2018 CHEVROLET BOLT EV Complaints

I own a 2018 Chevy Bolt that is part of the battery recall for possible fires started in the powertrain battery. I have been through both GM recommended appointments at my local Chevy dealer to have the software patches installed and the battery inspected for nominal voltage. While my car's battery passed the voltage inspection this week, there were 2 new fires reported to GM resulting in new recommendations on July 14 to park outside and not charge over night. The real issue here is GM not providing enough information to the owners of Bolts in this recall. Questions such as: What kind of charger was used (110, 220, CCS)? If after market chargers were used before a fire, what brands, what commonality amongst the group of Bolts that have caught fire? What is the minimum battery remaining on the cars that charged before a fire? What is the maximum charge the owners of Bolts that burned charged their cars to? What operational steps can the rest of Bolt owners take to minimize future fire risk? Why isn't GM simply replacing all of the batteries in recalled Bolts rather than pursuing a very poorly run "buyback" process? Why doesn't my EV Battery warranty that is still in effect allow for replacement of the battery with this serious safety situation? Why is NHTSA allowing GM to be so non-communicative about what they are learning of the commonalities of all Bolts that have caught fire? This is a serious safety issue for existing 2017-2019 Bolt owners. We need NHTSA's help getting GM to provide more information about the cars that have caught fire.

The incident involves a 2018 Chevy Bolt EV. I arrived at a parking space next to the electric charging station where I generally park the car. I park perpendicular to the side wall of a house. There is a small garden bed (about 2 ft wide) between the house and the parking area. As I pulled up I was not exactly perpendicular to the wall. I believe I was in Drive Low and had completely stopped or perhaps nearly stopped when I decided to tweak my parking position a bit to be exactly perpendicular to the wall. My intent was to apply the accelerator and ease over a few inches to park, but when I began to do so the car took off suddenly and uncontrollably and crashed into the side of the house. The front end of the car was damaged and the house sustained both exterior and interior damage, leaving a hole through the wall. To me, it felt like I was in a rocket launch. I don't know whether I applied the brakes or if the wall stopped the car. The car is currently at a shop where the insurance company has ordered an inspection scan for error codes. No one has driven the car since, and so the problem has not been reproduced or confirmed. No warning messages appeared before the crash although the the car is equipped with front collision warning systems. Consumer stated diagnostic report she received from her service department prior to repairing the car. to repairing the car.

Dear Sir/ Madam, I want to report to you the serious problem I have had with my Chevy Bolt EV ( 2018 VIN [XXX]) In the month of November 2020, after a full charge of my EV Bolt, the mileage on the dashboard kept fluctuating when my husband and I were driving from Santa Cruz to Berkeley. I had to charge it again after 70 miles in Berkeley. On our way back the mileage showed almost zero. I got so anxious that I had to stop the car and move it from Highway 101 South bound to Santa Cruz and get it recharged in San Jose. Second, on three separate occasions, the speed limit on the dashboard also kept fluctuating. Since this model was recalled we took our car to a Chevy dealer in Watsonville and got it repaired. We had to leave the car at the dealer for two weeks since the dealer was getting appropriate parts from Michigan to fix the car. Now my speed has been compromised after the repair. I have been told the car will be recalled soon for a final repair. We are not happy with this model and we are negotiating with the manufacturer to get this car replaced. Thank you so much for your help. Sincerely yours, [XXX] INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

03/21/2019, 9/05/2019, 1/19/2020, 10/21/2020, 04/14/2021 HAVE HAD 5 WARRANTY REPAIR ORDERS TO FIX REAR VIEW CAMERA STAYS ON WHILE DRIVING FORWARD AT FREEWAY SPEEDS, VERY DISTRACTING AND DANGEROUS IT ALSO LOCKS OUT ALL CLIMATE AND RADIO CONTROLS. ALSO WHILE VEHICLE IS STOPPED CRUNCHES WHEN TRYING TO PUT IN " PARK"

THE DRIVERS WINDOW HAS VERTICAL SCRATCHES ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE GLASS. MY CAR IS ONE WEEK PAST THE 36 MONTH WARRANTY AND ED SHULTS CHEVY WON'T FIX IT UNDER WARRANTY.

AT 25,000 MILES MY BRAKE PADS ARE CRUMBLING AND THE ROTOR ARE SCORED AND POCK MARKED .. I DRIVE THE CAR IN L MODE EXCLUSIVELY AND I DON'T USE THE BRAKES. ED SHUTS CHEVY CADILLAC SAYS THE BRAKES ARE WARRANTED. I SAY THERE IS A PROBLEM WITH THE BRAKE SYSTEM. THEY SHOULD NOT WEAR OUT OR CRUMBLE IF I DON'T USE THEM ON A 2 YEAR OLD CAR.

BATTERY FIRE RECALL. DEALER LIMITED THE BATTERY FULL CHARGE TO 90% IN NOVEMBER 2020.GM PROMISED A FIX BY FIRST OF 2021. NO FIX AS OF THIS DATE AND MY DRIVING RANGE IS LIMITED AND NOW REQUIRES FREQUENT CHARGING.

