The company is concerned that the batteries are a fire hazard.
Total Recall
GM just issued a recall for the Chevrolet Bolt that, when taken into account alongside two previous recalls, now encompasses every single Bolt that the company has ever made.
The new recall, which was announced on Friday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, encompasses every model year 2019-2022 Bolt because the batteries have the unfortunate tendency to catch fire. As part of the recall, GM will replace the battery of any Bolt that gets returned to it, according to Ars Technica. That will cost a ton of money — GM estimates $1.8 billion in total that it hopes to recoup from battery maker LG — and a great deal of time.
What's not clear yet, unfortunately, is how much of a hiccup this recall — and the high-profile fires that led to it — will ultimately become in the road to more widespread electric vehicle adoption.
Chevy to the Levee
This new announcement marks GM's third and largest recall for the Chevy Bolt, bringing the total number of recalled vehicles up to about 142,000, according to Ars.
The first came last November after five cars caught fire without being involved in crashes, according to Ars. Then, in July, GM recalled another 60,000 vehicles when it became aware of manufacturing issues with the batteries. Since then, it became clear that the defective batteries weren't limited to just one LG factory as GM initially thought, hence the most recent all-encompassing recall.
Going forward, Bolt owners are being urged to find an appointment at a service center so they can get their new battery or even sell their cars altogether. Until then, GM issued a notice warning everyone to keep their cars outside — lest they spontaneously combust inside a garage — and to avoid leaving the cars plugged in overnight.
READ MORE: GM recalls every Chevy Bolt ever made, blames LG for faulty batteries [Ars Technica]
More on the Bolt: Electric Cars Have One Problem: They Keep Lighting People's Houses on Fire
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