Chevy Bolt EV Recalled For Risk Of Fire Caused By Seat Belts
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GM has issued a product recall for certain examples of the Chevy Bolt EV over an issue related to the vehicle’s seat belt pretensioners, which in rare cases may result in a fire.
The problem: in affected units, exhaust gases emitted by front seat belt pretensioners may come into contact with carpet fibers following a crash.
The hazards: in rare cases, these exhaust gases may come into contact with carpet fibers after a crash and result in a fire. It’s reported that GM has identified three vehicle fires which possibly resulted from the seat belt pretensioner exhaust gas issue.
The fix: Chevy dealers will install a metal foil along the carpet located near the pretensioner exhaust. Alternatively, some models may have a pretensioner cover installed.
Affected components: front seat belt pretensioners. Seat belt pretensioners are designed to pull a passenger into a proper seating position shortly before a crash occurs, giving the passenger the best possible chance at avoiding injury.
Affected vehicles: affected units of the Chevy Bolt EV are mainly located in the U.S. and Canada, in addition to other markets as well, and span the 2017 through 2023 model years. Notably, the new Chevy Bolt EUV is not affected by this recall, nor are the Cruise fleet vehicles. Cruise is GM’s autonomous vehicle division, and is currently operating a fleet of Chevy Bolt EVs to test its autonomous driving technology.
Number of affected vehicles: 111,242 Chevy Bolt EVs have been recalled in the United States as a result of this issue, along with 19,898 units in Canada. Nearly 140,000 units could be affected globally.
Owners should: GM will notify owners of affected vehicles in January 2023, and instruct them to make an appointment with their dealer.
Any American owners that are unsure whether or not their vehicle is affected by this recall can visit my.gm.com/recalls and type in their VIN to view any open recalls for their vehicle or other action that may be active on it. Canadian owners can do the same at my.gm.ca/gm/en/recalls.
Owners can also reach out to Chevrolet, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), or Transport Canada directly with any questions or concerns they may have.
Contact:
- GM recall number: N222383790
- Chevy Customer Service: 1-800-222-1020
- GM Canada Customer Service: 1-800-263-3777
- NHTSA: 1-888-327-4236
- Transport Canada: 1-866-995-9737
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Oofda May! these things are the Pinto’s of the modern era.
for crying out loud…. just rename it Fireball already!
What kind of rates do insurance companies charge for these things!?
Things : an object that one need not, cannot, or does not wish to give a specific name to.
A Bolt is not a thing, it is a vehicle.
As for insurance, here in Montreal it would cost about $1060 with full coverage but not replacement. That is extra.
And quite a bit extra.
This just doesn’t bode well for GM. If this sh*t happens with the new Equinox and Blazer EV’s, the few customers GM will have left won’t be able to help sustain them and they’ll go bankrupt, never to return.
Interesting. So the explosions from seat belts (for the pre-tensioners) may cause a fire risk. Ya know, things can and do tend to catch fire with explosions.
This brings me to the (my) question of when is enough, enough? If you produce a good vehicle with a safe design, if that car has the “normal” amount of airbags, if you use your seatbelt and IF you drive in a safe manner, then that is the safest car you can have. Believe me when I say a company can go over the top on some of these things, because working with Volvo cars I see it daily. All these electronic nannies and exploding seatbelts and lidars/radars can be a little much IMO.
It’s interesting because one study from Deloitte claims 40% of the cost of new cars is from electronics alone. When I heard that, I immediately wished car companies would release an entry model with as little electronics as possible. How affordable could it be? Maybe $14,000 MSRP for a compact sedan?
A few Q’s.
– Do any other GM vehicles have the same seatbelt pretensioner and carpet fibers?
– Are they susceptible to this problem?
– If the Bolt is the only vehicle to have this problem, then why?
I don’t want to be cynical, but I am concerned that this is yet another battery fire problem that is being blamed on the seatbelt pretensioner to delay the inevitable recall as gm tries to resolve it.
Yes, we had a recall for the exact same pretensioner carpet fire on the 19-20 T1 Silverado/Sierras.
Search recall N192270600 or the article “GM Recalls 2019-2020 Chevrolet Silverado, GMC Sierra Over Fire Risk” on this site.
That’s good to know, but that’s from 2019. Seems baffling that the same problem would be delayed by 3 years.