Tag Archives: Chevrolet Bolt EV

EV (Dis)interest

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By Gary S. Vasilash

One of the things that isn’t talked about much is the fact that electric vehicles really aren’t that popular unless they come from Tesla.

Flying in the face of that is a finding of Kelley Blue Book that in Q3 2023 EV sales in the U.S. hit 313,086 units, a 49.8% increase over Q3 2022. Such a jump means interest, right?

Well, the total number of EVs sold in Q3 represents 7.9% of total industry sales.

In other words, 92.1% of the vehicles people bought in Q3 weren’t electric.

And to the point of Tesla’s sway over the market—even though KBB saysTesla’s share of market tumbled to 50%–is that KBB acknowledges“Tesla’s price cuts have moved the market, pushing electric vehicle prices down more than 22% year over year, from $65,295.”

That’s right: a single company moves the entire segment.

(And in case you’re wondering, in October, according to KBB, the average transaction price for an EV was $51,762 while the ATP for a non-lux vehicle was $44,331.)

Drilling down a bit more, it is bracing to discover that in terms of share of the EV segment, the mainstream brands really don’t have much in Q3.

  • Chevrolet, 5.1%
  • Ford, 6.7%
  • GMC, 0.4%
  • Hyundai, 6.3%
  • Kia, 3%
  • Nissan, 1.9%
  • Subaru, 0.9%
  • Toyota, 0.9%
  • VW, 3.4%

And know that the 6.7% for Q3 Ford racked up represents 20,926 vehicles: 14,842 Mach-Es, 3,503 F-150 Lightnings and 2,617 E-Transits.

Ford sold 23,931 Mavericks in Q3, of which 56.5% were hybrids. Somehow that 20,926 EVs sold—encompassing three models, one of which is based on the best-selling pickup Since Time Began—seems more than anemic.

So even before Ford started talking about having to make adjustments as a result of the salary and benefit increases in the proposed agreement with the UAW, the auto company suddenly found things like the F-150 Hybrid more interesting.

When I ask knowledgeable people about the subject, they point out that much of the EV development and promotion is predicated on government regulations, more than organic customer demand. Look at those puny percentages up there, slices of the 313,086 vehicles sold by companies ranging from Audi to Volkswagen.

There’s not much there there.

Yes, there will be more EVs offered. More EVs sold.

But—again, absent Tesla—the market demand isn’t at all what it sounds like it should be.

Another example of this not-big demand is something that some point to as a real success story: the Chevrolet Bolt EV.

Here are the sales figures for the past five years:

  • 2018: 18,019
  • 2019: 16,418
  • 2020: 20,754
  • 2021: 24,828
  • 2022: 38,120

Whoa! you might think. From 2018 to 2022 the sales of the Bolt EV doubled! Remarkable.

But there are a couple of elements that need to be considered.

For one thing, Chevy added a (slightly) different body style, the more ute-like Bolt EUV in 2021, which certainly added some interest to the model(s).

And in June 2022 General Motors cut the price of the Bolt to persuade customers to buy one—sort of like what Elon has been doing.

Had Dodge made a substantial price reduction to the SRT Hellcat Redeye Widebody, the Brotherhood of Muscle would exponentially increase its membership of all genders and municipalities throughout the country would have a sharp uptick in revenues from speeding tickets.

If there is a change in the political situation, those regulations that are driving EV development and sales and those incentives that do the same (what if the government offered $7,500 tax credits for the purchase of a Hellcat?), the question of actual market demand is really going to matter.

GM Making Money—Thanks to Trucks

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By Gary S. Vasilash

General Motors reported exceedingly good earnings for Q2: non-adjusted net income attributed to stockholders of $2.57 billion. It was $1.69 billion last year.

The company thinks it will make a lot more this year than it previously expected:

  • $9.3 billion to $10.7 billion is the new target
  • $8.4 billion to $9.9 billion was the previous target

Getting Deluxe for Bucks

A big part of this: full-size truck and SUV sales, especially the high-trim trucks.

  • At GMC 70% of Sierra HD trucks were lux. Some 50% of Sierra light-duty trucks were. And 74% of Canyons were loaded.
  • At Chevy, about 75% were top trim models.

