Wow. I haven't seen any freaking out. Lots of social chatter and arm-chair analysis sure.
You can help yourself to whatever risk level you're comfortable with. I'll not charge greater than 90% (other than a longer trip) until this is figured out. I'm parked in an enclosed condo parking garage. My risk comfort doesn't cause me to park elsewhere.

 

We have people talking about buying used firefighting masks off eBay anticipating a Bolt bonfire. I consider that a freakout.

 

Ok.
Then there were those earlier on before the recall who were slammed for parking outside just in case. Now they're vindicated.
People want to be able to have forethought to protect their hard-earned things, or more so they're loved ones. So they might only be able to park in their garage. So they get smoke detectors. Maybe the mask was so they could push the thing out and not choke on toxic fumes until the FD arrives.
Yes...only a handful have been reported. Some property damage from fire and toxic smoke. Fortunately no injuries yet (I think).
But until this is resolved, wouldn't the reasonable person prefer to have some caution...just in case. It's not freaking out to be cautious. Or mitigation thoughts.

 

Ok.
Then there were those earlier on before the recall who were slammed for parking outside just in case. Now they're vindicated.
People want to be able to have forethought to protect their hard-earned things, or more so they're loved ones. So they might only be able to park in their garage. So they get smoke detectors. Maybe the mask was so they could push the thing out and not choke on toxic fumes until the FD arrives.
Yes...only a handful have been reported. Some property damage from fire and toxic smoke. Fortunately no injuries yet (I think).
But until this is resolved, wouldn't the reasonable person prefer to have some caution...just in case. It's not freaking out to be cautious. Or mitigation thoughts.

Fair enough. I understand if there's anywhere to discuss this topic ad nauseum, it's this forum. Just wanting to provide the other side of the coin argument that there are millions of Bolt miles with very few incidents and it's a great car. Seems like there are more than a handful of Ralph Naders coming out though.

 

I love my Bolt. It has been steady for me since I got it May of '19. I'm disappointed at the moment that I have to have a back of mind worry. Then a little discouraged by another post about an Equinox problem. I really hope they come up with a cheap easy permanent fix so that we can all carry on forgetting about worrying over the car igniting.
I also agree about the miniscule chance and that it's only been so few cars. The Hyundai counted up to the teens...not a handful. But here we are. Officially recognized as a problem for them to "do something".

 

Ralph Nader was a pioneer in car consumer safety and trying to shame people by labeling them is hurtful and ignorant. I suppose you don't buckle your seatbelt?
Read this article and maybe get educated.

50 Years Ago, ‘Unsafe at Any Speed’ Shook the Auto World (Published 2015)

Today, even some critics of Ralph Nader’s 1965 book acknowledge its impact on the auto industry and safety.

www.nytimes.com

 

I'm not sure the Corvair was as devilish as Nader portrayed it to be.

 

I wonder ...why now all of a sudden. Whats the timeframe for the 5 fires? Bolt has been out since 2017 so all of sudden we have fires?

 

Because stuff happens when it suppose to happen and not a moment sooner.

 

Many of you have already seen it, I would guess. But those who have not, there was an article on 'Inside EVs' that might be of interest to readers of this topic and Bolt EV owners everywhere. It's by owner who had multiple battery pack replacements, and indirectly provides information about the fires. Personally, I found the story to be reassuring in a way, suggesting that Chevy is truly acting to correct issues that come to light only through widening use:
My Chevy Bolt Is On Third Battery Pack: Here's Why

Enjoy!

[-tv]

 

I remember the time I drove my girlfriend's Corvair into the backend of our next-door neighbor's Ford Fairlane. She was stopping to pick up two girls walking along the road...the same two I was ogling

The amazing thing was I was able to drive the Corvair home, but the trunk of the Fairlane was pushed into its backseat.

 

How many KIAs caught on fire before KIA did anything?

Not sure how many Bolts were sold in the USA, how many more worldwide (Europe).
Did we have more fires outside US?

