Chevrolet Bolt EV and Bolt EUV battery problems are causing major headaches for both GM and owners
General Motors has sent engineers to LG Chem to help fix the problem
The Chevrolet Bolt EV and its crossover brother, the Chevrolet Bolt EUV, are currently caught in a whirlwind of a recall affecting its lithium-ion batteries.
Production on new models has stopped as GM and LG Chem seek out a solution to fix or replace the batteries on over 140,000 Bolt models produced since 2017. The recall has forced consumers to charge their Bolt electric vehicles outdoors, and not to exceed 90% charge. Moreover, Bolt owners have been told not to let the battery’s charge go lower than 30%.
The recall was announced in August of this year after over a dozen fires were reported since 2019.
The total cost to replace the batteries in every Bolt and Bolt EUV is estimated at 1.8 billion. It’s unfortunate that this problem has plagued the Bolt, an otherwise fine electric vehicle that pioneered the affordable long-range electric vehicle in both Canada and the United States.
GM said it plans to “clean up the manufacturing process” at LG battery plants and improve quality control. It will be interesting to see what kind of legal battles follow as neither company will want to shell out the cost of replacing the batteries.
