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Payne: As the Bolt EV exits, the Trax ICE steps up
Posted by Talbot Payne on May 10, 2023
Asheville, North Carolina — The internal combustion engine is dead, long live the internal combustion engine.
As Chevrolet was nixing its first-generation electric Bolt EV hatchback last month, the brand was introducing media here to its updated, second-generation, gas-powered Trax SUV. Both front-wheel-drive vehicles were subcompact segment busters when they debuted last decade. But the fact that the internal-combustion-engine Trax has outlasted the much-ballyhooed Bolt — once touted as a game-changing, Tesla Model 3 slayer — underlines the difficulty of selling affordable EVs to U.S. customers even as General Motors Co. goes all-electric over the next 10 years.
Despite less publicity compared to Bolt, Trax has outsold the its EV sibling by 4-1 while providing superior range and utility. The all-new, bigger, more capable Trax is a big commitment by GM to customers that their preferred gas models are not going away — not yet, anyway.
The Bolt was launched with much fanfare in 2017, beating the Model 3 to market as the first sub-$40,000 EV. GM CEO Mary Barra hailed it as an “EV for everyone” and the wee hatch filled its trophy case with media baubles, including North American Car of the Year and Motor Trend Car of the Year. Reviews, including by this columnist, applauded its peppy, 200-horsepower acceleration and (first to market) 200-mile-plus range.
But sales never met expectations. As Model 3 soared to 145,846 sales in 2019 — eclipsing the Lexus RX as America’s best-selling luxury chariot — the Bolt languished at under 20,000 units.
Meanwhile, Trax was a significant launch as well. While not a halo for a battery-regulated market, it was key to Chevy’s transition to an SUV-focused brand as customers ditched sedans in the wake of the Great Recession for higher-riding, hatchback SUVs. Aiming to keep entry-level customers in the brand as they fled compact cars like the Spark, Sonic and Cruze, the affordable $21K Trax was cute, utilitarian and littered with clever features like a flat-folding front seat for extra cargo room.
Trax was a hit, hovering (along with its Buick Encore twin, a game-changing SUV for the octogenarian sedan brand) at the top of segment sales with the Jeep Renegade. By 2020, Trax hit peak sales at 120,000 units before splitting segment sales with its newer, sexier Trailblazer sibling.
With the hot subcompact SUV market gaining 32% in sales to become the fifth largest segment in the industry, Chevy has remade Trax from the ground up for the 2024 model year and thinks it could sell more than 100,000 units again. The 11-inch-longer, 137-horse, second-gen Trax (which advertises four trims for under $25,000) has been transformed in every dimension: more cargo room, more rear legroom, state-of-the-art technology like wireless Apple CarPlay, and more curb appeal. Its sculpted wardrobe has been taken right out of big brother Blazer’s closet.
Bolt, meanwhile, struggled to attract consumers beyond its green base with similar dimensions to the $21K Trax — but a stiff $37,500 price tag. A $7,500 federal tax credit (and favorable treatment in California’s high-occupancy lanes) helped reduce the premium, but sales remained small.
Its troubles were magnified by battery-related fires that led to a stoppage in sales in 2021 and a recall of all models produced up to that time.
When Bolt returned to the market, the brand held a fire sale to get back into customers’ good graces. Prices were slashed to $27,495 ($28,495 for a more contented EUV version) — meaning that, with the $7,500 tax credit (and state incentives like Massachusetts’ $3,500) — a new, nicely-equipped Bolt could be yours for less than a Trax.
As the remade Trax goes on sale with technology to match Bolt — and dimensions that exceed it — electric vehicle challenges in non-luxury segments are being magnified.
For one, Chevy is a volume brand. Its value to General Motors is bringing in new customers so they might eventually buy more profitable Chevy trucks and large SUVs, Cadillac EVs and GMC Hummers.
“In 2019, the percentage of vehicles priced under $30,000 was well north of 40% and today it is under 20%,” Chevy marketing chief Steve Majoros told media here.
Many factors contribute to that number, but one is the industry’s focus on high-priced EVs. The average new EV transaction in the United States is a pricey $61,000. A Hedges & Company marketing survey found the owner demographic for EVs — 60% of buyers earned over $100,000 a year — was the highest for any segment. EVs tend to be one of multiple vehicles in single-family homes.
Entry-level gas vehicles are more suitable to the lifestyle of apartment-dwelling, single-car owners. Tax breaks may make the Bolt more affordable than before, lifting it to a record 38,120 units in 2022, but it still trails Trax in range and convenience.
Drive 532 miles from Detroit to Washington, D.C., in the 259-mile range Bolt and the trip will take 12 hours with three charging stops — 3.45 hours of charge time, according to EV-trip app Chargeway. The 400-mile-gas-range, 2024 Trax would make the trip in 8.2 hours with a single, five-minute gas stop.
Cost? Bolt EV would set you back $85 to fill up with electrons at Electricify America fast-charge stations at 48 cents per kWh. The sippy, turbocharged, 30-mpg Trax would cost just $62 at $3.50 a gallon.
Only drive the Bolt EV locally and charge overnight, and off-peak electricity rates are a more affordable 15 cents per kWh in southeast Michigan. But the cost of installing a 240-volt charger can be $1,500-$2,000 for a home. And apartment dwellers may not have that option.
Chevrolet is expected to replace the Bolt later this year with a $30,000 Equinox EV boasting a roomier interior, new Ultium platform and faster charging speeds. But as the $21K Trax indicates, internal-combustion-fired vehicles aren’t standing still either.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.