The news has rarely been good when it comes to the Chevrolet Bolt over the past few months, but now there’s some far better news to report, and it shouldn’t be overlooked: Production of the Bolt EV and Bolt EUV has resumed, this after those widely publicized battery issues have finally been cleared up by GM and supplier LG.
Assembly of both the Bolt EV and its crossover sibling Bolt EUV restarted this past Monday at General Motors' (GM) Orion plant in Michigan.
Some 140,000 units of the Bolt were recalled last year following several reports off incidents of battery-related fires. Production was halted in November, as were sales of the vehicles. GM and LG have been working on a solution and it was made clear that production would not resume until a solution was found.
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Said GM spokesperson Dan Flores, “We are very pleased to restart production and will continue to balance battery availability for new vehicle production while continuing to prioritize recall-related repairs.”
Now, of course, we’ll have to see what public response will be. The Bolt arrived completely renewed last year while the Bolt EUV SUV version was just being launched. Both models are priced attractively ($38,198 and $40,198 respectively), but given the poor publicity they have received over the past few months, and with many impressive new electric models arriving on the market, it’s far from certain buyers will re-embrace the Bolt brand.
A tepid response from consumers could well mean a sad end for this model, which made a statement when it arrived in 2017 by offering decent range (for an affordable model). On the other hand, very strong sales could give this generation of the model a real boost, before more efficient solutions arrive.
GM is preparing the arrival of several new electric products, this time assembled on the Ultium platform, which promises to offer superior performance and range.