To be unveiled on February 14th in collaboration with Walt Disney World, the all-new Bolt EUV is a bit of a missed opportunity for Chevrolet. You see, the SUV-like brother of the Bolt EV has the same ground clearance as the subcompact hatchback, which defeats the purpose of a utility vehicle.
As expected from the biggest of the Big Three automakers in Motor City, the Golden Bowtie is trying to hype up the Bolt EUV and the mid-cycle refresh of the Bolt EV like there’s no tomorrow. Take, for instance, the title of the following video – “The Beginning of an Electric Journey.”
Correct me if I’m wrong, but Chevrolet already has a handful of electric vehicles to its name. The General Motors EV1 from the 1990s comes to mind, along with the S-10 EV pickup truck and Spark EV. I also fail to understand what beginning they’re on about because the platform that underpins the Bolt brothers will be phased out in favor of the BEV3 vehicle architecture.
Complemented by Ultium batteries, the third-generation EV platform is a highly-scalable design that can be adapted for passenger cars and crossovers with front-, rear-, and all-wheel drive. Oh, and don’t forget that General Motors also offers the BT1 spinoff that underpins the GMC Hummer EV.
Another problem with the Bolt EUV and Bolt EV for the 2022 model year will be the lithium-ion battery from South Korean supplier LG Chem. 66 kWh is all there is to it, which is exactly the same capacity as the 2021 model year Chevrolet Bolt EV. A facelift should be more than skin deep in this day and age, which goes to show that General Motors could do better.
To better differentiate the crossover from the hatchback, GM has also decided to integrate Super Cruise hands-free highway driving technology only on the newcomer. In other words, the Bolt EV won’t be offered at its full potential even though there’s a market for semi-autonomous driving aids.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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