Chevrolet expects 'record' Bolt sales this year after 2021 recall

Chevrolet expects record sales of its Bolt products this year after having to halt production and sales last summer amid a mass recall for battery fire risk on the electric vehicles. 

Chevrolet Marketing Director Steve Majoros told reporters in a Wednesday briefing the General Motors Co. brand expects "record numbers of sales and production for '22 and we see '23 being bigger than '22. We are bullish on Bolt EV and EUV, not just because of where we stand now with gas prices ... the percent of EVs as percent of industry just keeps going up and up as the months and years unfold."

GM restarted production of the Chevy Bolt EV and its larger sibling the Bolt EUV at its Lake Orion plant on Monday after months of downtime while the automaker worked through a recall on the products, prioritizing new batteries to use as replacements in the recalled Bolts. 

Over the next month, GM is going to make new Bolts to start selling on dealer lots again while it also continues to ship replacement batteries for the recall population.

To kick off the Bolt's return to the marketplace, Chevy is debuting two new ads that will air nationally during Major League Baseball's Opening Day. 

"Our goal is to get back to and, quite frankly, increase all of our business metrics," Majoros said. "We all see what's happening in the marketplace and we think both Bolt EV and EUV can catapult to their highest levels ever for both production and sales and we fully intend that to happen."

The Bolt sales figure to beat is about 24,000. 

Last year was supposed to be a big year for GM's lower-priced EVs. The automaker launched the Bolt EUV and introduced a new version of the Bolt EV, which has been on the market since late 2016. Chevy focused marketing on how it lowered the price of these Bolts from the previous version — the Bolt EV by $5,000 and the EUV by $3,000. The 2022 Bolt EUV is priced starting at $33,995 and the Bolt EV is priced at $31,995.

GM halted production of the electric cars after it issued a recall in August 2021 on all Bolts, more than 141,000, for a battery fire risk. The automaker and supplier LG Energy Solution identified two battery manufacturing issues, a torn anode tab and folded separator, as the root cause of fires that occurred in Bolts. Since then, GM has confirmed 19 Bolt fires globally. 

The automaker kept its Orion Assembly plant where the Bolts are made mostly shutdown to prioritize new battery modules for recalled Bolts. GM did reopen the plant briefly in November to make new Bolts for customers needing transportation during the recall repair.

Orion Assembly is now shipping new product and Majoros said that of the 6,700 Bolts that were on dealer lots before the recall and stop sale, 800 are sellable this month. 

"We would not have made this decision to undergo concurrent new vehicle manufacturing, as well as sending some battery packs out to dealers to take care of dealer stock, if we didn't feel comfortable and confident ... we have a very, very good, reliable supply coming in to make sure we can handle all of these needs," Majoros said.  

Chevrolet dealers have been replacing battery modules on the recalled Bolts since October. 

The automaker has not specified how many batteries dealers have replaced.

Chevrolet spokesman Kevin Kelly said Chevrolet plans "to either reuse or recycle 100% of the batteries that are coming back as part of the recall. Right now our focus is on recycling." 

Battery recycling is seen as an essential part of the EV business to help lower the cost of obtaining necessary minerals while also reducing the environmental impact of mining for new supply. 

For customers who have yet to receive a new battery, Chevrolet dealers offer a software update that limits the car's maximum state of charge to 80%, allowing users to charge indoors overnight, use the car with less than 70 miles of range, and park indoors after charging. The software is said to detect battery abnormalities. 

Without the update, Bolts drivers should follow a series of recommended precautions including not driving below 70 miles of range. Only Bolt users with new batteries can charge to 100%.

LG Electronics Inc., LG Energy's affiliate company, has agreed to front $1.9 billion of the $2 billion estimated cost to recall and repair the Bolts.

Majoros said the company has done "an awful lot to understand broad consumer perception of the situation."

"I do not want to belittle what we put our customers through, what our dealers have done for our customers," Majoros said. "But the data is pretty clear ... we don't see massive broad reputational damage. We're certainly going to stay humble. I think we've got a great product and we're just going to try to convince America that this is the right EV at the right time."

khall@detroitnews.com

Twitter:@bykaleahall