Chevy Bolt EV ‘production intent’ vehicle spotted in Detroit, nearing start of production

Building on our report from last week about GM confirming that its Chevy Bolt EV is still on track for production in ‘late 2016’ despite prior reports to the contrary, Autonews says that it spotted a ‘production intent’ Bolt EV in Detroit – hinting at the imminent start of production.

The GM engineer driving the vehicle reportedly referred to it as a ‘production intent’ vehicle, which generally means that it’s more than a prototype or a pre-production car and that it has all its production parts, trims, and finishes.

While GM is sticking to its vague “later this year” timeline, it did confirm that the production will be for retail and not for commercial fleet like previous reports speculated.

Earlier this month, we reported that LG, the main supplier behind the Bolt EV, is about to start volume production of its parts for the vehicle program by the end of the month. Additionally, a schedule for vehicle production at GM assembly plants leaked earlier this year. It showed that production was planned for October 2016. The vehicle has been in pre-production at the Orion Assembly plant since March 2016.

The $37,500 Bolt EV with a range of over 200 miles is expected to be the first in a series of relatively affordable electric vehicles to hit the market in the next 2 years and significantly shake up the all-electric car industry.