General Motors has begun reaching out to owners of early-production Chevrolet Bolt EVs after a serious battery issue was identified. According to PlugIncars, early examples of the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV may not be reporting the correct remaining range before the battery runs out of charge.
“We noticed an anomaly via data from OnStar and that led us to investigate the issue,” said Kevin Kelly, ‎senior manager for advanced technology communications at General Motors. According to his estimates, the issue affects less than one percent of early-production Bolt EVs. Nonetheless, the problem exists and is impacting owners in the real world.
What happens is the following: one or more battery cells begin to malfunction, which then provides a false range reading to the vehicle’s computer, reflected on the dashboard. Therefore, drivers may see 100 miles of range before the battery is depleted, when in reality, it could be just a couple dozen miles.
The author of the original report – an owner of a 2017 Bolt EV – experienced the battery malfunction first hand. Per his account, the dashboard indicated approximately 100 miles of remaining range, but in an instant, the Bolt EV shut down with a warning chime. The steering wheel didn’t budge, and the Bolt EV could not be shifted into “Drive” or “Reverse.” Suddenly, the vehicle indicated just nine miles of range remaining.
After shifting into neutral, he maneuvered the car out of the way of traffic and called for a tow. The truck driver reportedly said his car was the third Bolt EV picked up in recent days. Dealer diagnostics confirmed a bad battery cell was the root of the issue.
Kelly did not give an exact number of how many owners will be notified, but an investigation is underway to define a more specific production time frame of Bolt EVs that could be affected.
Comments
So this is a perfect example of how this situation should be not be a recall but a problem covered under warranty.
I think these manufacturers send out recalls on vehicles to cover their backsides but in reality they shouldn’t need to if the that is still under warranty. The repairs will be fixed and covered by GM.
No surprise! The failure is in the GM’s dna and they are increasingly less credible! They’re done!
So it’s their fault even though the battery is from LG chem?
We could too say that the Vega’s engine problems were the Reynolds aluminium’s fault but the GM’s reputation was forever tarnished !
…I want to mean that , once again, these early issues give a bad image to GM to the public! GM always has got some problems when they launch a new tech/model in contrast their competitors .
Yes it is Gm’s problem! They specd the components for the Bolt and possibly should have procured elsewhere. Vehicle is Chevy Bolt and not LG Bolt!
Technically it is
Wait, what? Way to jump off the cliff there.
Too many jumping to conclusions here. Is this a problem? Yes, it is. Is it widespread? Who knows? The report doesn’t give a number? Maybe it’s only 20 cars. Maybe it’s all of them. Again, who knows for sure?
If it’s all the cars, then, yes, the Bolt may be fatally flawed. If it’s only a relative few, that’s not such a big deal. Every first model year car has some issues. Every one from every manufacturer. That is not just a GM thing. GM has had its share of clunkers, but so has every other manufacturer.
This is the problem with so many nowadays. We jump to instant conclusions without ever really trying to understand the whole situation. Yes, GM has had its share of corporate schenanigans in the past. But I’m not just going to write off the Bolt, let alone the entirety of GM due to incomplete information. Again, this could turn out really bad, but we don’t know that yet.
Thank you!
It’s less than one percent of the bolts on the road! People make a big deal out of nothing, blowing this way out of proportion. Is it a problem yes, but his it a major one no!
GM is held to a higher standard then other car manufacture for the reason that it has no brand equity anymore. Given GMs reputation in the past for making inferior products and that they covered up the ignition switch problem has led to any problem seem like a major scandal. It is going to be hard to get brand equity back.
They are fine, just needs a few media personal to blow things out of proportion, as per Trump.
I know recalls are a sore subject for GM, and I hate to beat the dead horse, but I’ve seen at least 3 articles about recalls on this site in recent months… that’s not good.
Honestly for the Bolt is their first year vehicle so there are still bugs that needs to be worked out. That’s how I learn the hard way of not buying the first year vehicle. Now Silverado story is a totally different story however.