Every Bolt in GM's First Shipment to Korea Was Reserved Within Hours

Matt Posky
by Matt Posky

General Motors began taking pre-orders in South Korea last week for the all-electric Bolt. In under two hours, the entirety of the first shipment was spoken for. By the end of that day, March 17, more than 2,000 additional orders had been placed, proving — once again — that GM is killing it in Asia and Koreans are tech-obsessed.

Incredibly, most of those customers hadn’t even laid eyes on the vehicle. The Bolt doesn’t make its official Korean debut until March 30th, when it will appear at the 2017 Seoul Motor Show.

After the swift depletion of GM’s EV stock, a group of enthusiasts drove a Bolt from southern Seoul to Busan, ferried over to Jeju Island, and finally drove across the island to the southern port of Seogwipo. In addition to 60 miles of water, the trip covered 293 miles worth of road — and the team managed it on a single charge. That’s leaps and bounds over the official EPA rating of 238 miles.

According to WardsAuto, GM will place new production orders immediately to ensure more vehicles get to Korea as soon as possible. However, the automaker will still have to hold a drawing to ensure the available supply is allocated fairly, as pre-orders continue rolling in ahead of the Bolt’s sales launch. While that date remains unspecified, it’s expected to be early next month.

That’s rather interesting, considering nationwide deliveries haven’t yet begun in the United States. Michigan residents, who live in the state where the Bolt is assembled, won’t even be able to place their orders until July.

[Image: General Motors]

Matt Posky
Matt Posky

A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.

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  • Stingray65 Stingray65 on Mar 23, 2017

    The Bolt seems like quite a bargain compared to Leafs, e-Golfs, i3, etc. which have much shorter range, less power, and are not significantly cheaper, but then again GM loses an estimated $9,000 on every Bolt they sell, so shipping them to Korea isn't likely to help GM share prices.

  • Shaker Shaker on Mar 23, 2017

    "but then again GM loses an estimated $9,000 on every Bolt they sell" I'm missing a sarcasm flag here, right? I don't think that GM would be shipping ZEV tax credits overseas at a loss - unless it's a payoff for some Daewoo scandal. The BEV "pipe dream" approaches reality, which strikes fear and loathing into some - why?

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    • HotPotato HotPotato on Mar 27, 2017

      @stingray65 A "report" based on a single unnamed source.

  • Master Baiter Master Baiter on Mar 23, 2017

    If this car turns out to be half decent, it's only because GM outsourced the important stuff to LG. Having said that, I'm not convinced the Koreans know how to make reliable electronics. My LG blue ray player was a POS that failed to boot up half the time. I ended up chucking it 20 feet in the air onto my concrete patio to take out my frustrations. I should have known to buy Japanese... . .

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    • Carlson Fan Carlson Fan on Mar 23, 2017

      @OldManPants I'm just wondering if his mom made him clean up her patio?

  • Walter A. Foreman Walter A. Foreman on Mar 23, 2017

    The reason this car sold out in under two hours is that the Korean government was offering subsidies of up to $23,0000 on the Bolt EV's base price of $42,0000. In other words, the car could be had for, in a best-case-scenario, less than $20,000. Teslas, on the other hand, do not receive government subsidies in Korea and are priced 15% higher than in the US.

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