Our beloved unicorn Bolts are so cheap they are en fuego:
Filed in July 2020, the second complaint tells a similarly fiery tale with one key difference: the Bolt wasn’t plugged in. According to the complaint (NHTSA ID number 11339878), the owners of a 2019 Bolt left their house with a full charge, drove for about 12 miles, and turned the car off. It caught fire approximately 20 minutes later. Firefighters spent an hour putting out the blaze, left, and were called back when the Bolt caught fire again. It was then towed to Chevrolet dealership, where the fire started for the third and final time. Here again, the flames came from the rear-seat area. No injuries were reported, and the owner noted there were no warning signs on the dashboard.
Recall applies to 2017-2019 Bolt EVs with batteries produced in Ochang, Korea. The 2020 Bolt EVs have different batteries produced in Orion, USA, and are not affected.
Owners are instructed to set a charge limit to 90%, as it appears the five fires happened with fully-charged cars that were parked. If you can’t do that for whatever reason, then keep the car parked outside.
I wonder if I can turn my bolt lease in early given the recall. I only have 1 month left on it, called the recall number (Chevrolet EV Concierge 1-833-EVCHEVY) and GM Financial, they said they would give me a call back.
Taking away 10% of the car’s range as a solution seems like they are going to get sued.
I’m glad to see July 2021 finally got the news from last October. There are several burnt-out garages in my general area that got a little crazy with their 2017-2019 Bolt.
There is actually a new notice from GM. They are saying even if your car has the updated firmware, do not park it in your garage overnight if charging, or do not charge it overnight. There have been at least two new fires from the 2017-2019 group.
If you can’t charge your Bolt overnight, nor keep it inside, or close to, your garage, where your charger is most likely to be, then that car has pretty much become useless.
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