The upcoming 2022 Chevy Bolt EUV will be fitted as standard with roof rails. The roof-mounted luggage rack side rails, as they are officially called, will be available on both trim levels of the all-electric crossover, which are LT and Premier.
Until now, roof rails have always been available on the smaller Chevy Bolt EV in the Premier trim level, which will be renamed to 2LT on the 2022 Bolt EV. However, the Bolt EV, which is undergoing a mid-cycle enhancement (MCE) for the new model year, will not be fitted with the roof rails even as an option on either of its two trim levels – 1LT and 2LT.
When asked about the change by GM Authority, Chevrolet managers attributed the decision to delete the roof rails from the Bolt EV as a way to differentiate the Bolt EV from the EUV, with the former now being positioned as a hatch and the latter being oriented as a crossover.
There are other ways that GM has chosen to differentiate the Bolt EV from the Bolt EUV. For example, the Bolt EUV will be offered with the Super Cruise semi-autonomous driver assistance system and a panoramic sunroof. Although offering these on the Bolt EV would have presented technical challenges, they could have been included as part of the 2022 model year refresh.
These decisions help set the Bolt EV apart from the EUV, which is essentially a long-wheelbase Bolt EV with a different set of body panels. Both will be built at the GM Lake Orion plant in Michigan on the same EV-specific GM BEV2 platform, and will use the same lithium-ion battery pack and permanent magnetic drive motor, which is rated at 200 horsepower and 266 pound-feet of torque.
As explained in our recent dimensional comparison of the two vehicles, the Bolt EUV is 6.3 inches longer, and while this is partly accounted for by larger overhangs, it also enabled Chevy to provide an extra 3.1 inches of rear seat legroom. In addition, the Bolt EUV is 90 pounds heavier, which slightly reduces its range when compared to the Bolt EV, and its greater wheelbase means that it has a larger turning circle.
The 2022 Bolt EUV will be priced to start at $33,395, or $2,000 more than the 2022 Bolt EV.
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Comments
What to liberals put on their roof? giant bottles of soy milk?
Come to the Pacific Northwest. Us liberals scoot out of town every weekend to go hiking in these things we call “mountains.”
mountains reduce range. are you towing a spool trailer with a 300 mile extension cord plugged in?
Mountains temporarily reduce range while you go up… Then, when you go back down… you get the range back! Oh the joys of regenerative braking. Just don’t use the cruise control if you’re in a 2022 or newer, because those cruise control systems suck. They apply the friction brakes instead of regen. SMH. Nobody knows what the engineers were thinking. Probably the engineers had it right, but management wanted friction brakes for… reasons…
“with the former now being positioned as a hatch while the former being oriented as a crossover.”
Former and Later??
If they truly wanted position it as a hatch the Bolt should lose the black plastic around the wheels and base of the car.
Thanks – corrected now.
Car looks good. Just wish they would do something with that grill. Looks like its covered with aluminum foil.