2017 CHEVROLET BOLT EV Complaints

GM sold me a car with full battery that was safe to charge to 100%. 2 recalls in now I am going on 7 months unable to use the battery as sold to me due to potential fire risk. A risk multiplied by not being able to charge the car in a setting (in garage overnight) that is most common for EV drivers.

two recalls in the past year is suppose to address the battery fire safety issue announed by gm in late 2020. days after the final software fix by gm weeks ago, the "check engine" light was lit on my chevy bolt. a follow up service appointment was needed to replace faulty hardware. today, after gm announced a THIRD recall. I used a popular third party obd2 app to check the health of my chevy bolt, 4 different issues were reported: U0293, P0AC4, U0100, and U0073. Note that GM software reports zero issues from GM's app. At this point, I trust what the third party app is reporting and NOT GM's app. It appears GM is hiding these issues from Chevy Bolt owners. I have a service appointment with Chevy dealership next Monday to assess the state of my Bolt. Overall, i DONT FEEL SAFE with my Bolt anymore. Please follow up with GM to ensure the manufacturer will do the right fix this time. It's CLEAR to me this is a hardware issue no software patch will fix.

This is the second safety recall against the same models of the Chevrolet Bolt. GM already attempted to fix this once, and it did not work. You must demand that GM replace the entire battery pack in every Bolt that is affected by this recall. For the second time in less than a year, due to their own manufacturing issues, they have limited our mileage range, this time even less so. We're unable to park in our garage, and can only charge when the car can be supervised. These limitations have been placed on us without any details from GM on how we can obtain loaner cars/reimbursement for rental cars. This issue not only puts myself, my family and my livelihood at risk, but it also puts others around me at risk, as the car can catch fire when it's not even on. I'm scared to drive it at this point, so will be storing it. GM attempted to fix this once with software that was supposed to identify defective batteries. That obviously did not work. I no longer trust them to be able to identify which battery/specific cell within the battery is defective, and demand that they replace my entire battery pack.

2017-2019 model year Chevrolet Bolt EVs were recalled in November 2020 for battery fires (NHTSA Recall No. : 20V-701, Manufacturer Recall No. : N202311730). A temporary "fix" was released in 2021 which limited the maximum charge of the car's battery to 90%. This was followed with a "final fix" software update which returned full charging capabilities and added battery cell monitoring software. This software supposedly could detect faulty battery cells. The recall was considered resolved. More recently, at least two more Bolt EVs spontaneously combusted; these vehicles had received the final recall software update, and were not charged over 90%. This means two things; limiting the maximum charge level of the car did not protect consumers, and the final recall repair also did not protect consumers. Homes have been damaged, cars destroyed, people injured (no deaths so far, fortunately) and Bolt owners live in a constant state of unease. A new recall has been issued: Manufacturer Recall Number: N212343880, NHTSA Recall Number: 21V560. In addition, Bolt owners have been instructed to park their cars outside, charge only during the day (also outside), and maintain a charge level between ~30-90% at all times. This leaves us with ~36kWh, approximately 90-150 miles of range in warm weather (as opposed to the advertised 239 miles on a full charge). All of these restrictions are simply not possible for many people, especially those of us who live in cold weather environments, which vastly limits the range of the car. Others have no choice but to park their car in underground parking garages, which puts hundreds of people at risk. The new recall does not currently have a remedy, but it states faulty battery cells/assemblies or packs will be replaced. GM failed to detect faulty cells the first time after months of investigation, and I do not believe they will successfully detect them now. I urge NHTSA to force GM's hand: replace the entire battery pack, or buy back the vehicles.

The car has displayed a minor loss of steering power from when I received it as well as some tapping/banging from the underneath. I only recently reported it to the dealer since I thought that the loss of power was just electrical load issues under certain conditions. The dealer investigated and reported a broken steering gear. They found NO evidence that there was external damage causing this and told me to not drive the car until it is repaired.

There have been more vehicle fires after the safety recall "fix". General Motors has not said anything yet, and I am afraid to use my car or leave it near anything because of fire risk. This is a great safety concern for myself and others around me. I would like GM to say something.

Received an email from GM acknowledging that the last recall had not been entirely successful in fixing the Bolt EV battery problem. After contracting Myasthenia Gravis, I had given away my (GM) gasoline vehicle because I was unable to maintain it with my disability. I purchased a Bolt EV because they assured me it would be relatively worry free and much easier to maintain. Since it's purchase I have been continually informed that it might be a rolling death trap. I no longer have the physiological ability to fight the corporate giants. Calls to GM have proven fruitless. Please do something that effects an actual change in my pursuit of happiness. Thank you: Eric W Biggio

I am concerned that GM has not remedied the Chevy Bolt combustion issues and it is not acceptable to instruct customers of recent model year vehicles to keep them parked in the driveway and not to charge them. Furthermore the recalls appear risky since there have been fires after dealers attempted to make repairs to the battery packs in the course of the recall service. There is no confidence in GM's handling of this situation.

I’m just reporting GMs persistent negligence in dealing with defective battery cells for 2017-2019 Bolts. Upon tear down these cells will not and do not meet GM quality standards and GMs delayed response and paltry response demonstrate what little concern Gm has in regard to the situation. This is an issue that will compound with time. My car has not caught fire - I just have an early build 2017 and am frustrated with GMs handling / mishandling of this situation.

I own a 2017 Chevy Bolt EV which is part of GMs November recall due to battery fires. I have followed all the requests by GM to fix the problems, but there are still fires being reported even with the "fixes" GM has provided. At the end of May, I filed a request for a buyback of my Bolt with Chevrolet Engagement Center (case # 9-6747476536) which was denied over the phone in early July even after 2 additional incidents of fires in Bolts recently update with GM's "fixes". GM will not send me any written statement on why my request was denied and I was told that their decision was final and I couldn't request a review or reinstatement my request for a buyback even if further information is uncovered. Now through GM press releases I am told that I shouldn't charge my 2017 Bolt in my garage and should park it away from my house on the street. Since my charging station is in my garage, I can't charge my car using my existing home charging setup. GM has not contacted me directly regarding this new directive and once again has not provided me with written documentation of this directive. GM's process is complete opaque. I haven't been able to use my 2017 Bolt for over 7 months in the manner in which it was advertised and sold to me when new. Since I apparently have exhausted my options with GM to resolve this fire issue, I request that NHTSA vigorously pursue a remedy from GM effectively deals with these Bolt fire issues and that makes owners like myself whole. It seems only governmental action will get GM's attention before someone is injured or killed by one of these Bolt battery fires. If I can be helpful in an inquiry into this issue, please contact me.