GM extends recall to cover all Chevy Bolts due to fire risk

3 years ago 374

DETROIT – General Motors said Friday it is recalling each Chevrolet Bolt electrical vehicles sold worldwide to hole a artillery occupation that could origin fires.

The callback raises questions astir lithium ion batteries, which present are utilized successful astir each electrical vehicles. President Joe Biden wants to person 50% of the U.S. conveyance fleet from interior combustion to energy by 2050 arsenic portion of a broader effort to combat clime change.

The callback announced Friday adds astir 73,000 Bolts from the 2019 done 2022 exemplary years to a erstwhile callback of 69,000 older Bolts.

GM said that successful uncommon cases the batteries person 2 manufacturing defects that tin origin fires.

The Detroit-based automaker said it volition regenerate the artillery modules successful each the vehicles.

The latest callback volition outgo the institution astir $1 billion, bringing the full outgo of the Bolt artillery recalls to $1.8 billion.

GM said owners should bounds charging to 90% of artillery capacity. The Bolts, including a caller SUV, should beryllium parked outdoors until the modules are replaced.

The archetypal callback was blamed connected a manufacturing defect astatine a South Korean mill tally by LG Chemical Solution, GM’s artillery supplier. But the institution said an probe showed that the defects are imaginable successful batteries made astatine different sites. Most newer Bolt batteries are made astatine an LG works successful Holland, Michigan.

GM issued the archetypal Bolt callback successful November aft getting reports of 5 of them catching fire. Two radical suffered fume inhalation and a location was acceptable ablaze.

At archetypal the institution didn’t cognize what was causing the problem, but it determined that batteries that caught occurrence were adjacent a afloat charge. It traced the fires to what it called a uncommon manufacturing defect successful artillery modules. It tin origin a abbreviated successful a cell, which tin trigger a fire.

GM said it began investigating the newer Bolts aft a 2019 exemplary that was not included successful the erstwhile callback caught occurrence a fewer weeks agone successful Chandler, Arizona. That raised concerns astir newer Bolts.

That occurrence brought the full fig of Bolt blazes to 10, institution spokesperson Dan Flores said.

GM says it is moving with LG to summation artillery production. The institution says owners volition beryllium notified to instrumentality their cars to dealers arsenic soon arsenic replacement parts are ready.

Flores said helium is not definite erstwhile that volition be.

The institution said it volition not nutrient oregon merchantability immoderate much Bolts until it is satisfied that problems person been worked retired successful LG batteries, Flores said.

“Our absorption connected information and doing the close happening for our customers guides each determination we marque astatine GM,” Doug Parks, GM merchandise improvement chief, said successful a statement.

Batteries with the caller modules volition travel with an 8 year, 100,000 mile (160 kilometer) warranty, the institution said. GM volition regenerate each 5 artillery modules successful 2017 to 2019 Bolts. Defective modules volition beryllium replaced successful newer models.

GM said it volition prosecute reimbursement from the artillery maker, LG Chemical Solution.

The Bolts are lone a tiny fraction of GM’s wide U.S. sales, which tally adjacent to 3 cardinal vehicles successful a mean year. But they are the archetypal of an ambitious rollout of electrical models arsenic GM tries to deed a extremity of selling lone electrical rider vehicles by 2035.

Other automakers are besides announcing further electrical models worldwide to chopped contamination and conscionable stricter authorities substance system standards.

Shares successful General Motors Co. were down astir 2% successful extended trading pursuing the callback announcement.

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