Nine Chevy SUVs—One Economical

Of course, GM points out that the Chevy Trax, an “affordable SUV” (starts at $20,400) had an increase in sales of 115%. (Last year it sold a total of 26,597 Trax models so if the sales were to double this year compared to last, it would still be fewer than Blazer 2022 sales, 67,246.)

Where’s the Money Going?

And regarding trucks, GM noted it is investing to “strengthen our industry-leading full-size truck and SUV business.”

With:

  • $1-billion invested in a plant in Flint, Michigan for next-gen heavy-duty trucks
  • $0.5-billion in Arlington, Texas for next-gen full-size SUVs
  • $0.6-billion for next-gen light-duty trucks

Maybe not the crazy money being thrown at electric vehicles, but clearly there are plans in place for next-gen trucks and SUVs that will continue to haul in the money.

EV Issues

As for EVs, the company built 50,000 in the first half and plans to build 100,000 in the second.

What’s interesting is that in Q2 it sold 15,700 EVs, which is down from the 20,700 it sold in Q1 ’23 and the 16,300 it sold in Q4 2022.

Clearly, not the right direction.

In terms of EV sales, the Chevy Bolt has been making the biggest difference. Through the first half there were 33,659 sold.

The Bolt Will Be Back

However, GM had announced that the Bolt, which doesn’t use the company’s Ultium battery technology, was going out of production. . .until today, when it announced there will be the development of a new Bolt, that will use the battery tech.

GM chair and CEO Mary Barra said, “Our customer’s love today’s Bolt. It has been delivering record sales and some of the highest customer satisfaction and loyalty scores in the industry.”

Starting at $26,500, it is also one of the most cost-competitive EVs in the market, which undoubtedly accounts for more than a slight amount of that popularity.

As long as GM can keep the price low, the Bolt should continue to do well.

If GM ups the price significantly, then its EV sales numbers will grow, but at an anemic pace.

General Motors: About Those EV Sales. . .

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By Gary S. Vasilash

General Motors was rather chuffed with its U.S. sales results for Q2 2023 as well as for the first half of the year.

It delivered 691,978 vehicles in Q2, up 18.8% from the same period last year. And for the first half it has delivered 1,295,186, or 18.3% more than in the first half of 2022.

Drilling into the electric vehicle space, the company sold in Q2 13,959 Chevy Bolt EV/Bolt EUV models, up an impressive 101%. Even more impressive, with Bolt sales of 33,659 for the first half, that’s a 360.9% increase. However, due to a problem with battery fires that occurred in the summer of 2022 General Motors stopped production of the vehicles as it handled a recall, so there were fewer vehicles available last year. What’s more, when it brought the vehicles back on the market it did so making the pricing exceedingly attractive—even for people who otherwise wouldn’t have considered an EV.

Then there are two other EVs in the GM portfolio:

  • Cadillac Lyriq
  • Hummer EV

As for Cadillac, it delivered 1,348 Lyriqs in Q2 and a total of 2,316 during the first half. The vehicle wasn’t available during the first half of 2022 so there is no comparison.

As for the Hummer EV, there were 47 deliveries in Q2 and a total of 49 for the first half. Yes, two were delivered in Q1 2023. Those numbers are down 82.7 and 86.8%, respectively. There were 185 days between January 1 and June 30. 49 Lyriqs.

All in, General Motors sold 36,024 electric vehicles during the first half of 2023.

To put that number in perspective, know that it sold 78,169 Chevy Malibus during the same period, and while nary a word is pronounced about the importance of that midsize sedan to its future portfolio, for the past few years there have been more pronouncements about how EVs are going to be transformative to the company’s fortunes than mere mortals can imagine.

Of course, “Past performance is no guarantee of future results.”

But there are two factors that need to be kept in mind.

  1. GM has announced Bolt production will end in November. On the Chevrolet shopping site it is able to proclaim that the Bolt is “America’s Most Affordable EV.” Strike that from the books.
  2. When the Chevy Silverado EV was first announced the company talked about the WT (as in “work truck”) trim starting at about $39,900. However, it recently said that when the first WTs roll off the line, they will be 4WT trim, capable of 450 miles and featuring AWD, for a price of . . .$79,800

Hard to see how the company is going to have sustainably large EV sales numbers as it goes into the future.