THIS VEHICLE AS 42987 MILES ON THE ODOMETER AND HAS BEEN USED ONLY IN STANDARD HIGHWAY DRIVING. THE STEERING STARTED TO MAKE A "CLICKING" NOISE AND BECAME HARDER TO HANDLE. A SEARCH OF THE INTERNET INDICATED THAT THIS PROBLEM IS COMMON IN CHEVROLET BOLT CARS, OFTEN OCCURRING WHEN THE VEHICLE HAS LESS THAN A FEW THOUSAND MILES. I TOOK MY CAR TO THE LOCAL CHEVROLET DEALER WHO RAN A COMPUTER DIAGNOSTIC THAT SHOWED THE CAR'S STEERING WAS OPERATING "WITHIN MANUFACTURER'S SPECS." I WAS ABLE TO PERSUADE THE DEALER TO DO AN ADDITIONAL EXAMINATION. THE TECH DETERMINED THAT THE STEERING RACK/GEAR ASSEMBLY WAS SHOT AND THE PROBLEM COULD NOT BE REPAIRED SIMPLY BY RE-TORQUING THE STEERING HEAD BOLTS. THE COST OF REPLACING THE DEFECTIVE STEERING RACK WAS QUOTED AT $2,033. POSTS ON THE INTERNET SUGGEST THAT THE DEFECTIVE STEERING RACK IS OFTEN DISCOVERED BY OWNERS WITHIN THE WARRANTY PERIOD AND THEN REPAIRED BY CHEVROLET. WHAT IS NOT CLEAR IS HOW OFTEN THE DEFECTIVE STEERING RACK IS DISCOVERED JUST AFTER THE VEHICLE IS OUT OF WARRANTY (THE "BUMPER TO BUMPER" WARRANTY ON A BOLT IS ONLY 36,000 MILES, SO MY DEFECTIVE STEERING RACK FAILED JUST AFTER THE END OF THE WARRANTY AND CHEVROLET WILL NOT COVER THIS DEFECT.) I RESPECTFULLY REQUEST THAT THE NHTSA INVESTIGATE HOW OFTEN THIS DEFECT OCCURS AND ORDER A RECALL.

THE FIRST YEAR OF THE LEASE, THE MAIN COMPUTER BEGAN TO FAIL AND THE ENTIRE SCREEN WOULD BECOME BLACK, WITH THE ENTIRE CAR INTERMITTENTLY LOSING POWER ON THE FREEWAY. THE COMPUTER WAS REPLACED. LATER ON, THE BLIND SPOT SENSORS BECAME ERRATIC, BUT THIS IS LIKELY DUE TO A SHODDY REPAIR BY THE DEALERSHIP AFTER SOMEONE REAR-ENDED THE CAR. THE PRIMARY CONCERN IS THE POWERTRAIN. THE BATTERY RANGE DECREASED BY NEARLY HALF WHILE DRIVING, WHICH WOULD HAVE BEEN DANGEROUS IN A REMOTE LOCATION. THERE SEEMS TO BE AN ISSUE WITH THE BATTERY MODULES ON THE 2018 CHEVROLET BOLT.

ON FRIDAY, DEC 27, 2019, AS I WAS PARKING IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE, USING "L" MODE, THE CAR SUDDENLY ACCELERATED. IF I HADN'T SLAMMED ON THE BRAKES, THE BOLT WOULD HAVE HIT THE CAR PARKED ABOUT 15 FT AHEAD OF ME. TWO OTHER PEOPLE WERE IN THE CAR AT THE TIME, AND WE ALL SHARED THE PERCEPTION THAT THE CAR HAD SUDDENLY ACCELERATED ON ITS OWN. WE WERE ALL SCARED, AND WE ALL BELIEVE THIS CAR IS UNSAFE. DETAILS: THE CAR WAS CHARGED TO ABOUT 50% CAPACITY, THE OUTSIDE TEMPERATURE WAS 50F, HUMIDITY AT 65%, THE WEATHER WAS CLEAR, AND THE PAVEMENT WAS DRY. AFTER A 10 MINUTE DRIVE, I PULLED UP ALONG THE CURB IN FRONT MY HOME, AS USUAL, AND HAD NEARLY STOPPED, WHEN SUDDENLY THE CAR LURCHED FORWARD ON ITS OWN. FORTUNATELY, I WAS ABLE TO SLAM ON THE BRAKES AND STOP THE CAR BEFORE IT PLOWED INTO ANOTHER CAR PARKED ABOUT 15 FEET IN FRONT OF WHERE I WAS. I HAD BEEN DRIVING OUR BOLT IN "L" MODE (AUTOMATIC REGENERATIVE-BRAKING), WHICH IS MY HABIT, SO I AM ACCUSTOMED TO THE CHARACTERISTICS OF STOPPING THE CAR IN "L" MODE. I HAVE TRIED TO REPLICATE THIS BEHAVIOR BY THE CAR SINCE, BUT SO FAR HAVE BEEN UNABLE. THIS WAS NOT A CASE OF MISTAKENLY PRESSING THE ACCELERATOR, BECAUSE IN "L" MODE (WHERE I PARKED), THE CAR WILL STOP BY ITSELF, JUST BY EASING MY FOOT OFF OF THE ACCELERATOR. AND NOTE THAT I QUICKLY STEPPED ON THE BRAKE. I TOOK THE CAR TO A GM DEALERSHIP, AND THEY DIDN'T FIND A PROBLEM IN THE OBD CODES. THEY SAID THEY WOULD SEND DETAILED LOGS TO GM. BUT IT HAS BEEN OVER A WEEK, AND GM HAS YET TO CONTACT ME. THIS CAR FREQUENTLY HAS OTHER PROBLEMS THAT APPEAR TO BE DUE TO COMPUTER SYSTEMS, INCLUDING: - PROBLEMS STARTING - PROBLEMS CHARGING - THE CENTER CONSOLE DISPLAY FREEZING, LEADING TO: CAMERAS REMAINING ON WHILE I DRIVE, OR LOSS OF HVAC CONTROLS SEE A SIMILAR REPORT AT: HTTPS://WWW.NHTSA.GOV/VEHICLE/2018/CHEVROLET/BOLT#COMPLAINTS ISSUE # 11270898