GM warns not to park Chevy Bolt electric vehicles indoors after two recently caught fire

According to a safety alert issued by the NHTSA, owners of 2017-2019 Chevrolet Bolt EVs should not park their car indoors or leave it charging overnight unattended. The warning comes after two Bolt EVs included in the fire recently caught fire. One fire occurred outside the home of a Vermont state legislator earlier this month, while the other occurred in New Jersey.

“At GM, safety is our top priority, and we are moving as quickly as possible to investigate this issue,” said a spokesperson for the automaker. . According to the NHTSA, the batteries of vehicles included in the safety warning can smoke and catch fire.

In the United States, GM has recalled nearly 51,000 Bolt EVs. The company pushed for an update for these cars that limited their batteries to 90 percent of a full charge. More recently, GM said it would do this on these cars to prevent future fires. He also promised to assess and replace batteries showing “anomalies”. Notably, at the same time, he also removed the charging cap that he had put on during the Bolt’s initial recall.

Part of the reason ongoing reports of the Bolt fires are cause for concern is because the 2017 to 2019 models use the same cells at the center of a similar issue with the Hyundai Kona. Both companies purchased the batteries for these vehicles from LG Chem. Last year, Hyundai Kona electric vehicles after more than a dozen fires then replaced the batteries in.