Chevy’s Ultium Bolt will need these 5 things to be successful
After dropping hints earlier, today GM CEO Mary Barra announced that Chevy would be re-release its popular Chevy Bolt after it gets an Ultium makeover. The Boltium! After owning two Bolts from 2017 until today, along with other popular EVs from Tesla and others, I feel like I have a good idea of what GM needs to succeed here.
I want to say first that GM is starting with an extraordinary car in the Bolt that even today fills the needs of many EV buyers. The Bolt has been improving in sales, and this year it is doing better than ever. But GM is famous for killing its most loved EVs.
What will a new 2025 Bolt Ultium need to have to make it successful?
1. Fast NACS charging
The easiest and most likely upgrade to the current Bolt is in the fast charging area. In 2017, when most fast chargers were at 50kW, the 54kW max charging rate of the Bolt made some sense. It wasn’t future proof, but it made sense and would be a good enough experience.
However, a lot changed from 2017-2023 including the fast charging rates on most EVs getting into the 200+kW with some trucks hitting 300+kW; what didn’t change in 2023 was the Bolt’s 54kW fast charging speed.
I’m not saying the Bolt and its small car battery needs to charge at 200+kW, though it would be nice. I think having 150kW charging over half the charging cycle would allow 20-minute fast charging stops. This should be fairly easy with GM’s modular Ultium batteries, which currently charge up to 350kW and beyond on the Hummer and Silverado.
Add to that the NACS interface, which GM has already promised on its 2025 EVs, allowing the Bolt to charge at not only its current charger options but adding Tesla’s very robust and ubiquitous network. With this setup, you can pretty much kiss range anxiety goodbye. More importantly, it would allow city dwellers and folks with on street parking to use the Bolt charging more like a gas station once every week or so.
Also Bolt owners won’t get ostracized at fast charging stations if they are in and out in 20 minutes versus the current situation where they often have to stay for over an hour.
2. RWD/AWD option
For those of us that live in snowy and hilly climates, the Bolt’s FWD is something that works for 350 days out of the year. That’s fine for a third car or if you work from home, but being reliably able to get out those snow days would be a nice addition.
I’m not saying I need another 200hp motor (though that would be fun!) but even a low power 50 horsepower motor to power the other set of wheels in an emergency situation would be great and worth a few thousand dollars for those who need it. GM actually showed off a low power motor to do this exact thing at its 2020 Battery Day event.
And since we learned that the Blazer EV can be FWD, RWD or AWD, why not offer all of these options for the Bolt? If they aren’t going to make the 2x200hp version, I’d prefer my stronger motor in the rear. Oh, and how about light towing for bikes and Home Depot trailers?
3. Hot hatch proud, not another CUV
From the beginning, GM kept insisting the Bolt was an SUV, first calling it a “Micro-SUV” at launch. Because everyone wants an SUV?! Then it released the EUV version that actually looked a lot more like a typical bland SUV. That added three more inches of leg room in the back, yet somehow reduced the overall internal space.
Well guess what? Not everyone wants a big honkin’ SUV! Even if they do, Chevy has both the Equinox and the Blazer to offer.
In fact, I think GM might have been shocked back into reality at all the hype and excitement around the tiny 3.4 sec 0-60 Volvo EX30, which has remarkably similar specs to the Chevy Bolt. I imagine that really helped get the Bolt off the chopping block with something like, “We could make this with almost no effort.” In fact, Mary Barra has said that the development time of the Ultium Bolt will be much shorter than normal.
I say embrace the hot hatch form factor that the Bolt has always embodied. Maybe lower the stance a bit, make the roof flatter, the interior cleaner, and we’d have something interesting here.
4. Improve the good things, don’t remove them
GM CEO Mary Barra said that the current Bolt prices could be improved by around 20% if it were moved to Ultium platform and that should allow GM to make the car profitable with similar specs.
I actually liked Chevy’s $1000 tie-in with Qmerit to install a home charger. I, however, had a bad experience with that $1000 credit that seems to be the fault of the dealer and the communications protocol that GM set up between the dealers and Qmerit. GM should circumvent the dealers and figure out a way to make that work a lot better; that, and/or continue to offer a $500 EVgo credit which is a nice way to start up the fast charging experience.
GM recently announced it plans to end smartphone projection in its upcoming EVs. Initially my tinfoil hat came on, and I thought this was a way to slow down their EV adoption rate. After some discussions with the folks at GM, they genuinely think their overall experience will be better if they get rid of Apple and Google smartphone projection. I will say that CarPlay and Android Auto are better than what GM offers in its in-car entertainment currently, so it should continue to offer those options until customers no longer think they are necessary.
An alternative if GM thinks it can out-software Google and Apple: Just put an iPad holder in the center stack display area, and get out of the way.
5. Dealer improvements
Chevy’s dealers, in my experience, have gone from straight up EV hostile to complacent in the six years I’ve been dealing with them, which is somehow a huge improvement! I think Chevy could do a lot of good here following their cross town rivals at Ford:
- Make an EV side of the business. Dedicated salespeople who only work in EVs and experts who know them inside and out. People who actually drive EVs to work and know basic electric stuff.
- Make DC fast chargers mandatory at Chevy dealerships. Subsidize them. Not only would this help show new owners how fast they can charge first hand, it would also offer a way to get customers back to the dealerships where they can upsell all kinds of unnecessary stuff (haha). Again, Ford is doing this and will have one of the largest DC fast charging networks in the US because of it.
