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General Motors is recalling the 2017-2019 model year Chevy Bolts a second time due to the risk of the battery packs catching fire. The new recall comes after two Bolts recently caught fire despite receiving the alleged software patch from the previous recall, first announced in November 2020.
GM has also finally shed light on the source of the problem. The automaker claims that while working with battery supplier LG Chem, it discovered that some of the cells that make up the Bolt’s pack may have two manufacturing flaws at the same time. The company did not specify what these defects are, but when they are present, they can cause a fire.
GM says it is still preparing for the recall, so it is telling owners to take a number of precautions in the meantime until they are able to check and attempt to fix each vehicle. The company says owners shouldn’t charge the vehicle more than 90 percent, or let it drop below 70 miles (which is roughly 27 percent). This means owners will only be able to use about 60% (about 155 miles) of their vehicle’s capacity until GM is able to complete the new recall fix.
Owners should also charge their vehicles after each use, according to GM. Of course, GM is still warning owners not to park their vehicles in or near their homes, and says they shouldn’t leave the Bolts on charge overnight. GM has more information, including customer support numbers, on its recall website.
Once GM is ready to recall, technicians will inspect the battery packs for that particular fault and replace any modules with problematic cells. They were already supposed to check Bolt battery packs for faults like this during the previous recall, but GM says The edge that the new defects were only recently discovered.
A dozen fires are believed to have occurred in these model year Bolts. The previous fix, which was shared in May – months after the recall was announced – involved installing software on the affected bolts that was supposed to “detect potential issues with changes in the performance of the battery module before that problems do not develop ”. However, this additional software was not enough to prevent two more fires from occurring.
LG Chem is also supplying the cells for the Kona EV, which Hyundai recalled after reports of fires, and even completely abandoned in South Korea. The battery supplier has also encountered all kinds of issues with other products. He recalled some home battery systems and one of his network storage projects caught fire because Electrek points out. Porsche recently recalled the LG Chem-powered Taycan over power loss issues.
While special care and instruction is required in knowing how to extinguish a fire in an electric vehicle, there is no data to show that they occur at a higher rate than fires in cars with internal combustion engines. Occasional fires are inevitable. But the situation in which GM – and, really LG – found itself with these bolts is quite different. A few years ago, the Bolt was one of the first legitimate long-range electric vehicles on the market. But now he runs the risk of taking on a whole different coat.
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