Chevy Bolt EV sales slowly get back to normal – no sign of production increase

As expected, Chevy Bolt EV sales in the US have dropped significantly in 2018 after a record end of 2017.

Now, sales of the all-electric vehicle are slowly going back toward its normal ~2,000 units per month as there is still no sign of the promised production increase.

Last month, GM CEO announced that they are increasing Chevy Bolt EV production, but she didn’t elaborate on how significant an increase it will be.

GM says that it delivered about 26,000 units globally last year – the vehicle’s first full year of production. A few hundred units went to Canada and a few more in Europe, but the bulk of the deliveries were in the US.

It was about in line with expectations of a production capacity of 25,000 to 30,000 units for the Chevy Bolt EV.

But now deliveries dropped significantly in the US in 2018 and are slowly climbing back up as GM confirmed today having delivered 1,774 Bolt EVs in March.

Here’s a chart of Chevy Bolt EV deliveries per month in the US since the start of production in 2016:

It’s still a significant increase over the same month last year. However, the low levels of sales in early 2017 were attributed to production constraints as the company was ramping up production at its Orion plant in Michigan and its important partner, LG, was ramping up production of its electric powertrain components in Korea.

Aside from the few hundred units per month going to Canada and Europe, the Detroit-based automaker also confirmed plans to deliver 5,000 units in South Korea this year, which could explain the plan to increase production.

Electrek’s Take

You would think that GM would have been able to capitalize on Tesla’s slow ramp up of Model 3 production, but it has definitely not been the case – or at least not in any significant way.

With Tesla’s recent release of its first quarter production and delivery results, it looks like Tesla could deliver more Model 3 vehicles in the US over a week than GM can deliver Chevy Bolt EVs in a month.

But I think the Bolt EV can still benefit from a few advantages in terms of availability since Tesla still has a huge backlog for the Model 3. Also, GM offers leasing for the Bolt EV, which is still not the case for the Model 3. We have heard of great deals in some markets, like leases for about $200 per month in Massachusetts. You can always check with your local dealers for inventory and see if you can find a deal.

I’m fairly confident that GM can get back to 2,000 units per month in the US, but it might have to turn to other markets to deliver more vehicles at the current prices.