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GM rescinded a recall after a dozen fires reported in just over a year, and at least two fires this month alone that had implemented their “final” software fixes. Here is what you need to know and the main questions that remain for us.
GM once again exploded into mainstream news last week with an announcement that it was no longer safe to charge the Chevy Bolt EV unattended and that owners should park outside and away from structures for the sake of safety. ‘fire. Many owners who ignore the news were frustrated to learn about it this week via Facebook or other sources. Although it was not included in the ad, GM almost silently replied on Twitter that homeowners are also set to start charging just 90% again, recalling the original recall late last year.
It all started with a recall of 68,000 Bolt EVs in November of last year. While Hyundai had a similar problem and ultimately chose to replace all Kona EV batteries with newer ones, GM decided that the software could fix their issues. There have been at least two Bolt EV fires for which the final software update was installed, prompting GM to make the recent announcement.
While some are quick to point out that electric vehicle fires are even less common than gasoline car fires, the opposite is actually true with the Bolt EV. Especially the 2019 model year, which is more than an order of magnitude more likely to catch fire than a 2019 gasoline car, and it can do so in the middle of the night when you’re asleep.
This morning, GM finally has an announcement, although it leaves us with more questions than answers:
FINAL Bolt EV Safety Recall Media Statement – July 23sd, 2021
As part of this recall, GM will replace defective battery modules in the recall population. We will notify customers when spare parts are ready. As we prepare for this recall, we urge customers to take the following actions until the new remedy has been completed:
1. Customers should, whether or not they have received the current software update, return their vehicle to the 90% load limit state using Hilltop Reserve mode (for 2017-2018 model years) or the Target Charge Level mode (for the 2019 model year). If customers are unable to make these changes successfully, or feel uncomfortable making these changes, we ask them to visit their dealership to have these adjustments made.
2. Additionally, we ask customers to recharge their vehicle after each use and to avoid depleting their battery below approximately 70 miles of remaining range whenever possible.
3. As a precaution, customers should continue to park their vehicle outside immediately after charging and not leave their vehicle charged overnight.
In the meantime, customers who have not visited their dealership to receive the advanced diagnostic software should visit their nearest Chevrolet EV dealership to obtain the update. After obtaining the software, customers should always limit their state of charge to 90% and otherwise follow the tips above.
We encourage owners with additional questions or concerns to visit www.chevy.com/boltevrecall or contact the Chevrolet EV Concierge 1-833-EVCHEVY (available Monday to Friday 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. ET; Saturday and Sunday 12:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. ET) or contact their preferred Chevrolet EV dealer.
GM’s official announcement on battery fire issue
LG blamed – two simultaneous battery faults and one bad year
This is quite the revelation. LG has had a terrible, horrible year.
LG Energy Solutions manufactures the battery for the Bolt and Kona EV, as well as its own line of stationary storage products for residential and network storage. First, they agreed to replace the 82,000 batteries sold to Hyundai for the Kona EV, Ioniq and Elec City buses. Although the initial rumors stemmed from a faulty battery separator, Hyundai later said the problem was with improperly bent tabs. LG denied this, blaming Hyundai instead. GM has emphatically pointed out that they are using a different separator and a different factory. So none of these issues should apply to the Bolt fires. But certainly now we have questions.
Porsche recently issued a recall on a loss of power from its Taycan LG batteries, and Ford also went from LG in its Mustang Mach-E to SK in its Ford F-150 Lightning.
In December, LG announced a recall in the United States for some of its home battery systems. Again in March for Australia. Finally, in May, they announced a free worldwide replacement program for all units manufactured between April 2017 and September 2018. There is now a class action lawsuit against LG launched just over a month ago, alleging a systematic battery problem. Another class action lawsuit was filed against Chevrolet for the same reason.
A 2019 Arizona grid storage fire that caused an explosion was determined to be a single LG cell catching fire. To note in particular:
Random cells taken elsewhere in the battery system, and its sister system at Festival Ranch, showed “metallic lithium deposition and abnormal dendritic growth”
Put together, it’s pretty clear that LG cells have some issues.
After all that, Hyundai is switching to SK Innovation batteries for the Ioniq 5. This may have played into LG’s decision to settle its lawsuit against SK for US $ 1.8 billion.
Their problems are not over either. Another Hyundai Kona EV caught fire about a month ago. It is not known if his battery has been replaced; the process is expected to take over a year due to supply constraints.
More questions than answers
We reached out to GM for feedback and received:
The recalled population includes vehicles whose cells were manufactured at LG’s Ochang plant in Korea. We do not believe that all vehicles in the recall population had defective batteries. The defect is the simultaneous presence of two rare manufacturing defects in the same battery cell. We believe that if customers follow the steps we suggest while waiting to complete the new recall repair, it should mitigate any risk to battery safety.
GM spokesperson
It really sounds like they are not replacement of all batteries made in Korea.
The spokesperson also mentioned that GM was still working around the clock on updating the recall to finalize the details. We will update this article as more information becomes available.
What is very confusing is that the text of the recall itself appears to imply that replacements are coming for the entire population, despite what the GM spokesperson told us.
Recall Description: General Motors has determined that a motor vehicle safety defect exists in certain 2017-2019 model year Chevrolet Bolt EV vehicles. A number of these vehicles have been built with high voltage batteries produced at LG Chem’s factory in Ochang, Korea, which can present a fire hazard when charged to full capacity, or near full capacity. . GM has previously recalled these vehicles for this condition. The use of recall does not appear to have been 100% effective in reducing the safety risk in all vehicles. GM is launching a new recall to repair or replace high voltage batteries in the recalled population.
Description of safety risk: A number of these vehicles were built with high voltage batteries produced at LG Chem’s factory in Ochang, Korea, which may present a fire hazard when fully charged. capacity, or almost at full capacity. GM has previously recalled these vehicles for this condition.
Description of repair: dealers will replace [battery packs/cell-module assemblies].
Details of GM recall # N212343880.
The big questions
Are they just replacing some modules, all modules or entire batteries?
Will they replace all batteries produced in Korea 2017-2019 or only some?
Will there be other diagnostics that can detect these issues?
What are the two faults found?
How long will this booster program take?
And the biggest:
What can we do to make sure that no battery ignites in the meantime?
We will update as soon as we have answers to these questions.
Electrek‘stake
It’s a pretty big revelation – it’s not just a corn of them have “simultaneous” faults been found? It strains credibility or means LG has a huge problem, especially in the context of what’s been going on with LG lately.
We have to applaud GM for moving forward on this point. While it might seem like a long time three weeks from these last two fires, remember how slow big companies are. The last recall investigation took about five weeks from when NHTSA opened an investigation and its announcement, and then took six months before we had a response. This is a relatively short period of time.
Considering the risk, especially for early 2019 model year owners, this will only keep them anxious. The May 1 fire was reportedly only about 70% charged, so it’s unclear how a 90% limitation will help.
Avoiding deep discharges is also curious – this is a pattern that we have found and reported on several occasions. Seventy miles is about 30% load, so limiting to 90% means we’re at 60% of usable capacity. It is not known if this will actually prevent the fires.
It is also unclear how they will determine which cells are having problems. Maybe the last three fires will give them that, but they had 13 months and a dozen fires to investigate. It has been eight months since the recall was first announced. If they haven’t been able to figure it out since then, how long will it take them?
More importantly, what should homeowners do in the meantime?
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