The original Chevrolet Bolt, like many GM cars, never quite got the recognition it deserved. Despite its insanely low starting price and excellent range, people always seemed to overlook it in the affordable EV conversation (even though it sold pretty well up until its demise in 2023). I really hope that doesn’t happen this time around, because the new Bolt is more compelling than ever.
Before, you could get the Bolt either as a hatchback or a slightly bigger hatchback made to look like a crossover (Chevy called it the Bolt EUV). For 2027, the hatchback body has been dropped, with only the crossover body remaining. Chevy simply calls it the Bolt this time around, without the EV or EUV moniker.
Going by the proportions and the shape of the body, the new Bolt seems to be a very heavy refresh rather than an entirely new car. The biggest differences, visually, come at the front and rear fascias, which get different bumpers and updated lighting. The inside’s been given some updates, too. There’s an 11-inch instrument cluster for the driver and an 11.3-inch infotainment touchscreen, according to InsideEVs (up 3.0 inches and 1.3 inches over the prior generation car). Other changes include the gear selector, which is now located on the right side steering column stalk, and a reconfigured center console.
There are more changes underneath the skin. The biggest is the switch to a NACS charging port, allowing it to be charged without an adapter at Tesla Supercharging stations (GM has had a deal with Tesla to support this function for the past year). GM hasn’t said anything about the battery tech or motor, but a Wall Street Journal report from earlier this year says the batteries will, initially, come from China. LG, which has a deal with GM, will start supplying U.S.-built packs from its Tennessee plant starting in 2027.
2027 Bolt
15th EV in GM’s Lineup
255 miles of GM Est. Range
10-80% in 26 minutes (GM claimed 3X Faster Charging than Outgoing Model)
Native NACS
Built in Kansas City
Launch Edition starting at $29,990
LT Trim coming later at $28,995#bolt @chevrolet @theEVgeek pic.twitter.com/02U1rAUqda— Sebastian ????⚡️ (@KilowattStation) October 9, 2025
The new Bolt will also charge much more quickly than the old car. Chevy says the 2027 Bolt can go from 10 to 80% charged in just 26 minutes, with a peak charging rate of 150 kW, nearly three times the old car’s 55 kW charging rate, according to InsideEVs. There’s no word on whether the Bolt will retain its single-motor, front-drive layout, but all signs point to that being the case. The car is reportedly now rated at 210 horsepower (10 more than before).
GM held a launch event for influencers yesterday, giving attendees an opportunity to see the car in person and sharing the two biggest details EV buyers care about: price and range. GM told guests that the new Bolt will be able to travel an estimated 255 miles on a charge, slightly better than the outgoing Bolt EUV’s 247 miles. That’s not exactly a mind-blowing number, but once you see the price, you’ll understand.
The 2027 Chevrolet Bolt Launch edition will start at $29,990, including destination, when it goes on sale early next year. Two months later, the base LT trim will begin production at GM’s Fairfax assembly plant in Kansas, starting at $28,995. That’ll make it the second-cheapest electric car you can get in America, being just a couple of thousand dollars more expensive than the new Nissan Leaf.
Interior shot of the new 2027 Chevy Bolt EV: https://t.co/GvUBpbdx8n pic.twitter.com/oh9hpLdCfz
— ChargePozitive ⚡️➕ (@ChargePozitive) October 8, 2025
That means the new Bolt will only be $200 more expensive than the old one that left production two years ago, despite all the new tech and two years’ worth of inflation and tariff drama, which is pretty incredible. Of course, this is before you factor in the federal tax credits. Now that they’re gone, you could say the new Bolt is actually $7,700 more expensive.
Like the Bolts before it, this new one won’t be great at any one metric, but rather just a solid choice for those looking for an economical, usable EV on a budget. The new Bolt undercuts Tesla’s new cheapest car, the Model 3 Standard, by nearly $10,000 (though you do get a good deal more range with the Model 3). Which one you go for will depend on whether you care about things like power mirrors, which aren’t a thing on the Tesla.
Top graphic image: Chevrolet
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It’s back! Just in time to miss the tax credits! In 2 years we’ll be talking about how it was another right car wrong time from GM…
I get the impression that it’s only going to be available for a few years in its current form. This fact/fear wouldn’t keep me from buying one, but it’d have to be cheaper for me to rationalize it. I didn’t really like the regular Bolt I rode in much, though I think the EUV would feel a bit better. But at $29K for a car that will likely be killed off (again) before 2030? No thanks.
My wife is very, very fond of her 2022 Bolt EUV, as described elsewhere on this site. It just does “car” well without any fuss. Glad to see GM is improving and iterating.
(https://www.theautopian.com/a-bolt-a-maverick-and-a-crosley-hotshot-dressed-as-bearcat-members-rides/)
Are the brake lights still below the bumper, or are they using the brake light looking lights on the hatch as the actual brake lights now?
