2017 - 2019 Chevrolet Bolt Battery Recall Due to Fire Possibility

This is turning out to be bigger than originally thought. General Motors has announced a recall of approximately 51,000 2017 through 2019 Chevrolet Bolt EVs. The problem is the chance of a fire in the high-voltage battery pack, which could occur even when the vehicle is stopped, parked, and not plugged in to charge. One issue is, though, that Chevrolet’s repair here can impact the battery life of Bolt and, in certain situations, cause it to not perform as well by manipulating the Target Charge Level of the battery, and overall battery pack life.

Both the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and GM are investigating complaints from owners and have confirmed five instances of fires related to the problem. NHTSA's investigation report indicates that the agency is also investigating 2020 model year Bolt EVs and gives a total of vehicles potentially affected of 77,842. See also Chevrolet lemon law.

The NHTSA Investigation Report can be found here and here is the Recall Acknowledgement on NHTSA.

NHTSA Campaign Number: 20V701000

Manufacturer General Motors LLC

Components ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

Potential Number of Units Affected 50,932

Summary

General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling all 2017-2018 and certain 2019 Chevrolet Bolt EV vehicles. The high voltage battery could catch fire when charged to full or nearly full capacity.

Remedy

GM will notify owners, and as an interim repair, beginning on November 17, 2020, dealers will reprogram the hybrid propulsion control module 2 (HPCM2) to limit the full charge to 90%, free of charge. Owners are advised to activate either the Hill Top Reserve (2017 and 2018 models) or Target Charge Level (2019 models) feature in their vehicle to limit the charge level to 90%, or park outside, until the software update is completed. The final remedy is still under development. Owners were notified of the interim repair beginning November 17, 2020. A second notice will be mailed when the final repair becomes available. Owners may contact the Bolt EV Concierge Team at 1-833-382-4389. GM's number for this recall is N202311730.

Notes

Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.

If you're in California and you’ve taken your Chevrolet Bolt to a dealership for issues relating to the battery or any warranty condition, we can help you…. AT NO COST TO YOU! Valero Law, APC is a California consumer protection firm dedicated to protecting the lemon law rights of California consumers and ALL cases are taken on a contingency basis, meaning if there is no recovery, there is absolutely no fee to you!