Chevrolet Bolt EV Gone By End Of ‘23

General Motors Co. is bolting on its most affordable electric vehicle, the company’s chair and CEO Mary Barra said Tuesday.

Production of the Chevrolet Bolt EV and Bolt EUV at GM’s Orion Township, Mich. assembly plant will conclude at year’s end as the plant in suburban Detroit is converted to build the battery electric versions of the Chevrolet Silverado and GM Sierra pickup trucks.

“When Orion EV assembly reopens in 2024 and reaches full production, employment will nearly triple and we’ll have a company wide capacity to build 600,000 electric trucks annually,” Barra said. “We’ll need this capacity because our trucks more than measure up to our customers expectations and will demonstrate that work and EV range are not mutually exclusive terms for Chevrolet and GMC trucks.”

Barra made her remarks during a webcast with financial analysts to discuss GM’s first quarter results. GM reported adjusted net income of $3.8 billion in the first three months of 2023. That’s down slightly from $4.04 billion the automaker earned during Q1 2022.

Total revenue for the first quarter was $40 billion.

Feeling it’s on an upward trajectory, GM raised its full year earnings guidance to a range of $11 billion to $13 billion up from previous guidance of $10.5 billion to $12.5 billion.

In a letter to shareholders Barra said the company was able to boost its guidance “As we look at the performance of the business and the opportunities ahead of us.”

In conjunction with its financial report, GM announced it will join Samsung SDI to invest $3 billion in a new U.S.-based battery plant to begin operations in 2026. A specific location was not disclosed.

“Having multiple strong cell partners will allow us to expand into new segments more quickly grow our annual EV assembly capacity in North America significantly above 1 million units and integrate cells directly into battery packs to reduce weight, complexity and cost,” Barra said during the call with financial analysts.

The plant, which will have more than 30 GWh of capacity bringing GM’s total U.S. battery cell capacity to about 160 GWh when it is at full production, will build cylindrical and prismatic cells, Barra said.

While U.S. sales of battery electric vehicles still represent less than 10% of the market, GM said it’s gaining on market leader Tesla selling 20,000 EVs last quarter, the third consecutive quarter of record Chevrolet Bolt EV and Bolt EUV deliveries and rising Cadillac Lyriq sales, according to the company which declared it is now the number two in U.S. EV sales and increased its EV marketshare by 8%.

Still, many consumers have resisted the move to an EV because, among other reasons, they are simply too expensive.

But despite GM killing its least expensive EV in the Bolt, Barra said the automaker is sensitive to affordability and its portfolio will reflect that.

“So we’re really focused on getting the vehicles out there because we think we priced them right to begin with when you look at, you know where the Lyriq is. It starts below $60,000 or right at $60,000. You know, the Equinox that, around $30,000, Blazer, you know, in the mid mid 40s. These are price points that I think are very important,” Barra said during the analyst call.

GM’s long-stated goal is to produce 400,000 EVs over the course of 2022, 2023 and the first half of 2024, including 50,000 EVs in North America in the first half of this year, and double that in the second half.

Producing them is one thing. Selling them is another. Consumers are already facing a general affordability issue when shopping for a vehicle, whether powered by an internal combustion engine or electric motor.

If GM can find that sweet spot for EV pricing with a portfolio of body styles shopper most desire the automaker may just break down one of the key obstacles towards EV adoption, or risk customers, bolting.