General Motors isn’t giving up on the Chevy Bolt EV and Bolt EUV compact cars following the widely publicized battery fire recall that forced it to halt production and sales of the two nameplates last year.
According to Reuters, the automaker has produced a new high-dollar ad campaign for the two electric compact cars, which will air this week during television coverage for Major League Baseball’s opening day games. Chevy marketing boss Steve Majoros told Reuters the major campaign will give the Bolt the nameplate the second-highest media spend at Chevy in 2022, behind only the Chevy Silverado pickup. Majoros also predicted Bolt sales will reach a record high this year, topping the previous high of 23,297 units sold back in 2017.
This financial commitment to the Chevy Bolt EV and Bolt EUV is a clear sign that GM has not given up on the Bolt nameplate, despite negative headlines generated by the battery fire recall. The timing of the ad campaign coincides with the restart of production of the two vehicles at the GM Lake Orion Assembly plant in Michigan this month. Production of the vehicles had been offline since late 2021 as GM concentrated on manufacturing repair parts for recalled vehicles. A stop-sale order was also active on both vehicles during this time.
GM’s continued investment in the Bolt nameplate is noteworthy, as the automaker has multiple new EVs coming down the pipeline that will utilize its more advanced Ultium battery chemistry/design. The batteries in the Bolt are a previous-generation GM battery technology that will not be used in any of its future products. GM has also said it is working to ensure Ultium-based EVs, which include products like the GMC Hummer EV, Cadillac Lyriq and Chevy Silverado EV, will not inherit the same battery defects the Bolt did.
A Bolt EV battery fire that ocurred in Georgia
GM first expanded the battery fire recall for both nameplates last August, recalling more than 140,000 examples of the Chevy Bolt EV and Chevy Bolt EUV in response to multiple reports of battery pack fires. The fires were later linked to a pair of manufacturing defects in the battery packs themselves. The defective batteries, produced by GM’s battery partner LG Energy Solution, typically featured a torn anode and folded separator that were present within the same battery cell. GM has since worked with the Korean supplier to tighten manufacturing controls at its battery cell plants.
Sales of the Chevy Bolt EV were at their highest in 2017, reaching 23,297 units, before falling to 18,019 units in 2018 and then to 16,418 units in 2019. Sales rose once again to 20,754 units in 2020 and then to 22,073 units in 2021 before the battery fire recall forced GM to pause sales in Q4 of that year. A redesigned version of the Bolt EV was introduced for the 2022 model year alongside the new Bolt EUV crossover model.
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Comments
I’m in the market for an EUV. There’s nothing else on sale today that matches the combination of availability, price, range, and features. GM and LG have undoubtedly learned a lot about safely building batteries, so I feel confident that there won’t be any more recalls.
Your overconfidence is your weakness.
Enjoy being burned by the Bolt.
You know why I’m so confident? Because GM discovered *exactly* why the fires were happening and made all the people with older Bolts under recall whole if they decided to go through a buyback. Anyway, if you look at the facts, the Bolt has a lower fire rate than many gasoline cars on the market today. Turns out gasoline is pretty flammable…
Cheap hardly efficient virtually runs on luck every time.
I will have my ’22 Bolt EUV a year this July,and still no word from the dealer as to when they will have my replacement battery!…GM needs to get on the stick,and spend less money on ads,and more on getting these batteries out to these cars already on the road!!..
Lololol the jokes on you for buying the Bolt.
The price of being a gullible fool.
love the way you hide behind your keyboard fool…I bet you have a man-bun too.
LOL. No one cares about a sub-Encore sized electric vehicle except city-dwellers. Meanwhile, sales for the rest of the lineup continue to tank.
They can blame it on the parts shortage, but what if underneath it all — what if hidden in these sales metrics — is a major problem with the GM lineup? No one I know is talking with enthusiasm about current GM vehicles.
So true look at the new blazer compared to the bronco
Two COMPLETELY different missions.
Ya that’s my point one has people talking and the other is BORING
Yeah one’s on dealers lots, the other is on a dirt pile waiting for parts, don’t forget no GPS available on ’23 Buckos…
The difference is the bronco will sold loads more then the cheap crappy blazer. They have already closed the books for my22 because of so many people wanting it. You’re just a hater.
