GM And LG Decide Who's On The Hook For Bolt EV Recall Costs

Throughout much of the past year, GM has been grappling with defective battery packs in its Chevy Bolt EVs. The faulty battery packs, which can cause fires in some cases, have been at the center of two recalls and even a pause in Bolt EV production. Now, GM has announced that it has reached an agreement with LG Electronics in regards to covering the cost of these recalls, and it looks like LG is going to be on the hook for much of it.

In its announcement today, GM said that LG will reimburse it "for costs and expenses associated with the recall of Chevrolet Bolt EVs and EUVs due to manufacturing defects in battery modules supplied by LG." LG's reimbursement will cover $1.9 billion of the $2 billion GM anticipates paying in relation to the recall, so LG is definitely shouldering the vast proportion of these charges.

GM's announcement today was short and to the point, with GM VP of global purchasing and supply chain Shilpan Amin saying, "LG is a valued and respected supplier to GM, and we are pleased to reach this agreement. Our engineering and manufacturing teams continue to collaborate to accelerate production of new battery modules and we expect to begin repairing customer vehicles this month." LG, perhaps unsurprisingly, did not issue a statement as part of today's announcement.

In any case, it appears that those battery replacements have already begun. Most of the cost associated with these recalls is down to those repairs, with GM first targeting Bolt EVs and EUVs built during specific timeframes before moving onto others. The replacement batteries will be covered by an eight-year or 100,000-mile warranty after being installed.

So, with a cause identified and GM and LG hashing out the matter of who's on the hook for these repair costs, it looks like we're finally entering the resolution to this year-long odyssey for Bolt EV and EUV owners. Here's hoping it doesn't take too long to get all of those defective batteries replaced.