Already the second best-selling brand in the EV market, Chevrolet is betting it can increase demand with the roll out of the all-new 2022 Bolt EUV, as well as the updated Bolt EV.
The new EUV offers potential buyers a larger, more SUV-like design, along with added features such as General Motors’ Super Cruise. Until now, the hands-free system was offered solely on a limited selection of Cadillac products. The smaller Chevrolet Bolt hatchback, meanwhile, not only gets its first major update since its 2016 debut but also gets a price drop of as much as $5,000.
The combination of the two models “will deliver a combined 1-2 punch,” said Chevy marketing chief Steve Majoros, during a media background briefing.
When you wish upon an (electric) star
Both the 2022 Chevrolet Bolt EV and EUV models were introduced on Valentine’s Day as part of a joint project pairing GM and Walt Disney World Resort. The popular entertainment center appears in a special 90-second video titled “Electric is Magic.”
The EUV is just GM’s second long-range all-electric vehicle, and its first new one since the Bolt EV was introduced in 2016. But it won’t be the last. The automaker’s CEO Mary Barra recently announced significant expansion of its electrification program, revealing that GM will invest $27 billion to bring 30 all-electric vehicles into showrooms around the world by 2025. During a keynote address at the Consumer Electronics Show last month, meanwhile, Barra said the company plans to switch entirely to battery-electric vehicles by 2035.
The original Bolt EV will undergo relatively modest updates for 2022, most focused on the cabin. That includes the use of upgraded materials and more soft-touch surfaces, as well as a larger 10.3-inch touchscreen introducing the latest Chevy infotainment system, as well as wireless versions of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
More tech tricks, including optional, hands-free Super Cruise
There will be more standard advanced driver assistance systems, said chief engineer Jesse Ortega. And a new One-Pedal button will allow the driver to increase the amount of regenerative energy recaptured during braking and coasting. In turn, that will let the driver simply lift off the throttle to slow, and even stop, in many situations, without hitting the brake. The feature is similar to what happens with a gas-powered vehicle when the transmission downshifts several gears – except it recaptures more energy to increase range.
The 2022 Bolt EUV, meanwhile, adds the optional Super Cruise system that has proved popular on products like the Cadillac CT5 sedan. Super Cruise allows a driver to take their hands off the wheel under most conditions while driving on roughly 200,000 miles of limited-access highways in the U.S. and Canada.
The big selling point for the 2022 Chevrolet Bolt EUV, however, is expected to be its more SUV-like shape, as well as its six inches of added length – half of that going into increased rear-seat legroom.
No shared sheet metal
While the two 2022 battery-electric vehicles bear a familial resemblance, they share not a single piece of sheet metal. The EUV stands taller and features distinctive headlights and crisper accent lines. It will offer a sunroof not available on the Bolt EV.
Both vehicles share the same 62.5 kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack. The Bolt EV retains the 259-mile range of the 2021 model while the Bolt EUV manages to squeeze out 250 miles per charge, according to the EPA.
Both of the battery-electric vehicles will be equipped to use a new, dual-voltage charging cable capable of plugging into both 120- and 240-volt outlets. At that higher voltage, they will be able to add another 25 miles of range per hour – topping off a complete drained battery in about 10 hours, according to GM. The two models also can plug into 50 kW public fast chargers boosting range by 100 miles in about 30 minutes.
No performance specifications were released by GM but independent tests have put 0 to 60 times in the mid-6-second range.
2022 brings big price cuts
As with the original Bolt EV, the 2022 models will continue to rely on a single electric motor. No all-wheel-drive will be available.
By adding a second model – and with the EUV adopting an SUV-style shape, in line with current market trends – Majoros said Chevrolet expects to gain still more sales and market share in the emerging battery-electric market. He declined to provide a hard sales target, but did note that Bolt EV demand rose 26% last year, despite the overall, pandemic slump of the American new car market.
Since its introduction, Chevy has sold more than 100,000 Bolt EVs. It was the fourth best-selling product in the BEV market in 2021, Chevy itself second as a brand only to Tesla.
The bowtie brand expects another big selling point in 2022 will be the sharp drop in price for the two new models. At a starting price of $31,995, the updated Bolt EV will come in $5,000 below the old model. The larger Bolt EUV, will start at $33,995, with a Launch Edition loaded with features like Super Cruise priced at $43,495. All figures include delivery fees.
Chevy aims to make EVs “more attainable”
Increased volumes helped Chevy justify the price drop, said Ortega.
Chevrolet brand vice president Steve Hill, meanwhile, said the move will help make EVs “more attainable for everyone,” adding in a statement that, “This is an opportunity for Chevy to capitalize on the success we’ve built with the Bolt EV and bring new customers into the Chevy family.”
Both the 2022 Chevrolet Bolt EV and EUV will go into production at a GM plant in Orion Township, Michigan by late spring, with sales to launch this summer.