It may have the capacity–lots of capacity–but there are another two factors that come into play:

  1. Execution
  2. Market demand for vehicles that aren’t necessarily leading in affordability.

What Is the Ram 1500 Revolution EV Concept?

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By Gary S. Vasilash

The Ram Truck brand has announced it will unveil its Ram 1500 Revolution battery electric pickup concept at CES 2023 in Las Vegas on January 5.

“CES” used to stand for “Consumer Electronics Show.”

Now it is bigger than that.

One of the reasons it is expanded in scope in due to the auto industry which, for the past few years, has realized that attending an industry trade show full of people who are tech heat seekers is good for word of mouth, which is good for business.

Consider this: the Chevy Bolt EV was introduced on January 6, 2017 at CES. GM CEO Mary Barra made a keynote address at the event that day.

The following week in Detroit the North American International Auto Show, the venue where vehicles are ordinary unveiled, got to see the Bolt EV, too. Not a debut, of course.

What’s more, coincident with the unveiling of the Bolt EV Mary Barra and the car appeared on the cover of Wired magazine.

Vehicle OEM PR people know that writers for Car and Driver and MotorTrend have to cover vehicles like the Bolt and the Ram 1500 Revolution.

If they can get publications like Wired to cover them—that’s saying something.

A question about the Ram 1500 Revolution and CES:

Is Ram Truck positioning the vehicle as tech or a truck?

This is not to say that modern trucks don’t have a lot of tech. But it does seem that by launching it there the company is saying to the world that the truck is a marvel of advanced engineering more than this is something that someone is going to use to haul aggregate or boards or whatever.

It will most certainly have the capability to hauling that whatever and then some.

But if it can convince people who are never going to haul that this is a technically trick truck, then they may get even more market traction than they would if they introduced it at the Chicago Auto Show, an event in February where OEMs have tended to launch their trucks.

Beyond the Bolt Battery Problem

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Yes, it is an issue right now, but it has serious ramifications going forward

By Gary S. Vasilash

The facts of the situation is that General Motors is recalling all of the Chevrolet Bolts that the company has ever built. About 142,000. “Out of an abundance of caution.” There is a manufacturing defect in the batteries that could lead to fires. The batteries are produced for GM by LG Energy Solution.

GM is going to replace the batteries in the vehicles.

All in, the price is going to be on the order of $1.8-billion.

2022 Chevrolet Bolt EV connected to a DC fast charger during the final stage of production at the General Motors Orion Assembly Plant. (Photo by Steve Fecht for Chevrolet)

GM and LG are currently building two battery plants. But these plants are for a different type of battery—“Ultium” is the brand name—than the type of battery found in the Bolt EV and Bolt EUV. It doesn’t have a brand name.

The new GM EVs—which aren’t out yet—will  have the Ultium batteries, not the type found in the Bolt.

This doesn’t mean that there aren’t potential problems with the Ultium battery somewhere down the road. But it does mean that there aren’t issues for those new vehicles—e.g., Cadillac Lyriq, HUMMER EV—right out of the box.

What could be a real problem for GM—no matter how well the recall is handled—is that of the perception of potential consumers.

There needs to be a sell of the whole idea of an EV. This is not easy. Everyone driving today is at least passingly familiar with pulling into a gas station. But charging is something else entirely. First of all, everyone (I know I am using this broad brush broadly, but let’s face it: we live in a transportation environment that is predicated on petroleum) knows where gas stations are. How many people know where charging stations are? (Yes, most haven’t had a need to look for them, but I have, and they aren’t easy to find, even if you know where they are.) So some people are going to be off-put by that. And there are issues like the comfort of plugging in, and the time required to charge a vehicle. (“What if it is raining?”)

These are real challenges. Non-trivial challenges.

GM now has a group of people who are going to be all the more trepidatious to get an EV that it needs to convince to buy EVs. GM wants the EV to be a mass-market vehicle, not something driven just by the rich or enthusiastic.

All OEMs—with the probable exclusion of Tesla—are pretty much faced with the challenge of convincing people about buying EVs.

