Chevy Bolt Not Limited To 30,000 Sales A Year

Originally published on EV Obsession.

Last year, Reuters (known for anti-EV bias) reported that two supplier sources had informed it that the Chevy Bolt production target was 25,000–30,000 cars a year.

Despite the historical anti-EV vias of Reuters, I took the media company at its word, assuming the sources had some genuine insight on the vehicle.

GM never confirmed such a target, and the question that has been lingering ever since is whether the relatively low 30,000 figure was due to production/supplier constraints or GM being cautious about demand. Of course, that still all assumed the leaked info was legit.

I could see either reason being the root of that modest target.

Well, apparently, GM got tired of the conjecture and wanted to set some things straight. As Jeff Cobb reports, GM stated yesterday that the Chevy Bolt will not be production limited, and that it is not a compliance car. Well, I certainly didn’t think it was a compliance car, and don’t think many people had such an opinion, but it’s interesting and great to see that GM doesn’t expect any production limits on the electric car, the first affordable and long-range fully electric car to hit the US market.

GM’s Kevin Kelly, manager of Electrification and Fuel Cell Technology Communications, noted that the top-selling electric cars on the market (the Nissan LEAF and Tesla Model S) had barely risen above 30,000 sales a year, but he said that even if Bolt demand rose to 50,000 cars a year, GM & partner LG Chem could satisfy that demand.

That is great to hear. So, again, if the initial rumor of a 25,000–30,000 target was correct, it seems that would be a result of caution regarding consumer demand for the electric car.

This is all basically exactly what GM’s Britta Gross told me in November at the EV Transportation & Technology Summit in Cocoa, Florida.

So, we are now awaiting the deciding factor: consumer demand. What are your guesses on the Bolt’s annual consumer demand total 9for the first 2–3 years, at least)?

For more Chevy Bolt stories, check out:

Chevy Bolt Is Here

GM’s Electrification Path & Plans (EV Obsession Video)

GM Manager: Chevy Committed To 50-State Bolt Rollout At Launch

LG Chem Ramping Up Battery Production In Michigan

Chevy Bolt + Another Electric Car Headed To Europe

Chevy Bolt Updates, + Awkward Swipes At Tesla

GM Readying Orion Assembly Line For Chevy Bolt Pre-Production

Image by Kyle Field