The Chevy Malibu Gets Electrically Charged

An Electric Malibu Sedan?

Within this recent decade, we’ve seen an intensified interest in SUVs and crossovers, leading to the slow downfall of Chevy’s previous fan-elect, the Malibu sedan. This mid-sizer has been showing its age for the past few years, with its relevance gradually fading away. Thankfully, there is light at the end of the automotive tunnel. According to General Motors president Mark Reuss, the company is working on another electric revamp. During a recent Investor Day presentation in China, Reuss revealed that Chevrolet is toling with a “low-roof” EV that will have sedan-like proportions.

This upcoming EV has just moved into the early stages of development. Still, as mentioned by Reuss, the design is “pretty dramatic,” saying that the electric sedan will take up the same mid-size segment as Malibu’s current iteration. The possible heir-apparent has already been approved for the Chinese market, especially since sedans are still a hot ticket item there, but the American car manufacturer may eventually offer this car in its home country. Reuss seemed to entertain this idea of the EV’s availability in the U.S., saying at the function, “… we’ll see the desirability as we clinic this.”

The electric sedan concept was already introduced by Chevy in China, dubbing it the FNR-XE. Its design gives us a hint of the car that Reuss suggested. Additionally, the concept is derived from the Ultium battery platform. The overall shape is comparable to the Honda e:N2 concept, which was revealed for China in November. Honda and GM are already teaming up on electric crossovers, with the Chevy Blazer EV and Honda Prologue riding on the same platform.

General Motors introduced four new EV models derived from the platform. Still, the other three that have been introduced encompass the Cadillac Lyriq, GMC Hummer EV, and the Buick Electra-X.

GM said at the event:

“From fuel to electric, from horsepower to computing power, new technology has become a new engine to drive the upgrading of automobile products and promote the leapfrog development of the automobile industry.”

The possible fully-electrified successor will be brought to the Chinese market toward the end of 2024. Therefore, if GM decided to bring it to North America., it likely wouldn’t begin production until at least 2025.

While SUVs have engrossed many customers in recent years, the Malibu sedan still denotes a good chunk of Chevy’s sales. After seeing a considerable decline in 2021, specifically a drop of 102,651 units in 2020 to just 39,376 units, the Malibu perked up this year, with nearly 80,000 units sold through the third quarter.

While there is still a market for sedans in the U.S., an electric version of the Malibu may be what’s needed for the automaker to bring a full-on resurrection to the car, especially as we move away from gas-powered vehicles.

NYE Chevy

When the time comes for you to purchase the production version of the Malibu EV or any other vehicle from Chevrolet, be sure to do it at NYC Automotive Group. We sell several cars from the automaker that range in various shapes and sizes.

View our online new car inventory to see what we have to offer. Once you find something that suits your interest, chat with one of our representatives for more assistance.

Photo Source/Copyright: General Motors