GM now has a particular problem as a result of this recall.

The Emerging EV Challenge

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Incumbents will gain some share. But it is going to take a lot of work to get it

By Gary S. Vasilash

When GM announced its sales for the first half of 2021, the Chevrolet Bolt EV and the new variant the Bolt EUV did quite well. Comparatively speaking.

That is, sales were up 142.4% compared with the first half of 2020.

Of course, 2020 was the COVID year, so the sales of pretty much every vehicle has shown robust signs of sales, but few with such a high percentage rise.

That said, the total number of sales for the two models in the first half of 2021 was 20,288. To put that number into context, realize that the company sold 31,886 Malibus during the same period—and that represented a decline of 33.5% for the stalwart sedan.

And to put the Bolt EV/EUV sales into context, know that in the second quarter alone of 2021 Tesla delivered 199,360 Model 3 and Model Y units—or looked at another way, Tesla sold in three months 179,072 more vehicles than Chevrolet did in six months.

“IONIQ 5 introduces the Hyundai brand to a while new set of buyers, Jose Munoz ,president and CEO, Hyundai Motor America, said of the forthcoming EV. Buyers matter. Especially new ones. (Image: Hyundai)

General Motors has a lot of commitment to EVs going forward, In November 2020 it announced that it would have 30 new EVs on the global market by 2025, of which two-thirds would be available in North America. Then in June 2021 it announced it was adding commercial trucks to the North American mix, as well as additional EV production capacity.

In the GM boilerplate it describes itself as “a global company focused on advancing an all-electric future that is inclusive and accessible to all.”

Last week Mercedes announced its all-EV approach by 2030.

But presumably this is not a plan that is “inclusive and accessible to all.”

Also last week GM announced a recall of 2017-2019 Bolt EVs. A problem with the vehicles potentially bursting into flames.

This is the second time these models have been subject to a recall, with the first being in November 2020.

The new GM EVs that are on the way will not have the same battery system used by the Bolt EV and Bolt EUV. It is an all-new design.

However, GM is not exactly in a position to make that as a benefit of the new vehicles because it would throw some serious shade on the Bolts.

Perhaps the limited sales of the Bolts works in GM’s favor because if the number of recalled vehicles was larger, if there were more people aware of the problem, then it would have even more work ahead of it trying to convince people that it, too, can make EVs with the best of them.

It is widely known that Tesla owners give Tesla a pass in a way that traditional OEMs have never gotten, nor will they. If there are manufacturing defects, shrug. If there are performance problems, shrug. If owners learn of those who are using the so-called “Autopilot” system and run into the side of a semi, a moment of silence followed by a shrug.

If any of these things are related to a traditional OEM: Wailing and gnashing of teeth by the customer base—and that’s just the start.

To be sure there will be more people buying EVs from the traditional brands. While in some cases it may be because the vehicles look damn good—Audi is certainly staking a claim in the design space—in more cases it will probably be predicated on the availability that can come from volume: not only availability in terms of the vehicles being on lots, but availability in terms of economies of scale helping reduce prices.

But given the delta between Model 3/Y sales and Chevy Bolt EV/EUV sales, I can’t help but think that the traditional OEMs may have a bigger problem on their hands than they might expect.

Although Hyundai has certainly been in the U.S. market since 1986, arguably it is still a challenger brand in the market compared to those that have been around for 100 years or more.

While its sales numbers are still modest in the U.S. vis-à-vis the established players, in the first half it sold 407,135 vehicles, or 49% more than it did in the first half of 2020.

Hyundai has been offering hybrids, EVs and even fuel cell vehicles in a way that many traditional OEMs don’t match.

So let’s say for the sake of argument that the same people who buy Samsung phones rather than iPhones would be more likely to go with a Hyundai than a Chevy. (If we go back to the aforementioned design advantage, Hyundai is certainly proved that point.)

So a chunk of the traditional goes there.

Then there are the new entrants. Lucid. Fisker. Lucid is staring at a high price point (think of it as a Cadillac competitor) and Fisker is more in the middle. Both of those companies have announced that they are working on what could be described as vehicles that are more inclusive and accessible.

