Chevrolet makes a lot of great cars, but one of the American automaker’s best creations is actually an electric car. The Chevy Bolt is an EV that’s designed to be a solid EV that’s affordable for everyone, and recently, Chevy made the Bolt even better than it was. Here’s a look at the changes that Chevy gave to the Bolt to push it up the rankings, all the way to first place.

The Chevy Bolt could be the best electric sedan right now

According to U.S. News, for the 2022 model year, the Chevy Bolt is the best electric sedan in its segment, and it still retains that spot in the 2023 model year.

With that being said, while the Bolt beats out its competition, it’s worth noting that it doesn’t have that much competition to begin with. This is because the electric sedan segment doesn’t include luxury EVs like the Tesla Model 3. 

Instead, the segment only has three cars at the moment. In fact, the two other cars in the segment are both tied for second place. They’re the Nissan Leaf and the Mini Cooper Electric, and both have an overall score of 7.4 out of 10.

Those two EVs were beaten by the Bolt, which has an overall score of 8 out of 10. The Bolt has such a good score largely because Chevy gave the EV a lot of upgrades in the 2022 model year.

Here’s how Chevy made the Bolt an even better electric car

One of the more significant upgrades simply has to do with pricing. Chevy lowered the car’s price to $31,500, which is a $5,000 discount from the 2021 model’s starting price tag of $36,500. On top of that, Chevy gave this electric car another price drop in the 2023 model year.

Chevy even gave some owners of the 2022 Bolt a $5,000 refund, which means that those Bolts effectively costs the same as the 2023 Bolt. Currently, the 2023 Bolt starts at about $26,000.

Chevy did more than just slash the car’s price though, the automaker also gave the Bolt a lot of interior updates, as well as some exterior ones. For example, Chevy upgraded the EV’s seats.

The seats are now more supportive and comfortable to sit in. Chevy also used higher-quality materials to build the car’s cabin, and it looks more modern as a result.

Additionally, Chevy upgraded the Bolt’s tech features, and this includes giving the car more standard driver assistance features. In the 2021 model year, many of those features were options. Overall, these upgrades made the already solid EV only better.

An overview of the 2022 Chevy Bolt

One of the reasons why the Bolt has been a solid EV for a while now simply has to do with its range. Chevy only gave the EV one powertrain option, and it’s a single electric motor that gets 200 hp and 266 lb-ft of torque. The Bolt is front-wheel drive as standard, and all-wheel drive isn’t an option. This setup allows the Chevy to go from 0 to 60 mph in 6.5 seconds. 

It’s also paired to a 65-kWh battery, and that allows the Bolt to go 259 miles on a single charge. While that doesn’t make the Bolt the longest-range EV on the market, it does give it more range than its competitors.

For example, the Nissan Leaf’s standard powertrain configuration only allows it to go 149 miles, while the Mini Cooper Electric only has one powertrain option, and it only gets 114 miles of range. As such, the Bolt has over 100 miles more range than some of its peers do.