Chevy Bolt Recall Affects 69K Electric Cars Due to Fire Risk

A Chevy Bolt recall affects nearly 69,000 of GM’s electric cars around the world. At least five fires, one of which ignited a house, have reportedly been traced to a vehicle defect in Bolt batteries.

General Motors is conducting an investigation into why the lithium-ion batteries are appearing to spontaneously spark. The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) began its own investigation into the fires in October. So far, each fire has purportedly stated under the rear seat when the batteries were fully charged or almost fully charged. In every instance, the Bolts were parked, and no one was around.

Chevy Bolt Recall Due to Batteries

Chevrolet Bolt Executive Chief Engineer Jesse Ortega spoke with members of the press over the phone on Nov. 13 and said the batteries that have been deemed problematic were all manufactured at an LG Chem location in South Korea. The recalled Bolts are model years 2017 through 2019 that contain the lithium ion batteries made overseas.

Until a permanent solution to the issue is found, Ortega said GM dealerships will install a computer software that will stop the batteries from charging beyond a 90% capacity.

In the meantime, GM is recommending owners and lessees of Bolts to manually adjust the setting on the battery to prevent a full charge. Any owner who is not able to adjust the setting before the dealership can install the charge-limiting software is advised to park the car outdoors and away from homes or other structures.

“These vehicles can catch fire even if they are turned off, parked, and disconnected from a charging unit,” warned the NHTSA.

Ortega said a number of 2019 Chevy Bolts and every 2020 and 2021 Bolt all contain batteries that were manufactured at the LG Chem factory in Holland, Mich., and are not affected by the recall.

What is a Lithium-Ion Battery?

Lithium-ion batteries are low-maintenance batteries. According to Battery University, a lithium-ion battery has an energy density that is about twice as high as found in nickel-cadmium batteries.

Still, the Chevy Bolt recall is not the first among electric vehicles to face a recall due to battery issues. Hyundai Motor Co., BMW AG and Ford Motor Co. are other automobile manufacturers that have had to make similar decisions.

In October, Hyundai announced it would recall 77,000 Kona electric vehicles after more than a dozen reports of fires. The battery pack is made by HL Green Power, which is described as a joint venture between Hyundai Mobis and LG Chem.

BMW issued a stop sale order on a variety of its hybrid models due to concerns that overheated batteries will start a fire. Nearly 27,000 vehicles around the world are affected.

Ford Motor Co. decided not to start making a Ford Escape plug-in hybrid SUV for the 2021 model year after its European version, the Kuga, was linked to fires. The Kuga and the Escape were going to have the identical engine and battery, but now, an investigation has begun to determine the source of the fires in Europe, as reported by Bloomberg. Hybrid Kugas can continue to be used and driven without being plugged into a charger as long as they are in hybrid mode, which Ford currently recommends.

Last year, Forbes reported that Tesla’s 2012 Model S was one of the first true electric cars, and that even then, one owner said that according to the owner’s manual, the battery was not be charged greater than 90%.

It’s also not recommended to run an electric vehicle’s battery down so far that an extremely low voltage damages the cells.