Clean Fuel News

GM says Chevy Bolt EV battery production has resumed, defect leading to fire risk is fixed

Originally posted by Fred Lambert | September 20, 2021 | Electrek | Original Article

GM announced today that LG is resuming production of batteries for Chevy Bolt EV as the manufacturing defect leading to the fire risk has been fixed.

For months, we have been reporting on the mounting pressure to have GM recall the Bolt EV after several cars caught on fire while charging.

Everything pointed to a similar battery defect as Hyundai experienced with its LG batteries in the Kona EV, but while the Korean automaker recalled the vehicles to replace the batteries, GM resisted battery replacements.

In August, GM finally caved and announced that it will replace batteries in all 2017 to 2022 Bolt EVs.

As we reported at the time, GM put the blame on LG for the first time, and after extending the recall to even the most recent Bolt EVs in production, it raised questions about the current brand-new Bolt EV and EUVs being produced.

GM halted production of the electric vehicles until at least October as they said that “LG has yet to supply them with defect-free batteries”.

Today, GM announced that LG has resumed battery production for the Chevy Bolt EV and EUV:

LG battery plants in Holland and Hazel Park, Michigan, have resumed production. In addition, LG is adding capacity to provide more cells to GM. As a result, replacement battery modules will begin shipping to dealers as soon as mid-October.

The root cause of the rare circumstances that could cause a battery fire is two manufacturing defects known as a torn anode and a folded separator, both of which need to be present in the same battery cell.

LG has implemented new manufacturing processes and has worked with GM to review and enhance its quality assurance programs to provide confidence in its batteries moving forward. LG will institute these new processes in other facilities that will provide cells to GM in the future.

The automaker still plans to resume production of the vehicles next month as the battery supply will be prioritized for replacements as part of its recall.

GM wrote today:

“GM will continue to prioritize Chevy Bolt EV and EUV customers whose batteries were manufactured during specific build timeframes where GM believes battery defects appear to be clustered. The company has established a notification process that will inform affected customers when their replacement modules will be available.”

The good news for owners is that the new batteries will include an extended battery 8-year/100,000-mile limited warranty.

Furthermore, the automaker also announced a new diagnostic software to launch in the next 60 days:

“The diagnostic software will be designed to detect specific abnormalities that might indicate a damaged battery in Bolt EVs and EUVs by monitoring the battery performance; alerting customers of any anomalies; and prioritizing damaged battery modules for replacement. It is GM’s intent that further diagnostic software will allow customers to return to a 100 percent state of charge once all diagnostic processes are complete.”

GM said that it is still negotiating with LG about contributing to the cost related to the recall.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE