Official

2020 Chevy Bolt EV range increased to 259 miles on a full charge

It has more range than the competition now

2019 Chevrolet Bolt
2019 Chevrolet Bolt / Image Credit: Chevrolet
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Update: We received further details on the 2020 Chevy Bolt EV from GM. You'll find the new information within this post.

The 2020 Chevy Bolt EV is getting more electric range, with the official EPA rating rising to 259 miles, up from 238 miles for the 2019 model year. Car and Driver initially noticed the change on the EPA’s fuel economy reporting website. We reached out to Chevrolet, and the company confirmed the news. Chevy also told us what it did to achieve the extra 21 miles of range on a full charge.

To get the EPA rating up to 259 miles of range, Chevy says it "improved the energy of the cell electrodes by making small but impactful changes to the cell chemistry." There were no physical changes made to the battery pack itself and how Chevy integrated it into the vehicle — it's still a 60 kWh battery pack. Why did Chevy work to increase the range? Customer demand, Chevy says. It makes a lot of sense, especially when taking the other available EVs in its class into consideration.

Ultimately, this range increase makes the Bolt even more competitive than before. It offers more range than the Soul EV (243 miles), Niro EV (239 miles) and, just barely, the Kona Electric (258 miles). The Bolt also takes the Nissan Leaf Plus (226 miles) and Tesla Model 3 in “Standard Range Plus” form (240 miles). The “Long Range” and “Performance” models still handily beat the Bolt EV at 310 miles, though.

Other 2020 Bolt changes we know about now include new colors (Cayenne Orange Metallic and Oasis Blue), improved cameras and a new high gloss black grille as opposed to the black or silver grille options. Chevy says the 2020 Bolt EV will reach dealerships later this year for the same $37,495 price as the 2019 model year Bolt EV sold for. More range for the same price sounds pretty great to us.

Chevrolet Bolt EV Information

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