Owners of the 2017-2019 Chevrolet Bolt 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.
GM has issued a recall of 50,932 Chevrolet Bolt vehicles for the potential of an unattended fire in the high-voltage battery pack underneath the back seat’s bottom cushion.
Officials say the 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.
According to NHTSA, 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. They say at least one of the fires spread from the vehicle and ignited a home.
Until these recalled vehicles have been repaired, NHTSA says the safest place to park them is outside and away from homes.
GM are asking owners to take the following steps to limit the charge capacity to 90% and reduce the risk of fire:
2017 or 2018 model-year Bolt EV
• Change the vehicle charge settings to use the Hill Top Reserve option
2019 model-year Bolt EV
• Change the vehicle charge settings to enable Target Charge Level at 90%
NHTSA has an open defect investigation into this issue.
Vehicle owners can click here 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.
