Jay Leno Sure EVs Aren’t Going Away Even After Chevy Bolt Recall

This may look quite bad for GM right now, but Leno says the Bolt situation won't be a major setback for EVs.

By: Andrei Nedelea

Sep 21, 2021 at 7:59am ET

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Jay Leno is probably the world’s most famous and successful car guy, with an enviable collection of vehicles that span more than a hundred years. However, even if he knows so much and speaks so passionately about steam cars and old Bugattis, Jay is also all in on electric vehicles too, owning several himself.

He’s therefore well known for his passion for EVs (he even has some of the world’s oldest electric cars, like the 1901 Baker Electric Runabout) and now he’s made some comments regarding the recent Chevrolet Bolt EV recall.

In the unlikely case that you may not know about this, defective battery packs are causing Bolt EVs and Bolt EUVs to catch fire and this has prompted GM to recall all affected vehicles and eventually have their battery packs replaced - the manufacturer has also temporarily halted production of the models and is asking owners to park their vehicles outside and keep the state of charge within certain limits.

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It’s like every other day another one goes up in flames, most recently in Georgia. But Jay Leno told CNBC that his overall outlook on the future of EVs is still very optimistic. Leno said

The last days of old technology are always better than the first days of new technology, but we’re beyond the first days of new technology. I mean, the electric car is here to stay. I predict a child born today will probably drive in a gasoline powered car about as often as you would drive in a car with a stick shift now.

And specifically regarding the Bolt recall situation, he explained

I mean the advantage, if there is one, to an EV fire is, it doesn’t blow up. You’re in it, you smell something, there’s smoke, and then it doesn’t go up in a ball the way a gasoline car would. That’s not to say it’s not dangerous and, hopefully, they’ll fix the problem.