Chevy Bolt EV Forum banner
  • Hey Guest, welcome to ChevyBolt.org. We encourage you to register to engage in conversations about your Bolt.

GM warns Bolt EV owners: Don’t park them inside or charge them unattended overnight

69K views 505 replies 132 participants last post by  p7wang 
#1 ·
#2 ·
From the verbiage currently there, I'm not 100% sure that GM has confirmed or not that Vermont and NJ fires had the "final remedy" installed:
One of the fires occurred while the vehicle was charging at the home of a a Vermont state lawmaker earlier this month. The other fire happened in New Jersey, a spokesman for GM said, adding that it was notified about it earlier this week.

“General Motors has been notified of two recent Chevrolet Bolt EV fire incidents in vehicles that were remedied as part of the safety recall announced in November 2020,” the company said in an emailed statement. “Out of an abundance of caution, we are asking owners of 2017-2019 Chevrolet Bolt EVs who were part of the recall population to park their vehicles outdoors immediately after charging and not leave their vehicles charging overnight while we investigate these incidents.”

Customers who have not had the repair completed should still visit their dealer for the recall while our investigation continues, according to the automaker.
From looking at https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2020/RCMN-20V701-9157.pdf, it looks like the '19 model year final remedy came out around April 29, 2021 then from https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2020/RCMN-20V701-8248.pdf, the one covering '17 and '18 came out May 26, 2021.

These are all from the 35 (currently) associated docs at 2017 CHEVROLET BOLT 4 DR FWD | NHTSA.
 
#5 ·
From the verbiage currently there, I'm not 100% sure that GM has confirmed or not that Vermont and NJ fires had the "final remedy" installed:
I recall from a thread elsewhere on this board that a neighbor of the Vermont legislator reported that he heard the warning beeps associated with the second software fix, just before the fire broke out. Do I have that right?

Frankly, that's the situation that has me more alarmed. I assume the state legislator would have no particular reason to dissemble about details of his fire.
 
#3 ·
After the latest fire from a "fixed" recalled vehicle, GM made the following announcement :

Well, it bought back my car--one of the recalled '19Bolts, on June 16th, and I'm now driving a '22 EUV. Glad I made that decision.
 
#4 ·
“Out of an abundance of caution, we are asking owners of 2017-2019 Chevrolet Bolt EVs who were part of the recall population to park their vehicles outdoors immediately after charging and not leave their vehicles charging overnight while we investigate these incidents.”

Great. I called my electric utility company and switched to time-of-use metering within months of buying my Bolt in 2019, which means I ONLY charge overnight. Now what do I do? This warning from GM does not fill me with confidence.

I have not been overly alarmed about the battery-recall situation until very recently. I went to my dealer and had both of the recall software fixes done on my 2019 LT, which I bought new in October 2019. Now, suddenly, I feel somewhat activated to press GM for a buyback, or at least a battery replacement. (I doubt my chances for success, since I suspect Virginia's lemon laws won't support a buyback.)

Is anyone else newly alarmed?
 
#13 ·
Great. I called my electric utility company and switched to time-of-use metering within months of buying my Bolt in 2019, which means I ONLY charge overnight. Now what do I do?
Can you charge on the outside of your garage door?
That is what I am doing now. Slip the charge cord under the door (and use a piece of wood to make sure the cord isn't pinched).
Of course, that will only work if your EVSE is close to the garage door.
There are extension cord options also (J1772 or NEMA 14-50, etc..) that might work...
 
#7 ·
Mods, can we merge at least this thread with the other one?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Digi
#8 ·
Learn About currently has this verbiage:
JULY 14 2021 IMPORTANT UPDATE FROM GENERAL MOTORS
General Motors has been notified of two recent Chevrolet Bolt EV fire incidents in vehicles that were remedied as part of the safety recall announced in November 2020.
Since this is straight from the horse's mouth (and not news media), perhaps this indicates the final remedy was installed on both of them?
 
#357 · (Edited)
That's not good. Hopefully they just start replacing battery packs and be done with it.

What do you think they'll do for anyone who bought a Bolt used?
I bought my 2017 Bolt used from Shift.com last April. I don't know what Chevrolet will say about that. The power train battery has an 8-year warranty that moves along with any subsequent owners, so I understand-- maybe we can ask for newer power train batteries, the ones that are not having this problem?
 
#366 ·
ABSOLUTELY they should start replacing battery packs!!! That is THE ONLY solution to correct the issue and give EV customers what they PAID FOR!!! The "software fix" is bullshitt!!

They won't do JACK for used car buyers, you can bet on that!!
 
#18 ·
GM should just re-use the old SNL Happy Fun Ball skit, just substitute "Bolt EV" where appropriate.

