Next-Generation Chevy Bolt Will Enter Production Later This Year
GM announced a $4 billion investment in three U.S. factories, revealing plans for the 2027 Bolt EV, another affordable EV, and a new gas-powered Blazer.
General Motors announced a new investment in three U.S. factories, revealing that production of the next-generation 2027 Chevy Bolt will begin later this year.
GM will begin assembling the gas-powered Chevy Blazer at its plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee, in 2027, suggesting the aging mid-size SUV will receive a new generation.
The automaker also hinted at another next-generation affordable EV to be built alongside the Bolt in Kansas City, Kansas.
Back in 2023, as General Motors wound down production of the first-generation Chevrolet Bolt EV and EUV, the automaker said a second generation of its affordable electric car was coming in 2025. There has been surprisingly little news since, but now we finally have an idea of when to expect the new Bolt. In an announcement about new investments in three U.S. factories, GM said the next-generation Bolt will arrive for the 2027 model year.
GM said it will invest roughly $4 billion into three factories over the next two years, expanding the production of both gas-powered and electric vehicles in the United States. One of the facilities receiving an upgrade will be the Fairfax Assembly plant in Kansas City, Kansas, which GM says will begin producing the 2027 Chevy Bolt EV by the end of this year.
No other details were provided about this next iteration of the Bolt, but we expect it to continue as a tall subcompact hatchback, although it could be positioned as a subcompact SUV like the previous generation’s EUV model. The timing seems a bit strange, since a 2027-model-year car wouldn’t typically go on sale until roughly halfway through 2026. Regardless, this means we should get a full reveal of this next-generation Bolt in the next several months.
The Bolt isn’t the only new model being added to Fairfax’s to-do list. The gas-powered Equinox SUV is currently built at GM’s San Luis Potosí factory in Mexico, but the automaker will supplement existing production by assembling the Equinox at Fairfax starting in mid-2027. GM also said it plans to make further investments in the Fairfax facility to produce a next-generation “affordable EV.” It’s unclear exactly how this EV will be positioned relative to the Bolt, which we expect to remain priced around the $30,000 mark.
There was another surprise tied in with GM’s investments. The company’s factory in Spring Hill, Tennessee, currently builds the Cadillac Lyriq and Vistiq EVs along with the gas-powered XT5 SUV, but GM now says it will add production of the gas-powered Chevrolet Blazer SUV to the facility in 2027. This is a bit unexpected, as a report earlier this year claimed the mid-size Blazer would be discontinued following the 2025 model year and wasn’t expected to receive a follow-up act. Given that the current Blazer—built in Ramos Arizpe, Mexico—has been around since 2019 with minimal changes, we expect these production plans to apply to a next-generation model.
The final plant receiving new investment is the Orion Assembly plant in Michigan. The Orion factory was originally supposed to start producing the Chevy Silverado EV and GMC Sierra EV in late 2024, but that plan was delayed to late 2025. Now, however, GM will use the plant for the production of gas-powered full-size SUVs and light-duty pickup trucks starting in early 2027. It seems that Orion Assembly won’t be churning out those EVs after all.
GM said that Factory Zero at its Detroit-Hamtramck facility in Michigan will be the dedicated site for production of the Silverado EV and Sierra EV, as well as its Cadillac Escalade IQ and GMC Hummer EV cousins. This change implies a shift in priorities, as sales of those electric behemoths haven’t quite taken off as planned, and demand for its gas-powered full-size SUVs and trucks remains strong. The move also shows a desire from GM to bring production of some of its bestselling and most profitable models, some of which are currently built in Mexico and Canada, into the United States.