General Motors is once again asking owners of 2017-2019 model year Chevy Bolt EV crossovers to park their cars outdoors amid concerns the vehicles will spontaneously catch fire.
The automaker received reports of two separate Chevy Bolt EV battery fires this month, both of which involved vehicles that had already been repaired as part of its widely publicized recall campaign for the battery-electric compact car. One of the fires involved a vehicle owned by a Vermont state lawmaker, while the other involved a private citizen’s vehicle located in New Jersey.
In a statement sent issued Wednesday, GM said it is advising owners of Chevy Bolt EV vehicles involved in the recall campaign to park their vehicles outdoors for the time being.
“General Motors has been notified of two recent Chevrolet Bolt EV fire incidents in vehicles that were remedied as part of the safety recall announced in November 2020,” the company said. “Out of an abundance of caution, we are asking owners of 2017-2019 Chevrolet Bolt EVs who were part of the recall population to park their vehicles outdoors immediately after charging and not leave their vehicles charging overnight while we investigate these incidents.”
GM previously issued a recall for 69,000 examples of the 2017-2019 Chevy Bolt EV after it received numerous reports from owners that their vehicle’s battery pack overheated and suddenly caught fire. As part of the recall campaign, dealers were instructed to inspect the battery packs of affected vehicles and install an onboard diagnostic software capable of detecting major battery pack problems before they occur. Both of the vehicle fires in Vermont and New Jersey involved vehicles that were already repaired as part of the recall campaign, however, prompting GM to issue new safety guidance for owners of affected models.
“At GM, safety is our highest priority, and we are moving as quickly as we can to investigate this issue,” the automaker added.
GM has also offered to buy back some Chevy Bolt EV models involved in the initial recall campaign, but the buyback offers are only being issued in states where certain Lemon Laws apply.
We’ll provide an update on the Chevy Bolt EV battery fires as GM continues to investigate the matter. In the meantime, be sure to subscribe to GM Authority for more Chevrolet Bolt EV news, Chevrolet news, and around-the-clock GM news coverage.
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Like I said last week, time for GM to offer customers of 2017-2019 Bolt EV's a 2021 Bolt in trade or battery replacement, ASAP, do not let this blow up into an ignition switch nightmare, lets show that management learned their lessons...
This is just the start of GM’s all-electric future, I doubt they’ll have this problem with the upcoming Ultium-powered EVs. But still, GM should fix this issue with the Bolt EV.
This isn't a good start.
But GM will use their own Ultium batteries, different from those in the Bolt, made by KG Chem.
"the electric future is now!"
"The electric future is now...on fire in your driveway". "Zero emissions", that is until it's burning in the driveway, or God forbid, your garage. Just imagine what is going into to the atmosphere, as one of these battery-powered turds is ablaze.
I guess you can say GM entered the EV market with a bang.
In all seriousness, GM should do the right thing. The Bolt was a great attempt but there is clearly a flaw somewhere that needs to be resolved. These problems happen with experimental technology.
I do nőt think the technology is so experimental, but LG it seems have some flaws in their manufacturing. Hyundai already recalled all the Kona EV's for battery replacement and Kona used LG cells made in the same battery factory in South Korea, although GM claims there are some differences.
The lack of understanding of the problem shows the technology is not mature. When you understand how a technology works and what's going on and a problem occurs, you can quickly say what's the issue and fix it.
They've had this recall for more than 9 months, and what's worse than not having a solution, is wrongly thinking they fixed it, endangering 2 more families with fires.
I'm really sticking to my guns that GM has the same exact problem as Hyundai with the anode/cathode shorting out that Hyundai found in theirs. GM can claim all the "differences" they want, I think they are playing stupid here and trying to avoid the costs of battery replacement under recall.
GM claimed there were differences in takata airbags too but are now recalling years later!
This is getting out of hand. I have a Bolt and my level 2 charger I paid a lot of money to have installed is INSIDE my garage, not outside where they want them to park. On the Bolt Facebook page dozens of people are getting buy backs. It looks like it is time to do the same. How do they expect people to charge and drive it like a regular vehicle?
these were sold at a huge loss and now people want gm to replace the battery. the chevrolet bolt is the money pit that just keeps growing.
Hehehe, typical gm!
Lowercase gm should call it an external combustion engine or ECE. It is also very green when you have to take the bus after your car is just a pile of burned debris.
Which company manufactured the batteries in the Bolt?
LG Chem
Looks like gm's "all-electric" future is going up in smoke.