A long time ago, they carved out a paradise and set up a parking lot. This was the waiver of progress. Now, Chevy is taking what would have been an at least proverbial parking lot full of relatively affordable compact electric cars and replacing it with one filled with more massive EV pickup trucks.
General Motors, Chevrolet’s parent company, announced on Tuesday Invitation to the investor He’s going to stop making Mondays best seller Plug-in electric vehicle models by the end of 2023. The Chevy Bolt and Chevy Bolt EUV models won’t be any more. GM is tossing and reconfiguring its once-bolt-pumping Orion plant in Michigan to instead make two different models of electric pickup trucks: the GMC Sierra and the Chevrolet Silverado.
“We’ve made progress so far and now is the time to plan for the production end of the Chevrolet Bolt EV and EUV,” GM CEO Mary Barra said during the earnings call.
Except that it is a bit difficult to see the bolt advance when it is eliminated The most affordable electric car available in the US market. The new Bolt starts at $26,500, the Bolt EUV at $27,800. The two cars are also the cheapest electric cars eligible for the reconfigured Biden tax credit scheme, which offers a $7,500 credit to purchasers of any Chevy EVs. Without the Bolt, the Nissan Leaf will be the only electric car under $30,000 to buy in the United States. And unlike the Bolt, the Leaf doesn’t qualify for the tax credit program, which recently requires cars to be American-made to qualify.
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“I feel sad for the consumers,” he said. Corey Cantoran EV analyst at the Research Organization Bloomberg New Energy Financein a phone call with Gizmodo.
Without a bolt around, buy new Electric cars will be thousands of dollars more expensive, and far less accessible to a large segment of potential gas-free car owners. It is likely to limit the adoption of electric vehicles in the short term, limiting the climate benefits of vehicle electrification. “You’re leaving a lot of consumers at the table,” Cantor said. General Motors’ move away from compact models and towards larger electric trucks indicates that the focus is on them Electric vehicles are not necessarily equal Focus on the environment.
The Chevrolet Silverado electric car may not churn out gas, but it still uses a lot more resources and energy than a smaller car with a smaller battery. Evaluate efficiency, materials, contamination and other life cycle factors at a minimum One Analysis 2023 It found that electric pickup trucks have an environmental impact equivalent to gas-powered compact cars. There is a comparison of electricity demand and taxes on the grid. Then there is the issue of its construction.
Rare earth metals and materials such as lithium currently exist The supply is alarmingly short. Finding and mining more important battery components comes with great potential harm sensitive ecosystems And ready people at risk. We need more mining for the energy transition, which is likely inevitable. But need, want and demand are different things.
“If you’re going to get a bigger battery in general, you’re going to need more critical metal, and you’re going to need a lot of support Cantor agreed with the size of the battery and the heavier vehicle. On the flip side, though, he added that Chevrolet’s new electric pickup lines could be a climate win if people are convinced to buy electricity instead of fossil fuels. “GM Center sells a lot of Silverados every year… so you have to appeal to those consumers as well.”
Ben Prochazkaexecutive director at the nonprofit Electrification Coalition advocating for electric vehicle adoption, also told Gizmodo that electrifying trucks and SUVs is critical to reaching a larger market segment.
What kind of logical. Pickup trucks are very useful to many people who use them as work vehicles. Having electric pickups is a good thing. But do we Need Several pick-up trucks As there is in the United States? Almost certainly not.
Admittedly, Bolt is far from perfect. It is outdated in charging speed and capacity. However, it has remained a popular electric car anyway. Although he expected Bolt to stop at some point, Cantor was “definitely surprised” it happened so soon. The model was GM’s biggest EV seller last quarter, again. The Bolt was the fifth best-selling electric vehicle in the United States last year behind three Tesla models, the Ford Mustang Mach-E, and the Ford Mustang Mach-E. according to Electric. Bolt updates with the latest battery technology, as does General Motors Rest of the Chevy linescan do More desirable. But GM isn’t doing that right now. Instead, it gives red-blooded Americans the big honking trucks they crave.
American consumers are known the world over, of course, for their love of big metal machines with big horsepower. But that trend didn’t have to continue into electric vehicles. “It’s almost a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy,” Cantor said. “If you’re only offering bigger vehicles, you’ll never give people a chance to get a (more compact) vehicle that wears less wear and tear,” on Roads and Environmental Regulations.
The expansion of the truck market cannot and should not happen at the expense of affordable sedans and compact cars. We need both if electric vehicles are going to capture the market and reduce carbon emissions in the United States. “We can’t stop creating something like the Bolt and then not replace it with something that still meets the sedan, affordability (standard),” said Prochazka. But convincing General Motors to come up with a new, cheap and compact electric car can be a challenge.
Cantor explained that the company’s decision to cancel the Bolt is a financial move intended to boost the automaker’s long-term bottom line. company Still losing money in the electric vehicle segment, and smaller, cheaper cars generate less profit (at one point, years ago, every Bolt sale was GM cost ~$9000 before government incentives and credits). The transition from screws to trucks is further evidence of this purity Capitalism cannot Actually spur environmental goodness or solve climate change.
Cantor and Prochazka emphasized that all is not necessarily lost in the world of accessible electric vehicles. In the long term, they are both optimistic that more affordable electric vehicle models will emerge. Just next year, GM is set to release the Equinox, which the company says will start at $30,000. It’s not quite as cheap as the Bolt, but it’s something. Perhaps Tesla will work together or European automakers will bring some of their existing models to the US market. For now, Bolt’s death will leave a hole.
It’s right, from a climate and environmental perspective, that all of these personal electric vehicles — truck or compact — should do this Just be public buses and express trains. But this is also true An electric sedan is better than a gas-powered oneA compact electric car is better than an EV truck. In our current reality where Climate policy is limited to stimulus Consumer choices, Bolt was a very good choice. RIP to that humble little electric car.
Doesn’t it always seem like you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s over?