Owners of select Model Year 2017-2019 Chevrolet Bolt EV vehicles should park their cars outside and away from homes until their vehicles have been repaired, due to a new recall for the risk of fire.
General Motors has issued a recall of over 68, 667 Chevrolet Bolt EVs worldwide for the potential of an unattended fire in the high-voltage battery pack underneath the back seat’s bottom cushion. The majority of the cars affected, 50,925 EVs, are in the U.S.
The affected vehicles’ cell packs have the potential to smoke and ignite internally, which could spread to the rest of the vehicle and cause a structure fire if parked inside a garage or near a house.
These vehicles can catch fire even if they are turned off, parked, and disconnected from a charging unit. NHTSA has confirmed five known fires with two injuries; at least one of the fires spread from the vehicle and ignited a home. Until these recalled vehicles have been repaired, the safest place to park them is outside and away from homes.
GM said it has developed software that will limit vehicle charging to prevent future incidents.
The U.S. vehicle owners can visit NHTSA.gov/recalls and enter their 17-digit vehicle identification number to see if their vehicle is under recall. If it is, vehicle owners should call their nearest dealership immediately to schedule a free interim repair.
