Why Bolt Owners Need to Park Outside Until They Get This Recall

General Motors is recalling roughly 68,700 Bolt EVs to temporarily limit their battery capacities hoping it'll prevent further battery fires. The automaker has confirmed five fires are the result of a defect inside the EV's high-voltage battery systems. The batteries contain cells from LG Chem and as they approach a 100% charged state there's an issue that can cause a short-circuit and spark a flame.

The issue has been under investigation by the safety regulators since last month.

Recommendations for owners ∞

On the surface, 5-out-of-68,700 vehicles sounds like pretty good odds but the situation is too serious to take any chances. GM is asking owners to:

1. Manually limit their battery capacities to 90% through multiple options available through the car's infotainment system.
2. Not park in or around any enclosed structures, particularily if the vehicle is charging or has a 100% charge.
3. Bring their cars in to receive a software update on or around November 17th to reduce their battery capacity.

Obviously a 90% battery capacity is not ideal as it limits the car's range but GM emphasizes this is only a temporary solution until they can get to the root of the problem and provide a more permanent solution sometime in 2021.

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Bolt Batteries Could Catch on Fire As They Charged Near 100%

GM believes new software updates will allow Bolt owners to fully charge their batteries once again. Owners were asked to temporarily limit their battery's charging capacity to stop defective cells from sparking a flame and make the EV extra