Yahoo Autos The 2022 Chevrolet Bolt EUV Is a Better Bolt
When the original Chevrolet Bolt came out, it felt like a huge deal. This was the first affordable mass-market long-range electric vehicle to hit the market, arriving months before the Tesla Model 3. I thought the Bolt could be the people's EV, but that didn't pan out. From 2016-2020, Chevy moved just under 80,000 Bolts in the U.S. (In that same period, Chevrolet sold 68,373 examples of the Volt hybrid.) From 2017-2020, Tesla has sold over 500,000 Model 3s here.
Part of that surely has to do with Chevy's seeming reticence to market the Bolt much beyond its launch. But really, I believe the market reception comes down to the fundamental difference between the two cars. The Bolt is the platonic ideal of an EV, designed to prioritize efficiency and practicality above all else. The Model 3 is a stylish, extremely efficient sports sedan from a brand that's captured the zeitgeist. The original Bolt was just too rational, and in coming from GM, it was already starting on the back foot.
For 2021, the Bolt gets a facelift with tweaked styling and a much-improved interior. Plus there's a new version, the EUV. You could call the EUV a crossover, but really it's merely longer than the Bolt hatchback and offers no extra ride height. The bodywork is unique to the EUV; there’s a more traditional flat hood and the windshield starts further back from the axle. You lose a bit of range with the EUV, 250 miles to the hatchback's 259, but you gain three inches of rear legroom and the ability to option GM's clever SuperCruise hands-off driver-assist system.
Chevy seems to be pushing the Bolt EUV harder than the standard model, so that's the one I found myself driving last week in suburban New Jersey. It's a pre-production Premier-trim model sporting both of the EUV's main option packages, which get you a disappointingly small “panoramic” sunroof, Bose audio, navigation, and Super Cruise. It stickers for $43,190 before any federal and local EV tax incentives.
In essence, the 2021 Bolt EUV is a better Bolt. The original had a genuinely excellent drivetrain, and this update gives it an interior that doesn't feel like it's from a 15-year-old econobox, plus crossover-esque styling suiting the tastes of American buyers. This is more like what the Bolt should've been in the first place.
It's genuinely fun to drive, too, just as the original. A low center of gravity, thanks to the floor-mounted battery, and accurate, well-weighted steering provide real entertainment on a good road. And the instant torque of the 200-hp 266 lb-ft motor driving the front wheels never gets old, though you will kill your range flooring the EUV from every stoplight. And when you drive like a normal person the EUV is very pleasant, with very little noise from the motor and not much exterior noise allowed in.
