The Chevrolet Bolt, Freshly Reborn, Already Has a Death Date

If you blink, you might just miss the lifespan of the recently resurrected Chevrolet Bolt. General Motors expects to end production of the all-electric 2027 Bolt in 2027 to allow the automaker to assemble gas-powered vehicles in the U.S.

When it reintroduced a lightly updated version of the Chevrolet Bolt for the 2027 model year, Chevrolet said the small electric vehicle (EV) would have a limited production run. Now, Autonews reports that the limit will arrive sometime in 2027 to make way for the next-generation Chevrolet Equinox at GM’s Fairfax Assembly plant in Kansas City, Kansas.

"When we revealed Bolt in October, we said it'd be a limited-run model, which we are bringing back due to strong customer demand," an American Chevrolet spokesperson told InsideEVs in the wake of early reporting on the Bolt’s demise. "We also said it would account for the majority of EV volume for Chevrolet in 2026, alongside the Chevrolet Equinox EV. We reiterate that today."

The move is being made amid the wider context of GM navigating the sea changes in U.S. regulatory policy. Facing steep tariffs to import vehicles, automakers are looking to return production of popular models to U.S. assembly plants where possible.

Despite the “popular demand” that prompted GM to bring back the Bolt, it never came close to matching the sales of the gas-powered Equinox. The automaker has also decided to produce the next-generation Buick Envision at its Fairfax Assembly plant, moving it out of China, which faces some of the Trump administration’s largest tariffs and is a sales driver, too.

The Life and Death and Life and Death of the Bolt

Although the second-generation Bolt’s short life was expected, the last normal thing to happen to it was its discontinuation in 2023. After a respectable eight years on the market, the model ceded its place to GM’s next-generation of electric vehicles that were based on its newer, more powerful, and longer range Ultium platform.

An early entry into the realm of modern EVs, the Bolt was long considered an underrated model, competing compellingly against the likes of the Tesla Model 3, despite lacking that model’s cool factor.

Timing was never the Bolt’s friend, though. It was a hatchback at a time when crossovers were ascendant; a relatively budget-minded option at a time when premium vehicles were on the rise; and it was discontinued just as affordability became a major factor on consumers’ minds.

That, ultimately, prompted the automaker to revive the vehicle just as the U.S. government (and Canada’s) ended subsidies for electric vehicles (impacting its affordability significantly) and decided to adopt scientifically indefensible lies as official climate policy, thereby promoting the sale of internal combustion vehicles.

Despite now knowing when production of the Bolt will end, consumers will still be able to buy a 2027 Chevrolet Bolt starting this year, with prices starting from $43,433, which makes it one of the most affordable new EVs in Canada.