General Motors has released a fix for the Chevy Bolt EV battery after it recalled 69,000 units of the electric hatchback over fire risks.
The automaker issued a recall for certain versions of the 2017-2019 model year Chevy Bolt EV last year after it received reports from owners of the vehicle’s battery pack suddenly overheating and catching fire. It later issued a temporary software update for the Bolt EV that reduced the battery pack capacity to 90 percent while it investigated the cause of the fires and worked on a more permanent solution.
Chevrolet Bolt EV battery pack
In an announcement this week, GM said dealerships will use diagnostic tools to test affected vehicles for battery problems and replace the battery packs as necessary. These vehicles will receive “advanced onboard diagnostic software” as well, which can detect potential issues with the battery pack before major problems can develop.
The automaker will also release a software update restoring battery capacity in affected Chevy Bolt EV vehicles to 100 percent. This software was released today for owners of the 2019 Chevy Bolt and will be pushed to owners of 2017 and 2018 model year vehicles at the end of May. This altered software will also be present in the 2022 Chevy Bolt EV and 2022 Chevy Bolt EUV, which will go on sale this summer.
The automaker says the fire risk issue occurs when the vehicles are charged at or close to 100 percent capacity. Chevy Bolt Executive Chief Engineer Jesse Ortega also said previously that the battery fires can be traced back to defective cells manufactured by GM supplier LG Chem in South Korea between May 2016 and May 2019.
Two class action lawsuits have been filed against GM over this issue, although GM had not released a fix or identified the root cause of the fires at the time the lawsuits were filed.
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Comments
This is why I’m never a early adopter in any technology. The early tech ends up burning you but the generation or two after that is really good.
Enjoy spending over $15000 per car to fix this GM.
#PoorlyRunBusinesses
#ScrewEVs
They aren’t going to be replacing full packs if an issue is detected just individual cells in the battery packs themselves that have the issues.
If it’s determined to be an LG Chem issue (which I believe it is) it won’t be GM footing the bill, do you think all the automakers are paying for all the Takata air bags being recalled?
didn’t takata declare bankruptcy? good luck with that.
Depends on the exact contract. Many components, including major parts like engines and transmissions, are sold to automakers with no warranty.
Warranties are not free; the price of a part sold with a warranty will be higher than that sold without. Often, the automaker figures by keeping all of the warranty reserves, cash built into the price of the finished car, and managing claims themselves, it will be ultimately cheaper than the carmaker trickling down the revenues to suppliers, then going back and claiming costs. It also avoids expensive disputes and lawyers since the responsibility lies with exactly one company.
And you always have the chance of pulling a Takata. Honda and Toyota were both left holding a $5 billion bag of uncompensated costs each when Takata went bankrupt.
Right. The automakers self-insure for a lot of stuff as they are so big as to be able to bear the costs.
I remember seeing two car haulers of brand new Dodge Caravans that had overturned during an ice storm and asked my father-in-law, a Chrysler designer, what would be done about them. Sold for salvage or crushed, he said, but not repaired or convered by insurance. It was just a usual cost of doing business.
I am sure GM is concerned about your opinion. When you become a multinational business please let us know.
WHY NOT TILL THE END OF MAY? SHAME SHAME!
Common sense would tell you that bringing 69k vehicles in all at once wouldn’t work it did you not consider that
Just lay down by your dish and wait till your called!
What should the owners of 2020-21 Bolts do to get the update? My 2021 came with the 90% limitation. Will be nice to get back the 50-60 mile range from the 200 miles I now get.
LG makes crappy appliances so why not crappy batteries?
You’d think they would check and repair if needed the older ones first instead of starting with the 2019 models , unless there’s evidence of the 2019 being more likely to fail.
Great News for my 2017 Bolt ev then….. I do find it difficult to believe they are going to fully test EVERY battery module and change it out if there is a problem…. But I’m prepared to be proved wrong…Nice they are finally addressing this maturely.