
GM has already confirmed that the Chevy Bolt EV will start production in 2016, but now we have some clues (mostly through social media) that give us an indication of when the Bolt may go on-sale, by December 2017. Both come from company insiders: one from an executive, the other from factory workers.
The first clue is up for interpretation, but it comes from General Motors North America CEO Mark Reuss and therefore carries some weight.
Chelsea Sexton, an EV advocate, wrote on Facebook:
"19 years ago today... Fingers crossed that on December5, 2016, we'll be celebrating the first Chevy Bolt deliveries, right Mark?

As you can see, Mark Reuss replies asking, "Have you been naughty or nice?" That seems to imply that the Chevy Bolt could come out by next Christmas. That would allow it to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the V1, GM's very first electric vehicle that met an unfortunate end -- not only was it killed (discontinued), it was also recalled and destroyed. It could be an occasion to recognize and pair with the delivery on the Chevy Bolt.
Our second clue also comes from Facebook, this time from factory workers. Now that makes these comments a bit harder to take as whole truth, but let's assume they are indeed correct.


People who apparently work at the Chevy Volt factory wrote, "Programming robots for the Chevy Bolt today!", and "We already have all our robots programmed for the closures... Full production is a little ways off."
This would fit quite well with GM's plans to begin production of the Bolt in 2016.
So it appears that GM's fast-tracked production schedule for the Bolt is actually moving pretty fast. With preparations for production starting, and musings from top executives about big announcements for December next year, a date that matches up with the 20th anniversary of the EV1, the Chevy Bolt seems to be on its way to being in your driveway by next Christmas.