Chevrolet Bolt

Main article: Electric vehicles

2022: Recall of 140,000 defective electric vehicles due to carpet fire

At the end of December 2022, General Motors announced that it was recalling 140 thousand Chevrolet Bolt EV cars in North America, as the carpet could catch fire after an accident due to the operation of the front seat belt pretensioner.

American automaker General Motors said the recall applies to various Chevrolet Bolt EV cars of the 2017-2023 model year due to cases of contact of exhaust gases produced by the belt pretensioner at the time of a traffic accident. Gas, interacting with the fibers of the floor carpet, in the event of the slightest spark, can ignite the interior carpets. The company found three reports of fires that could have been caused by this problem, according to Reuters.

Chevrolet Bolt EV

Seat belt pretensioners are equipped with sensors that determine the inevitability of an accident, and before a collision they attract the passenger to the desired position, slowing down his speed. The seat belt tensioner (or pre-tensioner) securely secures the wearer's body to the seat, and in the event of an accident, prevents the driver or passenger from moving forward relative to the vehicle's motion. This effect is achieved by winding and tightening the seat belt more tightly. Such a mechanism is installed on both front and rear seats. The belt pretensioner interacts with other systems and can be activated along with the City Safety and Rear Collision Warning driver support systems.

The recall affected about 120 thousand cars in the United States and 20 thousand cars in Canada. According to General Motors, dealers will install metal foil along the carpet next to the pretensioner exhaust pipe. Some vehicles will receive a pre-tensioner cover, the company said.^[1]

2021

GM receives $1.9 billion compensation from LG for Chevrolet Bolt recall

In mid-October, LG Electronics agreed to reimburse General Motors $1.9 billion for recalling and repairing Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicles due to the fire risk caused by faulty batteries provided by a South Korean supplier.

Problems with the Chevrolet Bolt have forced the automaker to recall all electric vehicles since production began in 2016. It is expected that car repairs, including the complete replacement of some batteries, will cost $2 billion.

GM receives $1.9 billion compensation from LG for recalling defective Chevrolet Bolt

The engineering and manufacturing divisions of the companies will continue to collaborate to accelerate the development of new batteries. GM Vice President of Global Purchasing and Supply Chain Shilpan Amin noted that the start of the repair of Chevrolet Bolt cars is scheduled for October 2021. The faulty batteries ignited at least 13 vehicles, GM said.

The automaker says the recall campaign is one of the most costly safety-related activities in its history.

After detecting battery problems, LG began supplying GM with updated battery modules, devoid of the initial drawbacks. They are being installed in all new models, including the updated Bolt EV electric hatchback presented in the winter of 2021 and the new Bolt EUV electric crossover.

The settlement to provide compensation is unfolding against the backdrop of companies building two battery plants in the United States through a joint venture Ultium Cells LLC. Plants in Ohio and Tennessee will produce next-generation GM batteries called Ultium.

General Motors ultimately plans to surpass Tesla in the production of electric cars, but so far the production of new cars has been suspended indefinitely.^[2]

Recall of more than 73 thousand electric vehicles

On August 20, 2021, it became known that the company General Motors was recalling more than 73 thousand of its electric vehicles Bolt due to the risk of fire. batteries This recall will cost the automaker $1 billion.

GM recalls 73 thousand Bolt electric vehicles due to the risk of LG batteries fire. Losses of $1 billion

In July 2021, the company discovered a defect in the Bolt EV battery. The report said the defects included a torn off anode pad and a folded separator in the battery cell, greatly increasing the risk of fire.

The move will apply to all Bolt electric vehicles and Bolt electric vehicles from the 2019 to 2022 model year, the automaker said. GM will replace the battery modules in these cars, and the company also said that it is demanding reimbursement from its battery supplier, South Korean company LG Chem, for these unplanned actions.

The decision on reserves and the ratio of recall costs will be made depending on the results of a joint investigation aimed at investigating the root cause, which is being carried out in conjunction with GM, LG Electronics and LG Energy Solution, told LG Chem.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration also said in a statement that all Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicles have been recalled because there is a risk of them burning.

General Motors GM's recall announcement is both a setback for the U.S. automaker and a warning that the company's plans to electrify all of its vehicles by 2035 may not come^[3].

Re-recall of electric vehicles

At the end of July 2021, it became known that General Motors the second time electric vehicles Chevrolet recalls Bolt 2017-2019 due to the risk of battery fire. The new recall follows two cases of fire that occurred despite the fix. For ON the first time, the company recalled these cars in November 2020.

GM also talked about the source of the problem. The automaker says some of the elements that make up Bolt's battery may have two production defects at the same time. The company did not say what the defects were or whether they were related to battery supplier LG Chem. LG Chem is also known to supply batteries for the Kona EV, which Hyundai recalled after reports of fires and even completely discontinued in South Korea.

GM recalls electric cars again as batteries light up

GM advises owners to take a number of precautions until they can check and repair their vehicle. According to the developers, owners should not charge the car by more than 90 percent or allow the charge to drop below 27 percent (112km range). This means owners will only be able to use 60 percent of the charge (with a range of about 250km) of their car until GM can complete the new software fix.

Owners are also advised to charge the vehicle after each use, GM said. GM is still warning owners not to park their cars inside or near the house, and to leave Bolt charging overnight.

Once GM is ready to issue a recall, technicians will inspect the batteries for defects and replace all modules containing problem cells. They had already checked Bolt's battery packs for similar defects during a previous recall, but GM recently identified new defects.^[4]

2020: Recall of 68,667 defective cars

In mid-November 2020 General Motors , it recalls 68,667 electric vehicles Chevrolet Bolt made between 2017 and 2019, which have batteries on fire. The company is working in collaboration with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to determine the cause of the fires.

The automaker found five confirmed cases of Bolt battery fires where the batteries were either fully charged or almost fully charged. GM also received two reports of injuries related to these fires due to smoke inhalation.

GM recalls over 68,000 defective Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicles that have batteries on fire

GM still does not know what exactly caused the fire, but found similar features between these five incidents: all batteries were almost fully charged and all parts were produced at the Korean LG Chem plant. The Chevrolet Bolt, made in 2020, were not included in the recall because their batteries were made with a different chemical composition.

Nevertheless, the recall included more than 50,900 cars sold in the United States. Dealerships will have to reprogram the batteries of these vehicles to limit the maximum charge level to 90% while the company is looking for the real cause of the fires and is trying to fix the problem completely.

GM believes that not all recalled vehicles are at risk of fire. However, a company spokesman noted that "it is reasonable to limit charge levels as a precaution while we continue our investigation." Meanwhile, the company asked car owners to change their settings to use the "spare capacity" of 2017 and 2018 cars. Owners of 2019 Bolt electric vehicles are advised to use the target charge level option and set the maximum capacity to 90%.^[5]

Notes