Yep, the below the bumper lights hand been eliminated. The brake-light-looking things on the back are actually brake lights this time.
When I heard the Bolt was coming back, I was briefly excited before realizing it just meant they finished killing the Bolt and were handing its name-tag to the EUV like the Ariya.
I really liked the last gen as a toaster on wheels commuting appliance. I almost got one before my previous employer changed the charging policy to only include their products. I was concerned in the wintertime it couldn’t do the 155-mile round trip commute I had.
155 miles! That is an insane commute.
Hopefully it’s all highway, that way if he speeds a little it could still be under an hour each way.
It was, almost entirely 70mph interstate though. It would 1:10 to get to work, 1:20-2:00 getting home depending on how bad traffic is. My new commute is the complete opposite. 3 miles round trip, takes me longer to walk from the parking lot to my desk than it does to drive in.
Depending on terrain and temperature it would be cutting it very close. It wouldn’t be if you could even charge at L1 at work, but if you can’t I would have been concerned.
Yeah I couldn’t even L1 charge at work, big factory parking lot problems. The commute was up and down hills the entire time
Should he quite the competition between the leaf and the bolt. I expect the Ford trucklet will have a quite a wait from all the fleet and retail preorders they will take. If the leaf and bolt suffer that I would only think it would be a month maybe 2.
This, combined with the new Leaf, is likely the demise of the Slate pickup. It’ll be a better value for the money.
The Ford trucklet is probably more of a worry for the slate then the little cuv things. That being said I still don’t understand why slate hasn’t changed their battery yet maybe they will release then change it after sales slow. 2022 battery tech for a 2027 model not the best idea.
I really don’t think people understand the Slate.
For one, the 150 mile range is industry-standard for electric vans, which the Slate can be converted to easily. It can easily have graphics applied and it’s easy to maintain, and it goes for under half of what a Ford, GM, or Stellantis van starts at. A quarter of a Rivian. It’s an irresistibly cost-effective option for businesses.
Granted, marketing to small businesses in the US in 2025 is like making a car for polar bears; but even for consumers, I think it’s targeting a lot of people who don’t want a vehicle like the Bolt EUV or Ariya.
I think Slate Auto could be much better about communicating and marketing this.
250 miles is my minimum viable mileage for an EV, and although 26 minutes 10 to 80% is a little slower than I’d like (especially since that’s only ~180 miles of range), the price might make up for it. Curious to see how the real world mileage stacks up to the larger Equinox.
Overall, seems like GM understood the assignment here. With LFP batteries the fire risk should be gone too.
This is a perfect commuter with the occasional US average road trip.
We can all hope that by January 2028, EV incentives will be back, and the Orange Felon will be in jail for life.
Orange man bad! Orange man bad!
Has been true for many decades.
EV’s will be competitive on their own in many segments by then. A new cash giveaway law will just give car makers an excuse to raise prices. Taxpayer funded electrical infrastructure upgrades is the way to go.
This is exactly what GM need to do, update some hardware and batteries and get the Bolt back into production. GM is calling this a “Limited run vehicle” which in this context sounds like a true Ultium replacement is coming down the pipeline. GM most likely didn’t want to leave the market empty for those few years which is actually a smart move by GM.
I just bought a used Equinox EV and it’s great. Drives like a normal car only quieter and torquier. If you’re looking for a second commuter car, these will be great contenders
Cromulent indeed.
So this doesn’t/won’t have GM’s own ‘Ultium’ batteries, but rather something else? Seems odd, after spending all that money on development and marketing.
I rode in a few regular Bolts and TBH, nothing about the experience made me want to own one (other than their price). Lots of hard grey GM plastic, kind of a haphazard vibe inside, a stiffish ride, and the dorky exterior looks (I like hatchbacks, but not this one).
The EUV version was slightly better looking and I’d probably have been satisfied with one of those had I been able to find a cheap one. Maybe the new Bolt will drive prices down for the original EUVs further/faster, but TBH everything these days seems ridiculously priced.
Whether to pick this or the new, third-gen Leaf, both in the $30-33K area, so like high 30s after tax/title/reg would just depend on the test drives. Only having watched videos thus far, I suspect the Leaf might actually appeal to me more, but maybe that’s just the robin’s egg blue paint talking.
GM is calling this a “Limited run vehicle” which in this context sounds like a true replacement is coming down the pipeline. GM most likely didn’t want to leave the market empty for those few years which is actually smart.
Makes sense.
Your username (which I enjoy 🙂 ) reminds me of this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0F6KTG-Dj_8&list=RD0F6KTG-Dj_8&start_radio=1&pp=ygURY2hpbmEgaWwgYmlnZm9vdCCgBwE%3D
Sadly, this is only the song, not the video, which features a character hiding out in the woods after using a hair-restoration product run amok.
