General Motors to start replacing batteries of recalled Bolt EVs next month
General Motors (GM) has announced that it has been able to recognize and fix the production flaws inside the batteries of the Chevrolet Bolt EVs that pose a fire hazard. The automaker will start replacing the batteries of the recalled Bolt EVs starting next month.
The automaker had been working with its South Korean EV battery partner LG Corp to track down and fix the problem. It said that the LG plants have resumed battery production and are increasing the capacity so the batteries meant for replacement will begin shipping to dealers as soon as mid-October. The new batteries will include an extended battery warranty of 8-year/100,000-mile.
GM had been directly working with LG to recognise and solve these problems. The companies found two two production flaws to be fixed, which when combined, caused the battery to ignite, thus leading to fire hazards. GM had to recall all Bolt electric vehicles from 2017 to 2022 model years.
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The automaker plans to continue working with LG replace the faulty battery modules in the vehicles. "Resuming battery module production is a first step and we'll continue to work aggressively with LG to obtain additional battery supply," GM executive vice president, Doug Parks, was quoted by AFP.
These fixes address the fire risk that prompted the carmaker to recall more than 140,000 Bolts EVs as well as issue warnings to the owners to not park their vehicles in garages or leave them charging overnight. In fact, the latest guidance urged owners to park their vehicles at least 50 feet away from others. So far, GM has confirmed at least 13 fire incidents related to the faulty batteries.
General Motors also announced that it is additionally launching a new diagnostic software package for the cars to detect battery defects, so as to avoid any such issue in the future.
(with inputs from AFP)
