According to The Detroit News, General Motors will announce next week at the Chicago Auto Show that it is planning to build the new electric Chevrolet Bolt at its Orion Assembly Plant close to Detroit.
The Detroit News source, who prefers to remain unidentified as the news is not yet official, said the concept shown last month with the Bolt name, will be produced in the Orion Township plant.
More on the the new GM / Chevy Bolt
GM revealed the Bolt concept at the North American International Auto Show in January, describing it as a $30,000 pure electric car after rebates that would provide at least 200 miles of electric range. GM execs wouldn’t give any more details, but said the vehicle could be available in a year or two. Back in November, the car maker said it would invest $160 million into Orion for tooling and equipment for an unnamed future vehicle.
Research firm LMC Automotive projects that the electric Bolt will go into production at Orion in late 2016 and be on the market by 2017, said Jeff Schuster, senior vice president of forecasting.
Workers at Orion Assembly plant are currently involved in production of the small Buick Verano and subcompact Chevrolet Sonic.
GM is expected to produce around the high 20,000 to low 30,000 range of the new Chevy electric car a year once production is ramped up, Schuster noted.
Chevrolet is also anticipated to start production on a new Sonic at the Orion plant in March or April next year, Schuster said. The Sonic and Bolt will be built off the same platform, “which is why Orion makes the most sense” to build the new Bolt, he commented.
New name
GM execs told The Detroit News the Chevy Bolt name could be changed, as some have complained the name is too close to the Chevy Volt, GM’s popular hybrid. GM North America President Alan Batey said called the Bolt “the brother of the Volt — a bolt of lightning. It’s all to do with electricity.”
