General Motors is recalling almost 69,000 units of the Chevy Bolt EV worldwide after the battery units in five Bolt EVs caught fire.
According to a recent report from Associated Press, General Motors has not yet identified the cause of the fires, but the automaker’s engineers are actively working towards a solution. In the meantime, dealers have been instructed to install new software limiting the Chevy Bolt EV to 90-percent battery charge capacity as a stop-gap measure until a permanent fix is offered. The permanent fix is expected to arrive some time after the first of the year.
The recall affects Chevy Bolt EV models produced for the 2017 through 2019 model years. Affected models were sold worldwide, with some 51,000 affected units located in the U.S. According to the recent Associated Press report, two people have suffered smoke inhalation as a result of the fires.
Last month, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced that it would launch an investigation over three separate incidences of Chevy Bolt EV models catching fire. According to the NHTSA, the fires started under the rear seat of the Chevy while it was parked, and “appeared to be concentrated in the EV battery compartment area with penetration into the passenger compartment from under the rear seat.”
According to Chevy Bolt Executive Chief Engineer Jesse Ortega, engineers have traced the issue to battery cells produced by LG Chem in Ochang, South Korea. The problematic cells were produced between May of 2016 and May of 2019, with the fires occurring when the battery pack is close to fully charged. Ortega also indicated that 2019, 2020, and 2021 model year Chevy Bolt EV models equipped with batteries produced by LG Chem in Holland, Michigan, have not been included in this latest recall.
General Motors is now asking Chevy Bolt EV owners to alter the vehicle settings to restrict the onboard battery pack from being fully charged. Owners unable to do so are advised to park their vehicle outdoors and to contact a local dealer.
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Comments
I’m glad to see GM is taking this very seriously. It should be really interesting to see if this is a battery cell issue or something that can be fixed through software. At least it’s not supposed to affect the newer batteries produced in the U.S. Hopefully they can find a definite answer to what happened and come up with a simple fix without delaying the upcoming Bolt EV refresh and the forthcoming EUV.
Memories of the Ford Pinto.
@RCSB:
You mean Tesla, don’t you?
You mean the supercharged 3800 v6 engines that caught fire. Those owners were told nit to park in enclosed spaces also.
Great, so now our limited range battery cars just got 10% more knocked off.
Instead of 240 miles it’s now 216 oh boo hoo. I don’t drive more than 30 miles a day. If I had a Bolt this would not impact me at all.
But people paid for a vehicle with 238 miles of range, not 10% less than that.
If it were me, I’d be pissed off.
And that is in perfect weather. Extreme temperatures Rob battery life and charging ability.
Range anxiety is already worse than Covid-19… We need professional help !
Bad PR for a company moving so heavily into so many EV models so fast.
Talking about moving into them anyway. So far just the Bolt is available.
Hey Nebula, it would impact you when it burns your house and contents to the ground. I love how we are fed the end to all our problems is an electric vehicle……..that might catch on fire in your garage.
There are 150 car fires PER DAY in the US. Since 2017 there have only been 5 known Bolt fires of almost 70k made, that’s .007%. Electric cars are still far safer than ICE. Then this issue only impacts the 2017-2019 model years.
The newer model year cars 2020+ have a different chemistry battery and are not produced in the same plant. Thus are not included in this recall.
GM already found that cars that have caught fire all were or close to being 100% charged so limiting the charge to 90% as a mitigating factor is fine and still wouldn’t impact me.
You do not need to park it outside unless you cannot make this change yourself.
I always park outside and charge with the 12amp option. Should I reset ? Bolt is 2020 but battery is Korean.
2020 Bolts are not included in the recall.