Yes, it’s Happy Fun Ball! The toy sensation that’s sweeping the nation! Only $14.95 at participating stores! Get one today!
Warning: Pregnant women, the elderly, and children under 10 should avoid prolonged exposure to Happy Fun Ball.
Caution: Happy Fun Ball may suddenly accelerate to dangerous speeds.
Happy Fun Ball contains a liquid core, which, if exposed due to rupture, should not be touched, inhaled, or looked at.
Do not use Happy Fun Ball on concrete.
Discontinue use of Happy Fun Ball if any of the following occurs:
  • itching
  • vertigo
  • dizziness
  • tingling in extremities
  • loss of balance or coordination
  • slurred speech
  • temporary blindness
  • profuse sweating
  • heart palpitations.
If Happy Fun Ball begins to smoke, get away immediately. Seek shelter and cover head.
Happy Fun Ball may stick to certain types of skin.
When not in use, Happy Fun Ball should be returned to its special containerand kept under refrigeration. Failure to do so relieves the makers of HappyFun Ball, Wacky Products Incorporated, and its parent company, GlobalChemical Unlimited, of any and all liability.
Ingredients of Happy Fun Ball include an unknown glowing green substance which fell to Earth, presumably from outer space.
Happy Fun Ball has been shipped to our troops in Saudi Arabia and is being dropped by our warplanes on Iraq.
Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball.
Happy Fun Ball comes with a lifetime warranty.
Happy Fun Ball! Accept no substitutes!
 
#25 ·
GM should just re-use the old SNL Happy Fun Ball skit, just substitute "Bolt EV" where appropriate.
. . .

Happy Fun Ball comes with a lifetime warranty.
Happy Fun Ball! Accept no substitutes!
"All for the incredible low, low, low, low price of only $14.95.
But wait! If you act now, we'll send you an extra Happy Fun Ball for free! Just pay separate shipping and handling."
 
#101 ·
Yup! It always seemed to me that - with production numbers so low, the Bolt was actually a “test balloon”, or “proof-of-concept” vehicle intended to gain consumer trust for the higher volume models to follow.

To gain trust, it would be bad enough to have quality issues with repeated cell failures or complaints regarding range, but they absolutely could not have Lithium batteries catching fire!

So what did they do? It appears they took a nap while LG produced the batteries for them - because even after uncovering production problems at the LG Plant in Korea (very likely sometime in 2018), they still did not add a secondary level of protection in their software!

Instead, their “plan“ was to simply blame LG!

So months went by writing software to detect possible fires in the batteries. What took them so long? It’s their code. They know it like the back of their hands! It’s logic they should’ve already had in there! No one had already written any of this code beforehand?

Makes me wonder if what they were really doing is negotiating a deal with LG over the cost of the failed batteries.

But hey - why not stick the money in your pocket and give the software “fix” a try first?

I think you guys are gonna get your batteries replaced after all.
 
#23 ·
#31 ·
This situation has gone from sad to heart-breaking. Before the fire issue popped up the Bolt was one of the most trouble-free EVs out there. The infrequent need for service was something to brag about. Especially against Tesla. Now with a caution to not charge the car over night, AT ALL, it's the reverse. Neighbors of Bolt owners, unclear which years are affected, will be replacing the batteries in their smoke alarms, taking their children off the streets, and holding neighborhood meetings about that family with the Bolt.

Sad.
 
#33 ·
Well, you may laugh but physical mail is the MOST reliable form of communication. And it is also generally the only form recognized by courts. No court will ever accept "I put a notice on FaceBook so I am covered" as acceptance of a notice.

You put a stamp on an envelope and the Post Office has a duty to deliver. Emails will be blocked, sent to Spam, immediately deleted, not read, faked, forged etc etc. Then you will say, what about the app? Well, I turn notifications OFF for just about every app I have.

This sort of thing takes time for notifications. You may think we live in the world of easy reliable communication but we don't.

Now, what I could see them do to ensure everybody affected was notified ASAP. Force an OnStar message to be sent to contact OnStar and force it to alert every time until they replied.
 
#35 ·
2017 Bolt. Fix #1 not done. "Final" Fix #2 not done. (might as well wait now until dust settles).

Always charge to ~88-89% Hilltop.

I thought that fix #1 served to limit charging to ~90% which was supposed to be safe. So in charging only to Hilltop I'm still safe to stay inside ?

And I'm still okay to leave it plugged in, inside garage after charge cycle has completed ? I like plugged in, to check/maintain 12v battery and do traction battery conditioning.
 
#38 ·
2017 Bolt. Fix #1 not done. "Final" Fix #2 not done. (might as well wait now until dust settles).

Always charge to ~88-89% Hilltop.

I thought that fix #1 served to limit charging to ~90% which was supposed to be safe. So in charging only to Hilltop I'm still safe to stay inside ?

And I'm still okay to leave it plugged in, inside garage after charge cycle has completed ? I like plugged in, to check/maintain 12v battery and do traction battery conditioning.
I strongly suggest you get the final remedy (#2) done pronto even if it's not 100% effective. Without it, you have NONE of the extra monitoring. #1 wasn't a fix. It was a temp patch.

