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GM to Put on Magic Hat, Turn Bolt Into a Bunch of Vehicles

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2017 Chevrolet Bolt

Here’s an automotive riddle to brighten your day:

Why is the new Chevrolet Bolt like a bottle of Frank’s Red Hot?

Because General Motors is going to put that sh*t on everything.


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That is to say, according to comments from GM CEO Mary Barra, the automaker will soon be making all sorts of new vehicles based on the platform of the new Chevrolet Bolt. Specifically, she told CNET’s Roadshow at the Detroit Auto Show that, “The Bolt is our platform that we’re going to continue on and have a huge range of vehicles.”

2017 Chevrolet Bolt

Aaaaaand poof!

Of course, Barra didn’t offer any specifics on what sort of vehicles that the General has in mind for the variations on the compact crossover, but the strategy of sharing platforms between vehicles is hardly a new one. In fact, GM already used platform sharing in its electric vehicles, sharing the Voltec powertrain of the Volt in the Cadillac ELR (although they probably don’t want to talk about that).

2016 Cadillac ELR

Don’t talk about the Lost One

In this case, using the electric architecture of the Bolt to develop other electric vehicles would help defray the cost of any other electrics that GM decided to build, giving it a strong step up over other automakers who have yet to develop their own dedicated electrics, or whose electric cars are just adaptations of existing hybrid or conventional gasoline cars.


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This is a strategy that we are also likely to see in Europe by the PSA Group, should the French automaker officially purchase Opel, as GM has said it will allow the group to use the electric platform of the Ampera-e (aka the Bolt) under license.

News Source: CNet’s Roadshow