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If you own a 2017-2019 Chevy Bolt, heads up, General Motors is recalling them again for potential fire risks. If anyone is keeping score, this is the second time the company has had to issue a recall for the Chevy Bolt. Yea, not good.
Earlier this month, we reported that Chevy Bolt models from 2017 to 2019 might be at risk of catching fire. The cause of these fires has been linked to a recent recall of nearly 70,000 vehicles due to hazardous batteries catching on fire. But, unfortunately, it looks like the remedy involved with that recall didn’t ultimately fix the problem.
So why a second recall? Apparently, Chevy pushed out a software fix that helped prevent the battery pack from igniting into flames. Well, as it turns out, the fix didn’t help because an additional two more Bolts caught on fire since the original recall was announced in November 2020.
So what’s the issue here? Why are all these battery packs catching on fire? According to The Verge, the company says the battery cells found in the battery suffer from some manufacturing defects. Unfortunately, General Motors won’t say exactly what these defects are.
As part of GM’s commitment to safety, experts from GM and LG have identified the simultaneous presence of two rare manufacturing defects in the same battery cell as the root cause of battery fires in certain Chevrolet Bolt EVs. As a result, GM will be conducting a new recall for the previous population of Bolt EVs (2017-2019) to address the risk of battery fires in these vehicles.
If you’re a Chevy Bolt owner whose vehicle is affected by this recall, General Motors urges owners to take extreme precautions with their vehicle. This includes not charging the vehicle past 90 percent or letting it dip below 27 percent of battery life. This gives you about 155 miles of driving life until a fix is pushed out.
The main takeaway here is that you shouldn’t charge or park your Chevy Bolt at home overnight. GM is extremely adamant about this. The last thing you want is your car catching on fire and setting your home ablaze. More details about the recall’s added safety measures can be found here on the recall website.
GM says they’re still working on pushing out the recall. Once it’s ready, technicians will inspect the customer’s battery packs and replace any modules that contain problematic cells in the battery pack. The recall covers about 69,000 cars globally, including nearly 51,000 in the U.S.
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