Chevrolet Recalls 140,000 Bolt EVs Over A Very Odd Flaw

Despite its popularity, General Motors' sub-compact battery electric car — the Chevrolet Bolt EV — has been the subject of several product recalls. The first of these recalls dates back to November 2020, when more than 50,000 units of Chevrolet Bolt vehicles were recalled due to potential fire risk. Chevrolet issued software updates to most of these vehicles to fix the issue: This fix essentially capped the battery's charging capacity on the affected units to 90%.

Less than a year later, Chevrolet announced extending the periodic recall to include all Bolt models — including the Bolt EUV — thereby taking the number of affected units to over 142,000. This recall involved replacing the defective LG-made battery pack on the affected units. For a brief period during the recall period, GM stopped production — before finally resuming production of the Bolt EV a year ago — in September 2021.

It seems the Bolt EV's recall ghosts are returning to haunt them after GM announced that it is recalling more than 100,000 units for a new reason. According to documents released by the NHTSA, several BOLT EVs manufactured through 2016-2022 are affected by a potential — and rather unusual — fire hazard. The affected cars have all been made between July 26, 2016, and October 25, 2022, and are caused by a defect in the vehicle's seat belt pre-tensioner mechanism.

The NHTSA's Safety Recall Report for this product recall reveals that General Motors first identified a potential fire hazard with the Bolt EV on September 15, 2022. The issue came to light after a 2018 Chevy Bolt sold in Korea experienced a fire incident. Investigations revealed that the fire originated from the car's lower B-Pillar area on the right. Further investigation revealed that two other similar incidents had occurred in the recent past. Per GM's current estimates, 111,242 Chevrolet Bolt EVs are affected by this specific issue, and will be recalled for a fix in the following months.

In addition, Chevrolet soon deduced that these fires were caused by the deployment of the seat belt pre-tensioners, which ignited the carpet fiber near the car's B-pillar. GM also found that the temperature of the exhaust from a deployed pre-tensioner is sufficient to ignite the carpet materials. To fix the issue, Chevrolet's plan involves installing a metal foil in the carpet area located close to the pre-tensioner exhaust. Some of the affected models will also get a pre-tensioner cover.

Meanwhile, the NHTSA also revealed the timeline for this product recall. As of December 1, 2022, GM has begun notifying their dealers about this impending recall. The installation of the metal foil on affected cars is expected to start after GM issues notifications to all affected consumers from January 30, 2023. The NHTSA report does not reveal how long it would take for GM to patch the issue on all affected Bolt EVs.