The funning thing is, people I know who have a Volt love their cars. Haven't tried one myself. My family has a couple of paid of Toyota gas vehicles that are 8+ years old and will probably live longer than we will.
I drive a 2017 Volt gen 2 and love it. I drive about 90+% of miles in EV mode and mostly use the gas engine for road trips. It is fun to drive and (other than a couple of common, and easily fixed issues) has been reliable. I do plan to replace it in the next year because it sits very low and has a very low roofline. My spouse is uncomfortable getting into it so we almost never drive it when together.
I don't understand why GM never put the Voltec drivetrain into a compact SUV. It would have sold much better than an odd looking hatchback with little interior space.
Word is that PHEVs are expensive to build but customers didn't seem to be flocking to them. Traditional buyers didn't see the need to save money on fuel and didn't believe that climate change "stuff". More adventurous buyers were flocking to the new full EV coolness.
I think GM decided that the future was BEV that they would be able to come out strong with EV version of their products and sell them at reasonable prices. With the component shortages and inflation, their price targets became untenable. Then they ran into assembly problems with their battery packs so they couldn't even deliver at any price.
Now they have backtracked and said that they will bring out hybrids (maybe PHEV?). It's not clear which platform they'll use for that. I think that they have an Equinox-sized hybrid in China that they might bring over.
The flailing around EVs vs hybrids and the on again off again story on the Bolt don't make it look like they know what they are doing, sadly.
BTW the Bolt actually has a surprising about of room in it, but even so, its on the small side. Equinox would fit more customers.
My friend has a few volts from 2013-2018 (that he loves) and I usually borrow one for trips to see family and friends 12-16 hours away rather than drive my truck. I think they're great vehicles. ~40mpg at 80-90mph on the highway is really good though it does take premium for that 40+ mpg and it has a smallish tank so you have to stop a little more often. Once you reach your destination all driving is done on electric and charges overnight on a regular outlet/level 1. Their maintenance is surprisingly low for what seems like a complex system.
Crazy to me that Chevy has abandoned their PHEV platform considering others, like Toyota, are in such high demand. Speaking of which I spent a week with a Rav4 Prime and found that equally as impressive range-wise as a volt.