While it might seem that the incumbents have the advantage simply because of their name recognition and availability, IBM doesn’t make PCs; when’s the last time you bought an image-related product from Kodak; and although a Pan Am shuttle took people to a space station in 2001: A Space Odyssey, Pan Am went out of business in 1991.

GM to Spend More Billions on EVs (and AVs)

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Why spend $20 billion when you can spend $35 billion?

By Gary S. Vasilash

Yesterday General Motors announced that spending $20 billion between 2020 and 2025 on electric and autonomous vehicular tech, as it said it had intended to in March 2020, isn’t enough.

It announced that spending $27 billion during the same period, as it said it had intended to in November 2020, just doesn’t cut it.

So now GM says that it will spend $35 billion by 2025.

In other word, a 75% increase in spend from what it originally intended just 15 months ago.

Why?

Said Mary Barra, GM chair and CEO: “We are investing aggressively in a comprehensive and highly integrated plan to make sure that GM leads in all aspects of the transformation to a more sustainable future.

“GM is targeting annual global EV sales of more than 1 million by 2025, and we are increasing our investment to scale faster because we see momentum building in the United States for electrification, along with customer demand for our product portfolio.”

The Bolt EV is presently the GM electric vehicle. In the first quarter GM sold 9,025 of the compact electric vehicles.

Yes, that is a 53.7% increase over Q1 2020, but that was Q1 2020.

The increase in Corvette sales Q1 to Q1 was 73.1%. While only 6,611 of those vehicles were delivered, odds are GM makes more on each Corvette than Bolt.

GM does have more EVs coming, like the HUMMER EV pickup and the Cadillac LYRIQ crossover. And there will be an electric Silverado and other vehicles to boot.

GM will be building two EVs for Honda, one for Honda brand and one for Acura. And it is supplying Navistar with its HYDROTEC hydrogen power fuel cells for heavy trucks that are to be launched in 2024.

And while it doesn’t get a whole lot of attention compared to EVs, Cruise is continuing its efforts to achieve higher levels of autonomy. It has been given the go-ahead to provide a public service sans driver in California. It has been named the exclusive autonomous rideshare provider in the city of Dubai. It will be receiving Cruise Origin vehicles—jointly developed by GM and Honda, and scheduled for production in GM’s Factory ZERO Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Center in 2023.

No question that GM is making a huge commitment.

A thought

Here’s something that needs to be taken into account. According to the U.S. Dept. of Energy, as of approximately right now there are 42,664 charging stations in the U.S. and 103,654 charging outlets available to the public.

People who live, say, in southeast Michigan tend to travel up I-75 to northwest Michigan every holiday in numbers that make a chain out of the vehicles, trailers, boats, etc. Somehow, unless there is access to chargers that are going to allow recharges in minutes, not large fractions of an hour (or more), it is going to take one EV-intensive holiday weekend to have some exceedingly sour people.

When people are used to spending a quick time at a gas station, sitting in a long line waiting for access to a plug may have a big effect on the overall acceptance of EVs.

GM Gets Ahead of the Curve on EV Battery Recycling

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“GM’s zero-waste initiative aims to divert more than 90 percent of its manufacturing waste from landfills and incineration globally by 2025,” said Ken Morris, GM vice president of Electric and Autonomous Vehicles. This is one effort toward that end.

By Gary S. Vasilash

No one can say that General Motors and its partner LG Energy Solution aren’t being proactive.

The two companies operate a joint venture, Ultium Cells LLC. Ultium Cells will build the Ultium batteries that GM will use in its forthcoming electric vehicles (EVs).

Ultium battery for the GMC HUMMER EV Pickup. Those white slats slot into that container. (Image: GM)

GM’s current EVs—the Chevrolet Bolt EV and Bolt EUV—have lithium-ion batteries, but not Ultium batteries. That’s because the vehicles were developed pre-Ultium.

However, vehicles like the forthcoming Cadillac LYRIQ, which is to become available the first half of 2022, will have Ultium batteries on board.

Ultium Cells announced that it will be working with L-Cycle, a battery recycling company, to, well, recycle the material scrap from battery cell manufacturing.

Cobalt. Nickel. Lithium. Graphite. Manganese. Aluminum.

According to GM, 95% of the reclaimed materials can go into things like new batteries.