You can read the procedure at https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2020/RCSB-20V701-3618.pdf and Bolt EV Battery Cell Inspection – TechLink along with https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2020/RMISC-20V701-9809.pdf.

What if your Bolt catches fire and it's found you decided to ignore both, esp. the latter?

Some folks have had their vehicles fail the tests at the dealer and some have had the new DTC tripped.
 
#42 ·
I live in a place where the only parking spot available is in my garage. And I'm on a TOU rate where I charge overnight and in addition if I don't charge overnight, I won't have enough range to get to work and back.

So I guess my place is gonna burn? :(
Maybe call Concierge and ask for a loaner. If you can not use your car as needed you need an immediate remedy.
 
#47 ·
Did some research on lemon laws after seeing the guy who purchased in California and moved out of state having trouble because GM wanted him to turn in the car in California... The Lemon law that counts is the law in the state where you purchased the car. I am so lucky that I purchased in Tennessee! Tennessee has very strong Lemon Law, Arkansas (where I live) has pathetic Lemon Law. Now that I know I am covered under Tennessee law I will be pursuing a buy back on my wife's Bolt...We love the car, so if they want to offer me a new battery ASAP that would be the preferred option. Barring that, we will be open to a direct swap for a 2021, or 2022 Bolt in lieu of a buyback. I really wish I had pursued a buyback months ago when this crap first started, but I was under the impression that I would be subject to Arkansas Lemon Law and that would have been a no-go on buyback pressure.

Keith
 
#49 · (Edited)
Hm, so I bought mine in MA and live in NH. I have a 2019 that likely has the US pack (wasn't part of the original recall), but that now doesn't seem to matter based on this latest release. I did get the recall update for the 2019 as soon as it was available. This one has me wondering if buy back might be warranted. Seems they don't have a clue what they're doing.

Question for those that went the buy back route. Did it end up costing you money if they replaced it with a newer one? Or if you just had them buy it completely back, did you get what you paid for it?
 
#68 · (Edited)
Question for those that went the buy back route. Did it end up costing you money if they replaced it with a newer one? Or if you just had them buy it completely back, did you get what you paid for it?
Results have varied but from what I can tell here's your rough options for buyback vs. swap, assuming you live in a state with strong, consumer-friendly lemon laws and purchased your vehicle new:

1) BUYBACK amount will have usage deductions subtracted from your initial purchase price (including tax, doc etc.) using guidelines from the lemon laws of your particular state. For example, I have 22k miles on my 2019 Bolt, live in California and usage deduction was roughly $5k. If you paid anywhere close to MSRP for your Bolt, taking the buyback route is by far the best option. It's also faster than a MSRP swap, especially given the current issues with chip shortages, etc.

2) MSRP SWAP for any Chevy vehicle. There appears to be a lot more 'wiggle room' here if done properly. Chevy mentions in the buyback/swap offer letter they send you about applying usage deductions for swaps as well but that has not been my experience and I didn't have to fight (at all) to get a straight across the board MSRP to MSRP swap. You can swap to ANY Chevy vehicle in stock at a dealer or online at chevy's website. I think it's possible you could ask for another GM vehicle though I haven't personally tested this. The most common swap process is for you or your concierge rep to find a local Chevy dealer who is willing to host the swap process (all the dealerships hate this) and then you typically choose a vehicle in their inventory for the swap. This can backfire because sometimes the dealership sells your chosen car before you can take ownership and then everything starts over again to find another vehicle. You can also request to configure a car to your liking online at chevrolet.com (this is the route I'm going). In my case they are giving me full MSRP credit so I'm able to move from a base model 2019 LT to a fully loaded 2022 Bolt EV LT2 with all options for $0 out of pocket. I considered getting a Camaro SS 1le (doable) and even a Corvette (a man can dream).

The process (regardless if you choose what's behind door #1 or #2 above) is excruciatingly slow and can easily take months to complete and possibly longer if there's a flood of new cases because of all this recent NHTSA Bolt drama. The good news is that once you are assigned a case number and get your physical offer letter from GM (which happens quickly) you are IN THE SYSTEM and only in a very few cases have people gotten these letters and then down the line were denied by GM. This means that you can relax and just let the whole thing play out. In the meantime you get a free car to use (your old Bolt) that GM will either cut a check for or replace with a better, brand new vehicle of your choosing! Be friendly and understanding with the reps you speak with because they have one of the worst jobs: having to talk all day every day with Chevy dealerships to make them do stuff.
 
#52 ·
Assuming you don't burn with your house. 😆
It's sad that I had to strategically park my Bolt in my driveway yesterday asking myself "OK, if it catches on fire, is it far enough away from the house to not also catch the house and my neighbor's car on fire too?"
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top