GM recalls Bolts … again

Eight months after issuing a recall for the Bolt, General Motors has issued a second one for the electric vehicle.

The announcement covers 2017-2019 Chevrolet Bolts. It comes after customers who previously had their vehicle repaired for defective battery modules reported battery fires. The global recall affects 69,000 vehicles.

2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV

GM and its battery supplier partner LG have found “two rare manufacturing defects in the same battery cell” that were the cause of battery fires in these particular Bolt electric vehicles.

“As a result, GM will be conducting a new recall for the previous population of Bolt EVs (2017-2019) to address the risk of battery fires in these vehicles,” the automaker said in a posting on its website.

GM said it will replace defective battery modules in vehicles affected by the recall. It has not yet been announced as to when the replacements will be ready for customers to receive the repairs.

In the meantime, GM is asking customers to do the following to avoid potential issues:

1. Customers should, whether or not they received the current software update, return their vehicle to the 90% state of charge limitation using Hilltop Reserve mode (for 2017-2018 model years) or Target Charge Level (for 2019 model year) mode. If customers are unable to successfully make these changes, or do not feel comfortable making these changes, we are asking them to visit their dealer to have these adjustments completed.
2. Additionally, we ask that customers charge their vehicle after each use and avoid depleting their battery below approximately 113 km of remaining range, where possible.
3. Out of an abundance of caution, customers should continue to park their vehicles outside immediately after charging and not leave their vehicles charging overnight.

The company is also asking customers, if they haven’t already, to visit their dealer to receive the advanced diagnostics software update. Then, they should limit the charging state to 90% and follow the above instructions.

The first recall was issued in November.