At least 16 Bolts have caught fire, leading to a recall to fix or replace battery components[12] and GM's August 2021 advisory to park in open areas, at least 50 feet (15 m) away from other vehicles.

[13] GM Korea began developing the Bolt in 2012 with a team of 180 people with the project code G2KCZ (G2 for Gamma 2nd-generation platform, K for hatchback, C for Chevrolet, and Z for electric car).

The cars were tested at Proving Grounds and overseas for ride and handling dynamics, cabin comfort, quietness, charging capability, and energy efficiency.

During GM CEO Mary Barra's keynote at the show, Chevrolet confirmed an estimated range of 200 miles (320 km) or more, an approximate US$30,000 price tag (after government incentives), and stated it would be available in late 2016.

[21] In March 2016, GM released photos and a short pre-production video of the Bolt at the company's Orion Assembly plant outside Detroit, testing manufacturing and tooling.

[23] An unnamed source cited by Bloomberg News estimated that General Motors is expected to take a loss of US$8,000 to US$9,000 per Bolt sold.

[24] Opel refuted that in December 2016 and stated that GM has battery cell costs of $130/kWh, and industry is not yet optimized for mass production.

[43] As of November 2020[update], the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has confirmed five known fires with two injuries and recommends parking recalled vehicles outside, away from homes, until they have been repaired.

[74] Autoblog projected similar confusion among European customers where the Opel Ampera-e (the Bolt variant) is just one letter off from the Opel Ampera, the previous-generation Chevrolet Volt sold in Europe – suggesting the names could confuse customers who think the new all-electric hatchback is closely related to the old plug-in hybrid hatchback.

[77] Pre-production versions of the Bolt EV were built at Orion Assembly in March 2016 and sent to Cruise, which modified the cars by adding sensors in San Francisco.

[79] Fifty of these first-generation (G1) Bolt EV-based Cruise AVs were tested from June 2016 in the San Francisco Bay Area and Scottsdale, Arizona.

[82] In addition, the G3 AV uses fault-tolerant electrical, communication, and actuation systems unique to the automated vehicle and not shared with the Bolt EV.

[81]: 4, 13 Members of the press were invited to ride in a G2 Cruise AV in November 2017; they reported the choices made by the car's programming were conservative, but the self-driving system had minimal disengagements over the short 2.4 to 3 mi (3.9 to 4.8 km) trips.

[84][85] In January 2018, Cruise showed renderings and a prototype of its planned 4th-generation (G4) AV, which removed the traditional driver's controls such as the steering wheel and pedals[86] and largely retained the external features of the G2,[87] but further development of the G4 Cruise AV was canceled to concentrate on their next generation autonomous vehicle, the Origin, which was unveiled in January 2020 and lacks driver controls entirely.

[92] Later in 2021, a G2 Cruise AV nicknamed "Poppy" was filmed for a short promotional video while undergoing testing in San Francisco.

[25] In October 2015, General Motors said they would purchase the Bolt's battery cells at a price of $145 per kilowatt hour from LG Chem, representing a minimum of $8,700 in revenue per car.

The 72-slot/8-pole electric motor is integrated with a single-speed transmission and differential, to form a single modular drive unit that connects directly to the front axles.

[116] Before the Tesla Model 3 was introduced in July 2017, the Bolt was the only plug-in electric car with a manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) of less than US$50,000 capable of delivering an EPA-rated range of over 200 miles (320 km).

The factory-option 55 kW SAE Combo DC fast charging system[121] can add 150 miles (240 km) of range per hour.

[124] The Bolt EV is delivered with self-sealing tires whose interior surfaces are coated with a sticky compound to automatically seal small leaks and punctures in the tread area.

[126] The car is equipped with a digital tire-pressure monitoring system to warn the driver if a tire is leaking, and a portable air compressor kit is supplied as an optional part.

Driven under different driving modes with the air conditioning on, the trip between Monterey and Santa Barbara was completed with an energy consumption of 50.1 kWh, representing an average efficiency of 21.1 kWh/100 mi (160 mpg‑e; 13.1 kWh/100 km).

[116][135] Pre-production versions of the Bolt EV were built in March 2016 and sent to Cruise Automation, which modified them as test vehicles for autonomous driving.

[143] Subsequently, in the last months of 2017 Bolt demand rose rapidly; by October, it outsold any other model of electric car, including those from Tesla.

[155]The Ampera-e was first offered for sale in Norway, the first country in Europe where it was marketed, at a starting price of 299 900 kr (€33 500) in December 2016, higher than that of the Nissan Leaf and BMW i3.

[158] By October 2017, European sales had expanded into Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Germany; there were 4,000-5,000 orders for the Ampera-e in Norway alone, which has a population of 5.2 million.

[162] The fact that Opel was limiting orders of the Ampera-e in Norway, its most promising market, led to speculation that GM was planning to discontinue the model in Europe.

Opel/Vauxhall offered the Opel Crossland X, a gasoline- or diesel-powered crossover utility vehicle with styling mildly reminiscent of the Bolt, using a platform developed by Groupe PSA under a partnership with GM predating the acquisition.

[175] Under PSA, Opel/Vauxhall announced plans to offer EVs based on the Opel Corsa and the Peugeot 208, both being smaller cars than the Bolt.

[186] The Bolt EV beat out the Cadillac CT6 and Jaguar XE to win the Detroit Free Press award for Car of the Year.