Seems like a perfectly cromulent EV and I hope it actually sells really well, convinces some other OEMs that Tech Hell is not the only way to design an electric vehicle.
The old ones were perfectly fine commuter boxes. This one appears to be a perfectly fine commuter box now on the Ultium platform like every other GM EV. It should sell well. They probably didn’t offer AWD to avoid cannibalizing Equinox sales and to keep the range acceptable.
Looking like the old one is a GOOD THING, and if you do it long enough, you create iconic design. See: Porsche 911. So many times, companies have an attractive vehicle, then fumble it in the restyle.
It looks a lot like the old one, because externally, it almost entirely *is* the old one.
The doors, liftgate, fenders, and hood are identical. They just moved the stamping dies and assembly lines from Michigan and reinstalled them in Kansas City. It was never made clear if the bodysides were actually changed, but whatever changes they did make still had to fit the old closures and fenders.
*Found someone else in automotive manufacturing*
Seems like the main change is that it’s up to date on the Ultium now, but they’re keeping the shell and interior
This is everything that the market has claimed to want.
…. now watch it fail.
(I hope not, but it seems like every time a carmaker has done exactly what consumers have claimed to want, that product seems to languish on dealer lots)
The old Bolt was doing alright until the fire recall and the decision to suspend production until they could swap to Ultium batteries.
The Bolt and Bolt EUV sold better than ever after they restarted production mid-2022. 2023 was the best year ever for the Bolt @ 23,164 and the Bolt EUV added another 38,881.
I was one of those that bought a Bolt after the battery recall but I bought a used 2017 instead of a new one. Nice to have a used EV with a 8 year / 100K mile battery warranty.
(The 66 kWh battery used in the 2020 and later Bolts what they restarted production with and the battery they used for the recall of 2017 – 2019 Bolts. Chevy stopped replacing batteries in the 2020 and later Bolts so the owners that were waiting to the last minute to get that free new battery missed out)
I bought a 2019 Bolt with a new battery (and warranty!) with 15k miles for $12,600 OTD (took $4k credit at time of sale). My local utility paid for the cost of the 40A electrical feed to my home EVSE (it’s not a charger, that’s under the hood). It’s a great vehicle! I’ve been interested in a EV, but just could not justify the high costs. When these came on the used market, it just made too much sense not to make the switch and join the rEVolution!
Same. 2019 with 46k on it and $10,700 OTD after credit bought in 2024. It felt like I was cheating.
That was my first EV – a 2016 Spark EV. I leased it for 3 years at $0 down / $99 per month. It was cheaper than even putting gas in the 2005 Prius it replaced. Even at “only” 82 mile range it worked great for my 50 mile commute and trips around down. It went back to Chevy in 2019 because at the time my wife was riding her bike to work and we didn’t need a second car. In 2021 she took a different job with a 50 mile commute in the opposite direction as mine – so we needed a new car.
I paid WAY too much for my 2017 Bolt – $24,000 with 31K miles but that was the reality of the used and new car market in 2021. Still made sense to get the overpriced EV instead of an overpriced ICE car for the savings on fuel and maintenance. I was kick myself because in 2020 I could have got a new 2019 Bolt for $18,000.
Just a FYI if you start hearing a click from the front axles under acceleration or regen – get it checked out quick. That is the anti-click washer between the hub and the CV joint. It likes to break and can take out the ABS sensor and the extra clearance will cause the CV joint to fail. That is the only mechanical issue I’ve had with mine in 80K miles. Bolt axles are special order and $$$
As much as “Ultium” has a definition (it’s been used to describe the battery cells, the battery module & pack design, the battery control system architecture, the drive units & electrical architecture, and the vehicle platform), the replacement cells weren’t Ultium, they were an updated chemistry of the original high-nickel cathode Li+ cells but otherwise within the same modules, packs etc.
Despite that though, the Bolt sold even better after the recall than before; hopefully this continues that trend but with further updated cells.
I mean the second suspension of production when we talk about “Ultium” – the one immediately before this – though I recognize that I worded it poorly.
I’ve basically taken Ultium to mean GM’s in-house designs.
Yea, but even then this new iteration of the Bolt uses CATL LFP cells, but in an “Ultium” battery electrical architecture, so …. yea, its a pretty meaningless marketing term 🙂
If it had launched at this price and the $7,500 tax credit still existed, I’d imagine it would have sold like hotcakes. Now, I think it’s a competitive option, especially with the charging speed/NACS port improvements, but it’s likely to do just modest numbers. I’d imagine the pendulum will eventually swing back, and either gas subsidies will be cut (making EVs more competitive by comparison) or EVs will get new federal assistance. The Bolt just needs to hold out until 2030, which shouldn’t be a problem. And hell, if you live in a state that has incentives, this is still a mighty tempting option.