Blazer 4q ’21 23,243
Bucko 1q ’22 23,573
Don’t sound like alot. You’re me, you should know that…..
My LG fridge died last week. Only 6 years old! Have a Hotpoint in basement 30+ years. No faith in LG crap.
GM being even more foolish with its corporate money.
Come on global recession.
Why are you rooting for a recession?
To shatter all these economic bubbles once and for all.
Can’t charge $50,000 over sticker on a hummer EV if the economy has collapsed like March of 2020.
It will bring priced back down to earth, save your money, cash will be king and get great deals for those who wait.
I hope Walter the cat has a few body doubles. He’s got a lot of selling to do!
It won’t be hard to fond buyers as long as gas prices stay this high. Also GM sure could use more tax credits as well.
I predict GM’s advertising campaign will be a success. The Bolt is a much better EV than the naysayers think. With gasoline prices shooting through the roof, and with new car sticker prices steadily climbing upwards, the Bolt is going to be the attractive alternative. And sales will climb upwards.
The upcoming Equinox ev starts at 30k. It’s going to be hard to sell these Bolts when that comes out.
You need to parse out “$30k Equinox EV” very carefully.
Yes, GM has announced an EV Equinox for late 2023, and that they want to sell it for under $30k. But there’s an asterisk there: GM has admitted that the first Equinox EVs won’t be budget models, but high-end, high-trim models and that the ACTUAL “$30k Equinox isn’t coming until AT LEAST well into 2024.
And this assumes the Equinox EV comes to market on time. Given how few EVs have actually made it to market when expected at announcement, I’m skeptical.
And GM needs something else to sell in that market in the meantime.
The more they sell the harder it will be to charge it.
Total waste of advertising budget, upgrade the Malibu then market it since even in its dying days is a far better seller than the Bolt.
Here in Massachusetts, I have no idea where all the electric power will be coming from when all these EV’s plug in. Maine has shut down access to Canadian hydro, Pilgrim nuclear power has closed and new natural gas pipelines are not approved. Also we were warned of rolling blackouts this past winter if we had prolonged cold temps.
I just got my battery replacement under warranty on my 2017 low Milage Bolt. The new range is 220-250 per charge. On par with the base Model 3 that never went below 40000.00 out the door. Plus my City placed a free Level 2 charger a few minutes walking distance from my work. I know anti EV sentiment rules here but the tide is turning ( for the better) to a sustainable path. And yes the charger l’m plugged into is powered by solar.
Nothing says sustainable like digging up major sections of the Earth to mine Lithium, Nickel, Cobalt and other precious metals for batteries.
The EV cultist continue their lies and disinformation.
Nevermind the amount of pollution generated by building a battery that will last at most 10 years.
Is it true that a fire extinguisher is standard equipment on all trim levels?
Chevy like most other manufacturers (except Tesla) have got the cart before the horse. Where are all of the EV’s going to charge up on the road should the average family want to take an extended trip outside of their home town. My wife and I currently live in an apartment so charging at home is not an option. Why can’t the government and the combined car companies collaborate in setting up a nationwide charging network across the interstate roads. Too many unanswered questions and concerns not yet met before I would pull the trigger on a high priced EV and home charging system.
You make good points which in fact are understood by auto companies. How to address them is something that remains under consideration.
That car has a bad rep. They will have to give them away!
The Bolt would be such a huge bargain if GM upped the DC Fast Charging Speed to at least 100 kW but 150 kW would be perfect for the Price range.
I owned a 2017 Bolt until the recall and a major loss of potential miles. GM agreed to replace my 2017 with a new 2021 last March for an agreed fee. I received the car and within a month it was recalled also. It’s going on a year now with another GM car with reduced EV mileage and they still have NOT gotten around to replacing my batteries. This is an outrage and they should not be allowed to sell the new Bolt until all the recalled ones are fixed. I’m Pissed
I have a 2017 bolt that was repurchased and replaced with a 2021. Which was also later recalled. GM should not be allowed to sell the new Bolt until all the recalled ones are fixed.
When will GM complete the recall of the recalled Bolts?
A major ad campaign couldn’t hurt.