The Chevy Bolt is now a compact sports utility vehicle with a distance of 250 kilometers and ‘hands-free’ driving

The Chevy Bolt is undergoing a growth storm. General Motors unveiled two new versions of the Bolt on Sunday: an updated Bolt EV hatchback with longer range and new high-tech features, and the brand new Bolt EUV – essentially a compact SUV – with more legroom and less range than the Bolt EV.

For this summer, the refreshed Bolt EV will sell for $ 31,995 – or about $ 5,000 less than the current model year Bolt EV. The Bolt EUV (which stands for ‘electric utility vehicle’) will also be cheaper and cost $ 33,995. A limited edition “Launch” with unique wheels, special badges and a lighted loading port is available for $ 43,495. The Bolt EV and EUV are expected to be in production by the end of 2020, but have been postponed until this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Chevy Bolt, first introduced in 2016, was intended to be General Motors’ first car on a pure electric vehicle with a mass market, with more than 200 kilometers and an affordable price. But sales have been anemic since the launch of the Tesla Model 3 in 2018, which has dominated the EV market in the US and abroad. The Bolt’s compact hatchback is not what most American car buyers are looking for these days. And a recent recall of the model year 2017-2019 bolts associated with a faulty battery certainly did not help GM’s image problems with the EV.

The carmaker hopes to lift the fate of the Bolt with these two new versions, but this can be difficult as the technology that drives the Bolt is rapidly becoming obsolete. Both the Bolt EV and Bolt EUV will be built on GM’s BEV2 platform, which is distinguished from the new ‘Ultium’ battery pack announced in early 2020. The newly unveiled Cadillac Lyriq and the GMC Hummer EV will be the first vehicles to be built. this new architecture. GM said Ultium’s advanced battery chemistry will enable its future electric vehicles to travel at a single charge and charge at a faster pace. However, according to Chevy’s chief engineer, the carmaker has no plans to transfer the Bolt to the Ultium platform.

As a consolation for the impending irrelevance, both versions of the Bolt come with Super Cruise, the ‘hands-free’ advanced driver assistance system previously available only in Cadillac vehicles. The Bolt EV and EUV are the first non-Cadillac vehicles and the first electric vehicles to have Super Cruise.

The price helps to make up for the shortcomings of the Bolt. When the automaker was first introduced five years ago, it still qualified for the federal government’s $ 7,500 tax credit, which made the Bolt a $ 30,000 vehicle. But in 2019, GM sold its 200,000th EV in the United States, causing a phase out of the tax credit. To no longer qualify for that incentive, GM has decided to stick to the reduced price for these latest versions, which is encouraging.

GM claims that the 65 kWh battery pack of the Bolt EV will allow 259 miles on a single charge, while the slightly heavier Bolt EUV will reach 250 miles – basically the same as the current year model. The original 2018 Bolt reached 238 miles, but has usually become less so due to cold weather or other external factors. None of the vehicles’ series have yet been certified by US or European regulators.

Chevy also includes an active thermal management system that uses coolant to maintain battery temperature. Late last year, General Motors had to recall more than 68,000 Chevy Bolts manufactured between 2017-2019 after several battery fires were reported. Federal regulators are investigating and a lawsuit has been filed alleging that the Bolt’s battery ‘tends to burst into flames’.

According to Jesse Ortega, chief engineer at Chevy, the new Bolts use a different battery chemistry that will help prevent future incidents, the same chemistry that caused the carmaker to increase the distance from 238 miles to 250 miles.

Both versions of the Bolt have a single-engine drive unit that can deliver 200 horsepower thanks to 150 kW of power and 360 Newton meters of torque. Like the previous models, the new bolts will have regenerative brakes and a one-pedal driving mode that is fairly common among EVs today.

The Bolt EUV and the redesigned Bolt EV share an architecture, but their designs are unique. No exterior sheet metal parts are shared between the two vehicles, after some owners complained in previous versions about faint sheet metal. The EUV is about 6 inches longer and has about 3 inches of extra legroom behind the Bolt EV.

The grille has been adjusted and the two-tone look of the previous Bolt has been replaced with a more monochromatic fascia. Chevy keeps a small ventilation panel instead of the completely flat front of other cars like the Tesla Model 3.

The interior of the Bolt has always been more practical than inspiring, with hard plastic. Now the interior of the Bolt EV and EUV has been redesigned to include more screens and sensors, mostly to promote Super Cruise’s promise of a ‘hands-free’ management. Chevy even snatched away the Bolt’s frequently criticized seats and replaced them with seats with a triangular geometric pattern and contrasting color stitching, which, according to the carmaker, is a ‘premium design that gives a consistent and luxurious atmosphere.’ Not words you normally see are used to describe a $ 30,000 vehicle.

The main 10.2-inch infotainment screen is still embedded in the dashboard, but is more seamlessly integrated into the center console than the original Bolt design. The physical buttons are smoother and less thick. And Chevy swapped the gearshift for a series of electronic buttons to free up more interior space. There is also a new control knob with one pedal that keeps the system active between the drives.

Other new additions include the light bar at the top of the steering wheel and the infrared sensor on the steering column. These are parts of GM’s Super Cruise driving system, which uses cameras, radar and mapping data to enable users to drive hands-free on divided highways. Super Cruise is not a self-driving system as it still requires drivers to keep their eyes on the road and be busy enough to be able to take notice in an instant. In particular, the Bolt EV and Bolt EUV will only come with the standard version of Super Cruise, not the enhanced version that includes automatic lane change.

EV charging in the US is a bit of a mess, and while Chevy may not be able to solve the more difficult issues, he does everything in his power to make a little less of a headache. A dual-level charging cable is included with the Bolt, which, according to Chevy, will eliminate the need for many people to buy a separate charger for their home. The interchangeable plug enables customers to charge a standard 120 volt three-point outlet for level 1 charging and a 240 volt connection for level 2 to 7.2 kilowatts. Both vehicles can also charge 11 kW level 2, but separate charging equipment is required.

As an added benefit, anyone who buys or rents a Bolt EUV or Bolt EV can install a Level 2 charger in their home for free through GM’s partnership with Qmerit, a home charger installer. GM is working with public charging station operator EVgo to charge on the go to include more than 80,000 public chargers in the My Chevrolet app.

However, the charging time is still subject to the power levels of each charger. When the Bolt EV and EUV are switched on in a normal 120 volt system (ie most home outlets), it will only reach four kilometers for each hour of charging. Connected to a 240 volt socket, the Bolt will be full again within seven hours. And a DC fast charger will pick up for 100 miles within 30 minutes.

Affordability has always been Bolt’s strongest selling point, with a decent size battery and an adequate range for less than $ 35,000. Chevy wanted to ensure that the Bolt remained affordable, even if it added new features, such as Super Cruise, or equaled it to a crossover status, says Steve Majoros, vice president of Chevy marketing. Keeping the price low will help boost EV acceptance of its current status from just 2 percent of U.S. sales to more than 15-20 percent of the total car market, he said.

“ICE [internal combustion engine] vehicles will be long, ”Majoros said. “But the EV movement is real.”