If GM/Chevy can manage these five things, I can almost guarantee that the already successful Bolt will do even better in Ultium form.
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JackRabbit, the maker of pint-sized electric microbikes, is back with a new product designed to quickly recharge their batteries from pure, uncut photons mainlined into an e-bike directly from the sun. In true independent charging form, the Solar Charging Kit from JackRabbit keeps riders rolling even when there’s not a convenient AC outlet in sight.
Unveiled this week, the Solar Charging Kit consists of a single folding solar panel and a tiny voltage converter that is configured to output 42.0V, which is the exact voltage required by JackRabbit’s little e-bike batteries. There’s also an added USB-A and a USB-C charging port for powering other devices in addition to charging JackRabbit batteries.
“This Solar Charging Kit plugs directly into your bike,” explained the company, “letting you recharge without needing an outlet, but with a speed comparable to the charger that comes with the OG/OG2 (42V, 2A).”
That would mean the panel outputs around 80W of solar power, which the company says can recharge its batteries in just three hours. That fairly quick recharging speed is helped by the fact that JackRabbit’s batteries are a mere 151 Wh, or around a third of the size of most e-bike batteries.
If that sounds small, then you’re right – it is. But JackRabbit is all about going micro, offering barely 25 lb rideables that are easy to store and bring on adventures, even when they aren’t actually being ridden.
With small batteries that fit under the 160Wh limit for many airlines in the US, the batteries can be quickly charged and taken to the widest number of locations. And for riders that want to go further than a single 10-mile (16-km) battery will allow, extra batteries are small enough to fit a pants pocket. The company also offers much larger Rangebuster batteries, though they won’t pass by TSA and make it onto an airplane in your personal item.
It sounds like the Solar Chargking Kit should be able to charge up JackRabbit’s large RangeBuster batteries, though likely in more than three hours.
The $349 Solar Charging Kit is a bit pricier than building something similar yourself, but it’s also safer and more convenient than hacking together your own battery charger since it’s designed to work with JackRabbit’s batteries right out of the box.
Technically it’s only inteded for JackRabbit’s micro e-bikes (themselves technically seated scooters, even if they look and feel more like a typical bike), but it’d probably work for just about any 36V e-bike that requires 42.0V to charge.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen solar charging kits for electric bikes, and it’s a trend that is certainly appreciated by outdoors and camping enthusiasts, festival goers, or anyone who finds themself and their bike spending extended periods in the great, sunny outdoors.
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Solar generated 11% of EU electricity in 2024, overtaking coal which fell below 10% for the first time, according to the European Electricity Review published today by think tank Ember.
EU gas generation declined for the fifth year in a row, and total fossil generation fell to a historic low.
“Fossil fuels are losing their grip on EU energy,” said Dr Chris Rosslowe, senior analyst and lead author of the report. “At the start of the European Green Deal in 2019, few thought the EU’s energy transition could be where it is today; wind and solar are pushing coal to the margins and forcing gas into structural decline.”
The European Electricity Review published today by global energy think tank Ember provides the first comprehensive overview of the EU power system in 2024. It analyzes full-year electricity generation and demand data for 2024 in all EU-27 countries to understand the region’s progress in transitioning from fossil fuels to clean electricity.
Wind and solar continue their meteoric rise in the EU
The EU power sector is undergoing a deep transformation spurred on by the European Green Deal. Solar generation (11%) overtook coal (10%) for the first time in 2024, as wind (17%) generated more electricity than gas (16%) for the second year in a row.
Strong solar growth, combined with a recovery of hydropower, pushed the share of renewables to nearly half of EU power generation (47%). Fossil fuels generated 29% of the EU’s electricity in 2024. In 2019, before the Green Deal, fossil fuels provided 39% of EU electricity, while renewables provided 34%.
Solar is growing in every EU country and more than half now have either no coal power or a share below 5% in their power mix. Coal has fallen from being the EU’s third-largest power source in 2019 to the sixth-largest in 2024, bringing the end into sight for the dirtiest fossil fuel. EU gas generation also declined for the fifth year in a row (-6%) despite a very small rebound in power demand (+1%).
The EU is reaping the benefits of reduced fossil fuel dependency
The surge in wind and solar generation has reduced the EU’s reliance on imported fossil fuels and its exposure to volatile prices since the energy crisis. Ember’s analysis found that without new wind and solar capacity added over the last five years, the EU would have imported an additional 92 billion cubic meters of fossil gas and 55 million tonnes of coal, costing €59 billion.
“While the EU’s electricity transition has moved faster than anyone expected in the last five years, further progress cannot be taken for granted,” continued Rosslowe. “Delivery needs to be accelerated particularly in the wind sector, which has faced unique challenges and a widening delivery gap. Between now and 2030, annual wind additions need to more than double compared to 2024 levels. However, the achievements of the past five years should instil confidence that, with continued drive and commitment, challenges can be overcome and a more secure energy future be achieved.”
Walburga Hemetsberger, CEO of SolarPower Europe said: “This milestone is about more than just climate action; it is a cornerstone of European energy security and industrial competitiveness. Renewables are steadily pushing fossil fuels to the margins, with solar leading the way. We now need more flexibility to kick-in, making sure the energy system is adapting to new realities: more storage and more smart electrification in heating, transport and industries.”
Read more: China installed a record capacity of solar and wind in 2024 – in numbers
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