This time, it's not battery related.
General Motors USA and GM Canada will recall 140,000 Chevrolet Bolt EV cars due to a seatbelt fire risk.
The Chevrolet Bolt might be cheap and cheerful, and its latest sales figures prove that it is still very popular amongst young buyers and first-time EV adopters. Still, this little city car has been plagued with problems, including a recent investigation into its Cruise autonomous driving system.
This isn't the first time the Bolt EV has been recalled due to a fire risk. The Bolt suffered a highly-publicized fire-related recall, which turned out to be a mistake by LG Chem and not Chevrolet. Even so, the Bolt became the poster boy for EV fires and the go-to argument for EV naysayers.
General Motors will recall 120,000 Chevrolet Bolt vehicles in the United States and 20,000 cars in Canada for a seatbelt issue that poses a fire risk.
The recall affects Bolt hatchbacks from the 2017 to 2023 model years but excludes Bolt vehicles built for Cruise, GM's autonomous vehicle unit, and Bolt utility vehicles.
GM said that in some cases, exhaust gasses from the front seatbelt pretensioners could come in contact with carpet fibers in the event of a crash, causing a fire. Pretensioners measure when an impact is imminent and pull the seat belt tighter to position the passenger correctly before impact. Thus far, GM has received three reports of a fire starting because of this issue.
Last year, the Chevy Bolt EV faced massive recalls and a PR nightmare when its battery modules started bursting into flames.
The recall cost GM over $2 billion and involved 143,000 cars requiring new battery modules. With the memory of Chevy Bolts bursting into flames still fresh in the memories of some owners, this recall couldn't come at a worse time, but at least the issue has been caught before any severe damage could be done.
As always, GM will contact affected owners by mail and request that owners take their vehicles to the nearest dealership, where technicians will install foil tape under the carpet near the pre-tensioner exhaust.
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