GM Recalls Popular Electric Vehicle Due to Fire Risk

GM says it began an investigation after a report of a 2018 model Bolt EV in Korea experiencing a fire.

General Motors' Chevrolet Bolt has had a good reputation as it was named the 2017 Motor Trend Card of the Year.

Other notable events include GM Korea developing the battery electric subcompact hatchback with a team of 180 people in 2012. 

Three years later, Alan Batey, head of GM North America said the Bolt EV was headed for production and would be available in all 50 states. One year after that, the Bolt was listed in Time Magazine's Best 25 Inventions of 2016. 

In June, General Motors'  (GM) - Get Free Report said that it had cut the price of the most affordable Chevrolet Bolt to $26,595, making it the cheapest electric vehicle in the U.S.

But the Bolt has also been the subject of recalls, most recently on Dec. 20 when GM recalled about 140,000 Bolt EVs in North America due to a fire risk.

"GM is voluntarily recalling certain 2017-2023 model year Chevrolet Bolt EV vehicles due to rare instances of front seatbelt pretensioner exhaust gases coming in contact with floor carpeting fibers, after a vehicle crash," the automaker said in a statement.

The purpose of the pretensioner is to make sure that the seat belts fit tightly against the occupant's body in certain collisions.

A Fire in 2018 Bolt EV

"Dealers will install metal foil at the carpet near the pretensioner exhaust," GM said. "Certain vehicles will also need a pretensioner cover installed."

About 120,000 U.S. vehicles and 20,000 Canadian vehicles are involved in the recall.

The problem was submitted to GM's "Speak Up for Safety" program on Sept. 15, following a report of a 2018 model Bolt EV in Korea had experienced a fire that appeared to have started on the right side lower B pillar area, according a filing with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. GM open investigation on Oct. 24.

The investigation found that the temperature of the exhaust from the deployed pretensioner may be sufficient to ignite nearby carpet materials. The company found three reports of fires that could have been caused by the problem. 

Dealers will install a metal foil at the carpet nearest to the pretensioner exhaust. Certain vehicles will also need a pretensioner instead. 

Added metal foil between the carpet and the pretensioner, along with their pretensioner thermal cover pretense, prevents ignition of carpet material from pretensioner exhaust. 

Design Change Implemented in October

A design change adds metal foil between the carpet and pretensioner exhaust was implemented in production on Oct. 25.

Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed Jan. 30, 2023. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. 

The new Chevy Bolt EVU uses a different design and is not affected by the recall, nor are the fleet vehicles in GM's Cruise autonomous vehicle division. 

In November 2020, 50,932 Chevrolet Bolts from the model year 2017-2019 were recalled due to a potential fire risk. 

GM said vehicles contained high voltage batteries produced at LG Chem's Ochang plant that may pose a risk of fire "when charged to full, or very close to full, capacity." 

The company issued software updates to most of these vehicles to fix the issue.

Chevrolet extended the recall in August 2021 to include all Bolt models and model years 2017-2022 bringing the number of recalled Chevy Bolt cars to nearly 142,000. 

LG agreed to reimburse GM $1.9 billion for the recall. Fixing the vehicles was expected to cost $2 billion, GM said. The faulty batteries have caused at least 13 vehicles to catch fire, according to GM.