As I noted above, cost and lack of profitability were key considerations however, the Volt’s low sales numbers did also contribute to the decision. sales numbers to the Chevy Bolt EV, so if GM was fine keeping the Bolt EV around, they should also keep the Volt around. Some Volt proponents noted that it actually had similar U.S. While it's true that there was some room to improve the Volt while still lowering costs over time (as GM had already been doing throughout the Volt’s history by moving outsourced manufacturing to the United States, improving the battery, and reducing the use of rare earth elements), the price reduction floor was still much higher in the Volt than in the Bolt EV.īecause the Volt was burdened with both an electrical powertrain and an internal combustion powertrain that offered fewer opportunities for cost reduction, the Volt could never achieve the same profitability as either a pure internal combustion vehicle or a pure battery electric vehicle. The Chevy Volt, on the other hand, owed its manufacturing cost to more than just the battery. By 2021, the Chevy Bolt EV's battery cost of $100 per kWh would save GM nearly $2,000 in manufacturing costs, despite being projected to be more capable in terms of both energy and charging speeds. However, with battery prices projected to fall well below $100 per kWh in the near future and GM's moving electronic component manufacturing facility in Hazel Park, MI, the Bolt EV's pathway to profitability was obvious. That means that, at the leaked $145 per kWh price that GM was paying LG for battery cells, the Chevy Bolt EV's battery alone represented more than one third of the total cost to build the Bolt EV. According to a UBS tear-down report of the 2017 Chevy Bolt EV, it cost GM $28,700 in parts and labor to build. Even if the ZEV credits end completely, the only thing keeping the Bolt EV from being highly profitable was battery prices. The Chevy Volt Offered No Pathway to ProfitabilityĪn all-electric car like the Chevrolet Bolt EV has a clear path to profitability. What is more, while there was a clear pathway to profitability for the Bolt EV however, the same could not be said for the Volt. With the release of Chevrolet Bolt EV, which would be responsible for earning the lion's share of GM's ZEV credits, the Volt program in the United States became very hard to justify. Essentially, as ZEV requirements become stricter, the financial benefits GM sees from building PHEVs decreases. However, even if Corporate Average Fleet Economy (CAFE) standards and ZEV credit system remain in place (which is no longer even certain), a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) such as the Volt provides GM with increasingly fewer ZEV credits over time. The only thing that was saving the Volt from what would have normally been an easy decision to cancel the program were the zero emission vehicle (ZEV) credits that offset GM's cost for building the Volt. These complicated supply chains made it difficult to build Volts profitably, and as a low-volume, low-margin vehicle, it was destined for the chopping block. The Chevrolet Volt is extremely complex and expensive to build, and its supply chain looked like someone threw a pile of spaghetti noodles onto a map of Michigan that spilled off onto the rest of the Midwest. Through that lens, maintaining the Volt and Voltec programs made absolutely no sense. Regardless of their affinity for a brand, concept, or vehicle, they have to demonstrate to their investors either immediate profits or – at the very least – a pathway to profitability. While GM is often painted as an evil corporation bent on the destruction of humanity, the reality is that they are a profit-driven company that owes primary allegiance to its investors. However, I will also explain what GM did wrong by cancelling the Volt program in the way they did and what they could have (and should have) done differently. In this story, I will explain why GM was right to end the Volt program, their reasons for not applying the Voltec powertrain to other platforms, and the reasons the electric vehicle community shouldn't be concerned about GM "killing" their electric cars. However, from an objective viewpoint, GM's decision to cancel the Volt and the Voltec program was correct. These accusations gained additional traction thanks to GM's not having an immediate, plug-in replacement for the Volt. Thanks to a fervent and vocal anti-GM enclave of the EV community, the Volt's cancellation prompted renewed claims that GM was – once again – attempting to "kill" the electric car. As a Chevy Volt owner for over seven years, I completely understand why many Volt owners are upset at the news that GM was cancelling the Volt and not pursuing any other Voltec-based vehicle platforms.
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