I never charge to 100% unless I am leaving within a short period of time for a long trip.
If it catches on fire while I am driving - well, let it be. I will have the chance to film it lol

 

My car should be up in flames by now , I tend to Charge to 100% often...... like all the time , good thing that I park outside instead of the garage , I’ll do my best to charge to 90% but I don’t know 🤔 , maybe I’ll install a WiFi smoke detector in my car lol.
Reminds me of an old Mini Cooper that I used to have, the electric power steering pump was notorious for baking some Minis, I don’t think that there was a recall for that but I parked outside far from the house.

 

Reminds me of an old Mini Cooper that I used to have, the electric power steering pump was notorious for baking

My buddy's ex had the electric steering break in her mini.

 

There are more than 170,000 vehicle fires yearly, in the US. But I've never heard of anyone afraid to drive an ICE due to fire danger. Ref: https://www.usfa.fema.gov/downloads/pdf/statistics/v19i2.pdf
(BTW, I've twice seen autos go up in flames by the side of the road; it's a truly impressive sight)

 

It's not just about worrying whether my particular allegedly defective battery pack will burst into flames at any moment. It's about the fact that the short term "fix" is really just a SWAG, because the engineer in the video clearly says they don't really know yet what's wrong or why it's happening. They merely hope this "90% charge fix" will prevent anymore fires. What this is really about at this moment is that I'm stuck with a defective, crippled, at least temporarily worthless car, and that nobody in their right mind should be buying one right now. Sure, I can drive it, though not as far. Sure, it looks the same as it did before the recall, but now I have a worthless hunk of metal that I couldn't sell even if I wanted to. In the meantime, it's crippled in that the maximum range has been cut by at least 10%. I've used the entirety of that 100% range on a couple of occasions, coasting into my driveway on spare electrons, and plugging it in immediately. So, don't make light of this. It's my defective crippled car, it's my wallet, and it's my perspective of what GM had done to me as a a result. Think I'm buying another GM car any time soon, as in ever? Not bloody likely, unless I get a new battery pack and a certificate saying my car is 100% awesome and that it's full retail value is unaffected by this nonsense.

 

it's crippled in that the maximum range has been cut by at least 10%

Preliminary reports are that Raw SOC is what is reduced to 90% and you can only have charged to ~96.5% at full, pre recall, so only ~6.5% is theoretically lost. Yes that still sucks, but it sucks approximately 35% less than what we initially figured.

Edit: I was mistaken. Raw SOC at full charge is 95%, not 96.5%.

 

Is this where I rest my case?

 

Shrek, now tell us how you really feel . 😊 you can always sell it to Carvana. ..........at a. Discount lol

 

If cars could get on fire and they are not sure that reducing charge to 90% really solution (they ask park outside because they are not sure that 90% limit is a fix): Why in the world the owners could not file class action lawsuite and get money back and move on? Anyone knows of such collective action?

 

They have a software update to limit charging to 90%. You can also do this yourself. The parking outside bit is a precaution if you need to charge to the original 100%. None of the above is required. It's all precautionary for the time being.
As for class actions, how about we wait and see. But that's just me.

 

I saw no value in parsing the notice, so set Hilltop, ran it down a couple bars (preconditioning and driving) and parking outside until there is a REAL fix. Belt and suspenders , but I don’t have to lie awake a few feet up and over from the garage that may or may not be about to explode into a chemical fire. Life is short, why make it shorter cause some doofus had a bad day in South Korea 3 years ago and screwed up a weld.

 

I don't know why taking more time to arrive at a remedy makes people more anxious. A remedy needs to be vetted, and you don't want the cure to be worse than the disease. My company has to make improvements all the time, and they take a while to validate because systems are complex and need to be tested. Fixes have to pass the regulatory agencies. Procedures have to be written for the techs to implement the fixes. Those procedures have to be evaluated to make sure they are understandable and don't lead to further mistakes being made by the thousands of people who have to perform the work.

Had GM said nothing, all the paranoid people would be sleeping soundly none the wiser, and GM could have risked everyone in the meantime until they had worked out the remedy. Probably nobody would have died had they done that, because nobody has died in the previous 3 years, but they took the extra cautious and ethical road to inform people of the problem. Taking action is appropriate, hand-wringing is just extra abuse we place on ourselves.