This is an huge blow to the Chevy Bolt EV line – they have confirmed five vehicles had their batteries spontaneously catch fire. And they do not know why, yet.
GM is recalling 68,667 of the cars globally from the 2017 through 2019 model years, including nearly 51,000 in the U.S.
Source: GM recalling Chevrolet Bolt EVs due to fire risks amid federal probe
GM dealers will update the software to prevent full charging of the batteries, cutting range by about 10%, as an interim solution. Alternatively, they ask owners to not fully charge their batteries or to not park inside garages or car ports. The latter may be tough – many people charge their vehicles at home, inside the garage and might not have 220 v access available outside. Many who live in apartments and condos only have “carport” or “garage parking” – and have no place to park their vehicles outside. Plus, being winter time, range is already reduced by cold temperatures. This is a bit of mess.
All of the fires involved nearly fully charged batteries so they assume (but don’t know) that this is the cause.
They do not expect to have a real solution until sometime in 2021 – and it is not clear that this interim solution solves the problem, either.
