Chevrolet Provides New Update On Ongoing Bolt EV Battery Fire Recall

The recall came as a result of sporadic fires. The Hyundai Kona EV is impacted as well.

EVgo Chevy Bolt EV side

Photo by: General Motors

Steven Loveday

By: Steven Loveday

Feb 10, 2021 at 11:00am ET

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According to a recent story published by Electrek, following almost three months of silence, Chevrolet published a minor update about the Bolt EV recall on a Facebook group comment. The GM comment appeared on the Chevy Bolt EV Owners Facebook Group. It reads, via Electrek:

"We wanted to comment here to address some of the common questions in this thread about the Bolt EV recall. While our engineers continue to work around the clock to make progress on a permanent fix, it’s important that impacted owners take steps to mitigate any risk. To learn if your Bolt EV is impacted, please visit: my.gm.com/recalls"

Back in early November, Bolt EV owners were made aware of a battery recall due to vehicle fires. However, since then, they've been patiently (or, in some cases not) waiting for more information from GM. There's a temporary fix, which requires visiting a local dealer and having your charging limited to 90 (or 95) percent. However, GM and LG Chem are working on a permanent fix.

LG has had similar battery-related and fire-related issues with the Hyundai Kona EV, which is much like the Chevy Bolt in many ways. The Kona EV issue also resulted in a recall, as did another concern with LG home charging stations. At the time of writing, none of the recalls have been resolved.

In addition to the quoted text above, GM provided a list of most frequently asked questions, along with answers to help owners better understand the situation, along with various precautions.

Q: Do I need to visit my dealer for the software update or can I just charge to hilltop or 90%? Why?

A: We strongly encourage all owners affected visit their dealer to obtain the software update. This automatically sets the maximum charge to 90% and will provide peace of mind for the customer and prevent them from having to routinely verify the car is set to hilltop reserve.

Q: If I have not taken my car to the dealer for the software update, are there implications for my vehicle warranty?

A: No. The vehicle warranty would not be affected. We strongly encourage all owners affected visit their dealer to obtain the software update.

Q: Is the car safe to drive & have in my garage?

A: Based on our investigation to date and available data from verified incidents, our analysis indicates that reducing the state of charge to 90% will provide a safety margin and mitigate the risks of further incidents.

Q: Will the 90% charge limit be permanent? If so, what do you plan to do to make customers whole who expected a return to full range?

A: We’re continuing to investigate the root cause and our intention is to remove the 90% charge limit once the investigation has been completed and defective battery packs have been identified and replaced or repaired.

What do you think?

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If you own a Bolt EV, and you've been waiting for more details, this Q&A may help a bit. However, it doesn't really get to the bottom of anything. Nonetheless, we appreciate that GM is engaging with owners.

Read More About The Bolt EV And Kona EV Recalls:

Chevy Bolt EV Being Recalled In Face Of Fires

Recently Recalled Hyundai Kona Electric Catches Fire In South Korea

We'd love to hear from Bolt owners about the recall and their experience thus far. Please start a conversation about this in the comment section below.

Source: Chevy Bolt EV Owners Group (Facebook) via Electrek

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