GM’s Latest EV Is Even Smaller Than A Chevy Bolt

By American standards, the Chevy Bolt is pretty small. Smaller, at any rate, than the Volt that it effectively replaces as GM’s primary electrified vehicle. But this is smaller still.

It’s the Baojun E200, built under GM’s joint venture with SAIC and Wuling in China for the Chinese market. It’s actually the second battery electric vehicle to stem from the partnership following the E100 over which this appears to represent a substantial upgrade.

Where the Baojun E100 initially offered 155 kilometers (96 miles) of range, and was recently upgraded to 200 km (124 miles), the new E200 is rated to travel up to 270 km (168 miles) on a single charge at a constant speed – or 210 km (130 miles) on the New European Driving Cycle.

This thanks mostly to the denser battery that’s able to store more energy in the same space. The combination of the electric motor and reducer also means it’s quieter. SAIC-GM-Wuling also upgraded the air conditioner and redesigned the vehicle inside and out.

The automakers haven’t released all the measurements and specifications, but suffice it to say the E200 is small. As it is, the existing E100 is smaller in every dimension but height than a Smart Fortwo, which is already pretty tiny – and little more than half the length of a Bolt. And we’d expect the E200 to come in around the same size.

The participating automakers in the joint venture expect to sell a lot of them. Since its introduction a year ago, they’ve sold 22,000 examples of the E100 – which is about the same number of Bolt EVs that Chevy sold in the US last year.