David Beard studies and reviews automotive related things and pushes fossil-fuel and electric-powered stuff to their limits. His passion for the Ford Pinto began at his conception, which took place in a Pinto.
Amid the electrification boom in 2023, the Chevrolet Bolt and Bolt EUV were the two least expensive electric vehicles in the marketplace. Then one day—poof—they were gone. General Motors had a whole legion of flashy new battery-powered SUVs and trucks waiting in the wings, leaving little room for the company's lowest-hanging fruit, so the Bolt's Michigan-based assembly line was packed up and shoved to the side.
But there was a reason for it: The Little Chevy That Could's hardware and electrical architecture had maximized its potential—and little did we know, Chevrolet had already begun work on the 2027 Bolt before the last sheetmetal stamp was put away. If you think the new Bolt's body looks a lot like the former EUV's, that's because they're nearly identical. Those body stamps found their way to Kansas, where the Bolt is now assembled. However, underneath that familiar shape—now bookended by new front and rear fascias and lighting elements—lie new electrical systems and a new electric motor, both of which give the Bolt a new lease on life, though perhaps a shorter one than we'd like. In its previous existence, the Bolt did most things exceptionally well, except for one key EV attribute: charging. Its lithium-ion battery pack capped fast-charging at just 55 kilowatts, which is hardly tolerable by modern standards and even less so for other drivers waiting for an old Bolt to leave the local DC fast-charger. The 2027 model, though, packs a new lithium-iron-phosphate battery with cells that are a smidge heavier and have a lower energy density. But the LFP pack is cheaper to build, it stores the same amount of electrons , and, most important, it charges quicker. The LFP battery accepts up to 150 kilowatts of juice, and Chevy claims charging from 10 to 80 percent happens in 25 minutes, nearly three times quicker than before, through a NACS port.The battery feeds a smaller, more efficient motor pilfered from the Equinox EV. In the Bolt, it's good for 210 horsepower, an improvement of 10 ponies over the previous-gen model. Torque, however, is down a whopping 97 pound-feet to just 169. To liven things up, Chevy upped the final-drive ratio to 11.6:1 from 7.1:1. The automaker claims that 60 mph arrives 0.2 second quicker than in the 2023 model, so we expect something in the mid-sixes when we get a model to test.With the accelerator to the floor, thrust arrives in a linear fashion. Sport mode adds intensity, but this isn't the neck-straining EV stuff we've grown accustomed to. Sport now also tightens up the steering rack and dials up brake-pedal sensitivity. Lean the Bolt into a corner, and the steering effort builds nicely before the new 17-inch Michelin e.Primacy All Season rubber gives way. The brakes always prioritize regeneration before dialing in the friction stoppers, and the transition between the two is clean. Speaking of regeneration, fans of the former Bolt's steering-wheel-mounted regen trigger will be sad to learn of its departure. It's replaced by a one-pedal-drive function with three modes. The Off setting decelerates like an internal-combustion car might and is our preferred mode here. Normal is considerably more aggressive, and High—well, the engineers might have been exactly that when they approved this much regen. Inside, the Bolt's spacious interior has been remodeled with a new dash featuring a customizable digital instrument cluster and a larger 11.3-inch infotainment screen operating on embedded Google software. No, you can't use Android Auto or Apple CarPlay, but wipe away those tears, because Chevy includes eight years of map and music streaming data through native apps. Sure, there are plenty of low-rent plastic surfaces, and the seats are still flat, but we're talking about an electric vehicle that has 262 miles of EPA-rated range and starts at $28,995, remarkably just $1500 more than the 2023 Bolt's window sticker and thousands less than the least expensive Nissan Leaf. For more niceties, the $32,995 RS trim adds heated and ventilated faux-leather seats, blacked-out wheels and trim, and a heated steering wheel. GM's excellent hands-free Super Cruise tech is available on both trims, making it the most affordable way to put Super Cruise in your driveway.Chevrolet says the Bolt will be 'a limited-run model,' likely spanning a single model year. Its future beyond that is unclear; the Bolt's short life span could lead into a replacement small EV, or it could just be a temporary worm on a hook to lure buyers into something larger. However long the Bolt might be around, though, we're glad to see it back. ➡️ Skip the lot. Let Car and Driver help you find your next car.Shop New Cars Shop Used Cars
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