Li-Cycle says that the hydrometallurgical process it uses to recycle the materials is more energy efficient than other methods, like high-temperature “smelting” processes.

Which is fitting to what Ultium Cells is up to, as Thomas Gallagher, the company’s COO, said, “We strive to make more with less waste and energy expended.”

And at the very least, it undoubtedly beats the heck out of mining those materials.

The recycling process is scheduled to go on line later this year.

After all, they need to develop batteries so they can develop scrap.

Developing the 2022 Bolt EUV

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If you have any doubt that EVs have a future in an arena mainly populated by things with pistons, watch this show

Rob Mantinan was a self-described “gearhead” growing up in metro Detroit. He had a Camaro when he was in high school. His dad was a UAW worker at a GM facility in Warren. He went to Kettering University. And started right out of school at GM. He has a mechanical engineering degree from the school with a specialization in automotive powertrain. Which is arguably what a gearhead would get.

But then, while working at GM, he pursued a graduate degree and obtained a master’s in energy systems engineering. He was working on things like the Chevy Volt and his focus began to shift.

The Bolt is quick. But probably not faster than an X-Wing. (Image: Chevrolet)

Which makes a whole lot of sense for what he is doing now: Mantinan is the program engineering manager for the Chevrolet Bolt EV and the Bolt EUV.

On the subject of going from one propulsion system to another, he admits, “I got converted pretty quickly,” adding, “I’ve turned from a piston guy to an EV guy. And I can’t see going back—other than as a toy.”

It is certainly good to be a strong believer in what you are doing. It makes doing it all the better and satisfying. And arguably results in a better outcome.

On this edition of “Autoline After Hours” Mantinan talks about the development and characteristics of the Bolt EUV, which is based on the Bolt EV platform, but stretched in terms of overall length (it is 169.5 inches long vs. 163.2 inches) and wheelbase (105.3 inches vs. 102.4 inches), with most of the addition space being used for rear passenger legroom (39.1 inches vs. 36 inches).

From a styling point of view, Mantinan says that the Bolt EUV is moving the Bolt “to the mainstream”: it resembles more of a crossover than a five-door hatch.

And the Bolt EUV is being offered with tech that is only otherwise available on. . .Cadillacs.

That’s right. On a vehicle that starts under $40,000 Super Cruise Level 2+ tech can be obtained.

One of the topics—which seems to come up whenever EVs are discussed—is the range. The Bolt EUV range is an estimated 250 miles. When asked whether they considered providing enough battery to allow a greater range, Mantinan notes (1) for existing Bolt customers, the range has not been a problem and (2) they wanted to assure that the Bolt EUV was accessibly priced for the buyer who isn’t interested in making the hefty payments that are associated with some other brands: This is a Chevy. (In addition to which, GM will be bringing out an array of EVs—including some with the bowtie on the front—that will be using its Ultium battery technology, but that’s in the future and the Bolts are now.)

Mantinan talks with “Autoline’s” John McElroy, Jeff Gilbert of WWJ-950, and me.

Then the three of us discuss a variety of subjects, including VW’s Power Day, Cruise Automation buying Voyage, Foxconn’s reported EV plant plans, and a whole lot more.

You can see it all here.

2022 Chevrolet Bolt EUV

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Advanced tech in a car for today

Although General Motors is bullish on the whole notion of people driving around in electric vehicles (EVs), for the most part that’s something that is off into the future because there aren’t a whole lot of EVs out there for people to drive—vehicles from GM or any other OEM, for that matter.

GM has had the Bolt EV in dealerships since 2017, a compact car. Compact cars of any type aren’t exactly high on the lists of consumer gotta-haves, and let’s face it: GM’s offering in this space hasn’t been such that people are likely to think when they go out shopping, “Hmm. . . I think I’ll go check out GM compact models.”

Which is to say that the company needs to modify its approach, and with the Bolt EUV it has done that—a bit.

2022 Chevrolet Bolt EUV: Second EV in the Chevy lineup. (Image: Chevrolet)

According to program engineer Rob Manitian, the Bolt EUV shares no sheet metal with the Bolt EV. That said, the Bolt EV has undergone a midcycle refresh so in its new execution, it has a different look, as well.

