General Motors has announced a recall of all Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicles due to a risk of battery fires in the Chevy Bolt EVs (2017-2022) and Chevy Bolt EUVs (2022).
For now, Chevy Bolt owners will have to wait for GM to notify customers on the availability of new replacement lithium ion batteries for Chevrolet Bolt EVs and EUVs with defective lithium ion battery modules.
Until then, to ensure owners of the electric vehicles stay safe, GM is asking them to do these three things immediately:
- Set your Chevy Bolt to a 90% state of charge limitation using Hilltop Reserve mode (for 2017-2018 Chevy Bolt model years) or Target Charge Level (for 2019-2022 Chevy Bolt model year) mode. There is a video on Chevrolet’s website that explains how to activate Hilltop Reserve mode which will limit the battery charge to 90%.
- Charge your Bolt vehicle more frequently and avoid depleting the battery below 70 miles of remaining range.
- Park your Chevy Bolt outside immediately after charging and do not charge it indoors overnight.
GM sold more than 20,000 Chevy Bolt electric vehicles in 2020. Bolt sales peaked at almost 23,300 units in 2017. Many drivers impacted by the Chevy Bolt recall have their cars on the road here in the Finger Lakes. In April the company said it would make new diagnostic software standard in the 2022 Bolt EV and electric utility vehicles, as well as future GM electric vehicles.
According to the NHTSA, this new recall affects an additional 59,392 model year 2019-2022 vehicles which were not covered in previous recall announcements in November 2020 and July 2021. The earlier recalls for model year 2017-2019 vehicles involved 50,932 vehicles.
Chevy Bolt owners can visit NHTSA.gov/recalls and enter their 17-digit vehicle identification number (VIN) for more information on this recall.
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