General Motors must once again repair its Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicles due to fire hazards.
The automaker had to recall 142,000 bolts worldwide a few years ago because of the problem. On Tuesday, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued a recall of 107 Chevrolet Bolt EVs and EUVs, an SUV-like style of vehicle, due to fire hazards. This new recall affects 2020-2022 model year Bolt vehicles previously repaired for such a hazard.
In its post, NHTSA stated: “The installation of advanced diagnostic software may have failed. As such, the high-voltage battery could catch fire when charged to full or near full capacity.”
NHTSA said Chevrolet dealers will reinstall advanced diagnostic software free of charge to resolve the problem. Until then, NHTSA advises owners of affected vehicles to take the following steps to avoid fire hazards:
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Set the ‘target charge level’ function in their vehicle to 90%.
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Charge the vehicle more often.
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Make sure the battery does not run out until there is a range of 70 miles remaining.
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Park outside after charging.
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Do not charge the vehicle indoors overnight.
GM spokesman Kevin Kelly said the automaker is not aware of any Bolts catching fire as a result of this problem. He said GM’s voluntary recall of certain bolts is being made to properly install advanced diagnostic software from “a previous field operation involving these vehicles.”
“The software may not identify defective battery modules that need to be replaced, increasing the risk of a potential vehicle fire,” Kelly said. “The safety and satisfaction of our customers are our highest priorities and we are working to resolve this matter as quickly as possible.”
This latest recall, although small, still poses a serious risk. It comes after GM faced customer scrutiny and a lawsuit following three recalls of its Bolt and Bolt EUVs that began in late 2020 and culminated nearly a year later with a total of 142,000 Bolt vehicles recalled worldwide, starting with the 2017 model year and the 2022 model year.
Those recalls were due to battery defects that could cause a fire. Eighteen Bolts had caught fire while parking; GM confirmed that 13 of these were caused by defective batteries.
GM and LG Energy Solutions, the battery manufacturer for the affected Bolts, replaced the defective batteries with upgraded battery packs and gave Bolt owners new limited warranties of eight years or 100,000 miles. LG reimbursed GM for $1.9 billion in costs and expenses related to the Bolt recall due to manufacturing defects in the battery modules LG supplied.
The Bolt, which GM had built at Orion Assembly in Orion Township, went out of production in December 2023 so GM could retool Orion Assembly to begin production of the Chevrolet Silverado EV in mid-2026. GM will reintroduce the Bolt in 2025 using its newer Ultium propulsion system.
In April of this year, there were only a handful of new Bolts on dealer lots. The Bolt was GM’s best-selling EV, so the automaker said it would release a new version of it in 2025, to be built at GM’s Fairfax Assembly plant in Kansas.
NHTSA said owner notification letters are expected to be mailed on December 16 and owners can contact the Bolt EV Concierge Team at 1-833-382-4389.
Contact Jamie L. LaReau at jlareau@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @jlareauan. Learn more about General Motors and sign up for our automotive newsletter. Become a subscriber.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: GM is again recalling some Chevy Bolts due to fire hazard