The rationale for the Bolt EUV is to make the vehicle have more of a “utility” appearance, because if there is something that market wants—and that Chevy has on offer from small to medium to large—its something that seems “utile.”

Seems is pretty much the operative word for the Bolt EUV when it comes to utility vis-à-vis its stable mate.

That is, the Bolt EUV is bigger than the Bolt EV:

The EV has a wheelbase of 102.4 inches; the EUV 105.3.

The EV has an overall length of 163.2 inches; the EUV 169.5.

The height difference is just 0.2 inches.

The size difference is manifest in the rear legroom:

The EV offers 36 inches; the EUV 39.1.

But here is where the seems kicks in: Cargo volume.

The cargo volume behind the rear seat in the EV is 16.6 cubic feet and it is 57 cubic feet with the rear seat folded.

The cargo volume behind the rear seat in the EUV is 16.3 cubic feet and it is 56.9 cubic feet with the rear seat folded.

While those numbers are not significantly different—especially that 0.1 cubic foot difference—one might imagine that the EUV might offer a significant difference when it comes to accommodating stuff, which it clearly doesn’t. (OK. It has standard roof rails. But. . . .)

If you’re not putting someone in that rear seat, then one could say that the choice between the two is pretty much a wash, given that the vehicles have the same platform and propulsion system.

The vehicle is powered by a 150-kW permanent magnet motor. (A.k.a., 200 hp) There is a 65-kWh lithium-ion battery pack that provides an estimated range of 250 miles on a full charge. With a Level 2 charger (240 V) the battery goes to a full charge in 7 hours; with a DC fast charge system, up to 95 miles in 30 minutes.

Because of the increase in the wheelbase, there is a different driving dynamic, one that is appreciated when using. . . Super Cruise.

That’s right: the hands-free driver assistance technology that has been heretofore available only in Cadillac models has moved to the Bolt EUV.

The Super Cruise system makes use of sensors—radar, cameras, on-board—and a LiDAR map. (No, it doesn’t have LiDAR but the mapping of some 200,000 miles of roads—like freeways—that has been done with a LiDAR system. What does that mean? Simply that it is really accurate. In addition to which, GM has a contract with a company that is out there right now, scanning more roadways and updating existing ones, information that goes to Super Cruise via over-the-air updates.)

You activate the system, set speed for adaptive cruise, and assuming you’re on roadway that is good to go, you center the car in the lane, it then gives you a lightbar on the steering wheel indication that it is ready, so you push the button a second time. . .and remove your hands from the steering wheel.

The Bolt EUV then maintains speed—adjusted based on the set spacing via the adaptive cruise—and maintains the lane. The road curves; the steering wheel makes the adjustment.

You are not permitted to take a nap or read a newspaper because there is an unobtrusive “Driver Attention System” that uses infrared lighting and a small camera on top of the steering column that keeps an eye on your eyes (even through sunglasses) so that if you’re paying insufficient attention to what’s going on, the system let’s you know that’s not acceptable behavior.

But to return to the wheelbase for a moment. When driving at freeway speeds in the adjacency to big rigs, unless you’re in a full-size SUV or pickup truck, you’re going to feel buffeting. The addition six inches of wheelbase undoubtedly helps keep things from feeling too unsettling when the Bolt EUV is, essentially, driving itself (I suppose that this point I ought to have in big red letters something that says YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR BEING IN CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE because as modern as it is, you’re still in charge).

The interior of the vehicle is fresh and contemporary without being too overtly “futuristic” in execution. I actually wish it did seem to be a bit more advanced because let’s face it: this is still leading-edge technology compared to about 95% of everything else on the road, so those who are adopting it ought to get a nod that they’re participating in the creation of the future. (It is worth noting that the front end of a white Bolt EUV does resemble a Star Wars stormtrooper, however.)

But perhaps the biggest takeaway of the Bolt EUV is that while it is a technologically sophisticated vehicle, it is a normal vehicle. It is a vehicle that anyone can drive without feeling as though they’re in something that is uncomfortably different (“Uh, how do I ________________”).

Which is what will really matter in order to get more people behind the wheels of EVs.–gsv