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Die-hard Chevrolet Bolt fans rejoiced when General Motors announced it was bringing a refreshed version of the EV subcompact back into production. <\/p>\n
The GM brand gave a lot of credit to those owners \u2014 and to Bolt supporters within General Motors \u2014 for the car\u2019s revival. But fandom alone doesn\u2019t restart a multimillion-dollar program. The math has to pencil out in more ways than one. <\/p>\n
An examination of GM\u2019s business and market conditions at the time it was approved hints at what compelled the automaker to bring the Bolt back. <\/p>\n
It started with GM\u2019s factory capacity. The U.S. automaker had capacity to spare at its Fairfax Assembly Plant in Kansas. The factory previously made the Chevy Malibu, which ended production<\/a> two years ago, and it isn\u2019t going to start<\/a> making Chevy Equinox SUVs until mid-2027 or Buick Envisions until 2028. Into that gap went the Bolt.<\/p>\n Perhaps more critical to the Bolt\u2019s comeback was the broader availability of EV-specific parts, which helped bring the costs of the new model down. It\u2019s not built on a flashy new platform, instead relying on incremental improvements to make the final product better.\u00a0<\/p>\n TechCrunch recently drove the new Bolt. It is compelling enough<\/a> to suggest it will give GM an EV sales bump in an uncertain U.S. market.<\/p>\n The original 2017 Bolt was GM\u2019s first dedicated EV in 20 years. It was a ground-up effort, which meant the company had to design and build the motor and battery management system while also coordinating with LG Chem<\/a> (now LG Energy Solution) to make the battery pack. The car got an entirely new chassis that wasn\u2019t a rehashed version of an internal combustion engine platform. None of those items are cheap.<\/p>\n Fast-forward to today, and GM sells about a dozen all-electric models in the U.S. across the Chevrolet, Cadillac, and GMC brands. That gave it plenty of parts and experience to draw upon when engineering the new Bolt.<\/p>\n Techcrunch event<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSan Francisco, CA<\/span> For drivers, that influence is seen the moment they sit in the car. The large touchscreen runs the Android Automotive operating system, which is kept apprised of the battery\u2019s state of charge. That allows it to recommend chargers along a route and prepare the battery so that it can charge as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n Under the hood, the new Bolt borrows the Chevy Equinox\u2019s front drive motor. At 200 horsepower, it matches the previous generation exactly. But with 169 pound-feet of torque, it would appear to come up significantly short. Yet because of what GM has learned over the years, this new motor spins faster and more efficiently, allowing Chevy to use a shorter gear in the single-speed transmission. At the wheel, the motor produces about as much as before.\u00a0<\/p>\n The new motor combined with more efficient power electronics means the 2027 Bolt can travel about 15 miles farther than the previous Bolt EUV, the body style on which the new model is based.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOctober 13-15, 2026<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n