General Motors announces that it is going to recall 140,000 Chevy Bolt EVs throughout the US and Canada. The recall is to address the potential risk of fire in the EV’s carpet if there is an accident. The Chevrolet Bolt debuted in 2016 as the lone EV offered by GM.
It has since been joined by the Bolt EUV as well as a few other models like the GMC Hummer EV and Cadillac Lyriq. While the Bolt continues to grow in sales as one of the most affordable EVs on the market today, it has not come without its fair share of controversy, particularly in the recall department. A massive recall of the Chevy Bolt EV and EUV due to battery fires stifled GM’s delivery numbers in 2021 since the American automaker had to halt production for several months while it sorted out the issues. Following several punts from GM, the Bolts wouldn’t resume production until this past April.
2023 model-year versions of the Bolt EV saw a $6,000 price cut in addition to a $6,000 refund to previous Chevy owners who promised not to sue over the battery recall. This strategy offered a major bounce back as GM was reporting record Bolt sales by October, garnering increased production.
Recall in the US
General Motors announced news of the Chevy Bolt recall yesterday, citing the risk of the EV’s carpet catching fire following a crash where the front seat belt’s pretensioner deploys. According to GM, the exhaust gases from the pretensioner can come into contact with carpeting fibers on the Bolt’s floor and ignite. The recall affects 120,000 Chevy Bolt EVs in the US and 20,000 in Canada and pertains to model year vehicles between 2017 and 2023. GM has not shared how many incidents of the Bolt’s floor carpets catching fire have been reported, only declaring “rare instances” of the occurrence.
Domino’s might want to wait on the 800 Bolt EVs it recently ordered for pizza deliveries because Chevy’s long-running EV has hit yet another snag in the form of a recall. But recently, GM confirmed that the Bolt EV and the bigger Bolt EUV are going to stay in their lineup for now. When we visited the Chevy experience center, they told us as much and showed us the big differences between the Equinox and the Bolt most notably the width of the cars, interior, charging speed, and drive options. GM is reporting only 36 Cadillac Lyriq deliveries and 411 GMC Hummer EV deliveries in Q3, but it disclosed that there should be a big ramp-up in Q4.