I think it’s success will not be based on its technical merit and instead be based on if our automotive journalists sink it like they usually try to do with GM products.
255 mile range, updating its existing chassis, reusing many parts from the old model – all perfectly fine, but not if journalists start nitpicking this and complaining about that. They already did a similar thing with the new Mustang and Z when those cars reused some old parts, and since most journalists have an axe to grind with GM, I think it will be even more so with this newish Bolt.
I leased two of them and I’m glad its back. On the list for when my current lease (2023 Niro EV) comes due in July.
That seems to be the sentiment by a lot of owners.
Eh, the Maverick would like a word. All the ‘we gave you what you want and it failed’ cars have had some fatal flaw; they were hard to get without special ordering (manuals, wagons), far too expensive – sometimes due to ‘market demand’ markups (Nissan Z), had design choices that compromised their mission (Honda CR-Z), or were simply unknown outside of a narrow enthusiast community (Pontiac GTO).
The Maverick is definitely a big hit for Ford, but it’s the exception to the rule. but it’s not because it doesn’t have flaws. ALL cars have flaws. But it was a smartly developed vehicle that makes it’s flaws more forgivable.
Its the small things that matter. I switched from a Bolt to Model 3 because of winter charging, and the network in general. Now that the Bolt can charge at Superchargers, and at 150kw, I’d be curious to know how long it charges at 150kw (the charging curve matters) and does it finally have active heating so the battery can actually except 150kw when its 5f outside. More than once I recall charging at only 15kw in the winter due to weather. Pair this with the lack of GPS charging integration and FWD only and I had to go with a Tesla.
Telsa’s charging experience is the best in the US. Plug in and walk away in 3 seconds, no aps/credit cards, logins etc.. Also, you just drive it, the car will know exactly when to preheat the battery, navigate to a supercharger, etc. I’ve done several cross country trips and its as close to a gas car as you can get in an EV. Zero worrying, zero hunting for chargers, quick and easy charging.
When the rest of the automakers can do this, I’ll consider other vehicles. Maybe we’re already there, I haven’t shopped since 2021.
“Telsa’s charging experience is the best in the US. … When the rest of the automakers can do this, I’ll consider other vehicles.”
These are my exact thoughts on Tesla vs non-Tesla EVs. After driving my Model 3 for two years I will not consider a non-Tesla product due to the ease of charging. I know a lot of other EVs have NACS ports, but from what I have read, not all Supercharger stations work with non-Tesla vehicles even with the correct port.
I never even considered that other EVs may not precondition the battery prior to charging or automatically calculate when and where to charge while en route. Charging stops can still be inconvenient due to the time required, but aside from that, Tesla road trips are painless.
My Model 3’s battery has degraded a bit so 20-80% only gets me ~130 miles at highway speeds, but despite that I did a recent 850-mile road trip without any difficulty. I keep seeing used Model Ss with 300+ miles of real-world highway range for around $40k and I’m having trouble finding a reason not to buy one.
All Pilot and Flying J truck stops in the US either already have or will have GM branded fast chargers. With the Bolt able to use Telsa chargers as well, the Bolt might end up being even easier to live with than a Tesla. I’m curious to see what happens moving forward
That is exciting. Those are some of the cleanest and best stocked gas stations around here. You could easily kill 20 minutes shopping or playing a few hands on the slot machine.
You can charge a Tesla with every single CCS, but you cant charge a Bolt at every single Tesla Supercharger (I believe its only the latest generation of chargers, or those retrofitted). At best, charging a Bolt be on par with Tesla.
Ahhctually, the old Bolt went a couple years without an incentive as GM used up its credits before the IRA kicked in.
Also the lower range is from using LFP batteries which can handle being charged to 100% more often with less degradation, also less fire prone so hopefully those parking garages with no Bolt signs will finally take them down.
I absolutely adore my ’23 Bolt EUV Premier (in the dark purple-ish gray, sunroof, supercruise). I take it on road trips and with the NACS adapter I charge from 10-80% in 55 minutes – not terrible and allows me to eat at a table instead of in the car. I’d love the heat pump, and would appreciate the faster charging, and the center console looks like a much better design now that the shifter has moved from dumb buttons to column. the EUV had several extra inches of rear legroom which are now standard and it’s a truly generous space in backseat. I see this as a huge win, a budget-friendly refresh for a US-made vehicle. To those calling the prior model “discontinued”, it wasn’t; they purposely took the model offline in order to move the assembly location and also allow focus on the Blazer EV and others.
If it has wireless android auto, I might consider this as a 3rd car to make my current daily more of a “fun daily” and have this be the basic around-town car. Simple, has plenty of range, and sufficient space.