spark EV and Volt were driven by local residents and not by GM employees, nor was the whole thing planned. Yup, three rather rare GM electric cars in one small town just, kinda, happened.
Meanwhile, The General has big plans for the all-electric segment, with no less than 20 new GM electric vehicle models slated to drop by 2023.
As an aside, we think “Bolt, Volt and Spark” sounds like a perfect Saturday morning cartoon. We’re imagining the three GM electric vehicles forming up to create a giant robot to fight evil from outer space. Anyone with us?
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Comments
I’m not buying the 20 models by 2023 line when 2 of the 3 EV’s (VOLT and Spark) are now dead. Bolt’s been around now for it’s 4th model year. Not much to celebrate if you ask me.
You better believe it.
Why? Because that is the only way in which GM (or any other firm, for the matter) can attain the scale necessary to actually make money on EVs… which would be a first.
Engineering and, more importantly, planning the business for such models is what takes time, and that’s what’s happening right now. Once that’s done, the go-to-market is the easy part, and can be done rather quickly.
scale up all you want but will the demand be there?
how much savings due to scaling will be realized to make EVs competitive against hybrids/ICEs?
gm is losing $9K on each bolt. so before there is even one cent of profit, you have to dig yourself out of that hole first.
The demand is projected to be there, yes. After all, GM wouldn’t bet billions of dollars and stake the company’s future on a whim or on an expectation. There’s obviously data and projections that GM has (that we do not) that shows that EVs will be in high(er) demand in the future. Ironically, demand is also very much a by-product of price, and (lower) price is a byproduct of scale. It’s a traditional chicken-or-the-egg scenario, but the tide should start to turn at an accelerated rate soon.
The Bolt EV was very much a proof of concept for GM itself as well as a learning experience to make a series production EV (rather than a more manual/boutique exercise such as the Spark EV). In addition, Bolt EV gave GM the ability to staff up and create a solid EV team. These things do not happen overnight, even for a multi-billion dollar entity like The General. That said, Bolt EV was never scaled the right way. That should be addressed by BEV3-based vehicles, which are at the heart of the 23 models target.
PS: the most solid profitability number I’ve seen thus far on the Bolt is $7,500 per vehicle loss, not $9,000.
thanks for the reply. i agree everything is dependent on price. so what do you think is the price premium most consumers will pay for an EV vs ICE or even a mild-hybrid?
I don’t know what that demand curve or pricing flexibility looks like… but I suspect that a premium can be made negligible with 1) proper packaging and 2) scale.
A lower price does not improve the quality of any vehicle, especially an EV. If you think that way, you are sadly mistaken as all the U.S. customers who buy cheap imports because they cost less. Would you prefer to eat a $1.00 steak from a foreign country with little quality because it is a cheaper steak? BTW, an EV has a much lower TCO and maintenance cost and in five years or less you recover the cost difference from a gasser. I have a Ford hybrid and in five years I only had to change its oil once a year and I get up to 54 MPG. It cost more than a gas only Ford but I have saved thousands of dollars in gas and servicing. That higher price has been justified.
Tesla doesn’t earn The money from their EVs too, but their Model 3 is still in highly demanding.
Waiting on a Midsize BEV Sedan that’s not a Tesla, because I like a more traditional Interior with buttons and knobs. Will GM deliver an electric CT5 in 2 years ?
GM said that they would have SOOOOO many EV’s showing face in the next 18 months. Well, here we are 2 years later and what do we have? The Bolt (which I believe was already out at the time), and speculation of an Escalade EV.
Think about this for a minute. GM may not lose money on a big electric SUV like the Escalade due to sheer profit on large SUV’s, but how many will they actually sell? Especially if there’s a significant pricing difference between that and the gasser.
EV technology is still at the very least 10 years away from being close to perfect. I’m not saying that companies like Ford and GM shouldn’t invest in EV technology, but now is not the time for a full out push for electric cars. Not only is battery technology still lacking, but you also have to look at charging infrastructure. Not only is there a pretty low number of EV charging stations, but we have an electric grid that can only support so many. Convenience? Do people really want to wait even 30 minute to charge up a car when it takes 5 to fill up with gas and drive 400 miles?
For now I think Diesel or hybrid is the way to go. The best solution would be a small diesel generator powering 4 electric motors. You get the efficiency of a diesel with the performance of electricity.
All GM promised were two EVs:
http://gmauthority.com/blog/2019/05/where-are-the-gm-electric-vehicles/
The first was the Velite 6 in China. The second will be the Bolt EUV (my expectation). There is a Velite 6 platform mate called the Chevrolet Menlo in China as well. That marks three vehicles, though the timeline for the bolt EUV didn’t line up with what was originally announced.
GM sells EVs in China because the Chinese are smarter and know the advantages of EVs. I feel sorry for the U.S citizens who still believe in gassers because gasoline is cheaper here. That will go away soon enough. Then they will kick themselves for not buying a domestic EV!!
My Bolt EV has been my primary car for the last 18 months and 31,000 miles. People’s concerns about lack of fast charging are antiquated ideas when you charge overnight every day. I have had to use fast chargers a grand total of 6 times in that period and it was only on stops where we were stopping for a meal for an hour anyway. Longer trips were done with an ICE vehicle that could have just as well been a rental. Mostly because the lack of chargers at the time on those routes, which is a non-issue today thanks to the efforts of Electrify America over the past year.