General Motors BEV2 platform

Despite having a "2" in its name, which usually indicates a second generation of a platform in GM nomenclature,[1][2][3] BEV2 had no direct predecessor. The concept of "BEV1" actually refers to the General Motors EV1, the first electric car of the 21st century.[4] However, the EV1 and vehicles on BEV2 differ greatly, in part due to the two-decade gap between them.[5]

In 2011, GM announced that they had finished development of an EV supplier base in China.[6] This coincided with the introduction of the Springo, an EV based on the Gamma platform's Chevrolet Sail.[7] Two years later in 2013, a similar EV variant was released of the Sail's American-market equivalent, the Spark.[8] This Spark EV was sold until 2016, the same year as the introduction of the Bolt,[9] and, though GM openly stated that the Bolt's platform was not derived from Gamma, the Bolt's model codes began with G2, suggesting influence of these vehicles upon it.[10]

In 2016, Chevrolet unveiled a production version of the Bolt, the first vehicle on BEV2,[11] and the first dedicated EV from GM in 20 years.[4] LG Chem and other LG divisions reportedly develop and install most of the components that make it an electric vehicle, per an agreement for the model.[12] This vehicle is the first to be underpinned by BEV2[13] and also the strongest-selling, with over 16,000 sold at the end of 2018.[14]

On October 2, 2017, GM announced a plan to introduce two new main EV models in the next eighteen months,[15] followed by an additional eighteen electric models by 2023.[16] The next month GM extended their commitment,[17] aiming for a production volume of one million electric vehicles by 2026.[18] None of these promised actions, however, have been enacted in full.[19] Since the end of the eighteen-month period, the Chevrolet Menlo is the only main brand EV that GM has produced, and it still is limited to the Chinese market.[20] Much of the exclusivity of EVs to China can be explained by the zero-emission vehicles (ZEV) mandate that country's government has put in place, requiring manufacturers to have 8% percent of their volume be ZEVs in 2012, and 12% in 2020.[21]

On November 15, 2017, further clarification was made by GM CEO Mary Barra as to what the next five years of electric models would be:[22]

• "Expressive luxury low-roof" vehicle (possibly a grand tourer)[23]
• 5-passenger luxury SUV
• 5-passenger compact SUV
• "Shared" autonomous vehicle
• Functional light commercial vehicle
• "Efficient low-roof" car
• Small SUV
• Compact CUV
• 7-passenger large SUV
• 7-passenger luxury SUV

In March 2019, GM announced its intentions to build another model very similar to the Bolt upon BEV2 at Orion Assembly alongside the Bolt,[24][25] which has since been in development in addition to the Hummer.[26] This model is currently in pre-production as the Bolt EUV (electric utility vehicle),[27] and all evidence currently indicates it will also ride on BEV2.[28][29] In addition to being branded as a Chevrolet, a Chinese-market variant was introduced in 2020 as the Buick Velite 7.[30] This crossover appears to have formerly been mentioned then removed from GM's 2017 announcement.[31]

• 2017–present Chevrolet Bolt, B-segment hatchback
• 2020–present Buick Velite 7, B-segment crossover SUV
• 2021–present Chevrolet Bolt EUV, B-segment crossover SUV

From its inception until 2020 (shortly after its GM's sale of Opel/Vauxhall to Groupe PSA), the Chevrolet Bolt was sold in Europe as the Opel Ampera-e.[32]