"They're trying to drum up a little bit of excitement and show that they have some traction in the EV sector as they go into this rollout of this whole new onslaught of EVs," said Paul Waatti, an analyst with AutoPacific. "They need to build a little bit of credibility going into that."

Last year, GM said it would invest $27 billion toward electric and autonomous vehicle development and launch 30 EVs through 2025. Today, the automaker's only U.S. EV is the Bolt, but GM has a utility version of it coming this year along with the GMC Hummer pickup, followed by the Cadillac Lyriq in 2022.

Bolt sales rose 26 percent in 2020 after more than doubling to 6,701 from October through December. The Bolt was the top-selling EV built by a traditional automaker, surpassing the Nissan Leaf by more than 2,000 vehicles in the fourth quarter.

One of Chevy's objectives last year was to expand Bolt volume beyond California, Steve Hill, vice president of Chevrolet, told reporters last week.

Originally posted here:
Chevy Bolt sales surge with new markets, attention - Automotive News