Certain model years of the Chevrolet Bolt EV are facing a voluntary recall courtesy of General Motors. In the documents provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 111,242 units of the electric hatchback need to go back to dealers to have some parts fixed and installed – all to prevent a fire risk involving seat belts.
The problem lies in the design of the Chevrolet Bolt EV's seat belt pretensioners, which, upon GM's investigation, could deploy during a car crash and cause a fire near the B-pillar area. "In certain crashes that cause the front seatbelt pretensioners to deploy, the exhaust from the deployed pretensioner may ignite fibers in the floor carpet near the B-pillar," the document stated.
Gallery: 2022 Chevrolet Bolt EV: Review
To fix the issue, dealers will install metal foil on the carpet near the pretensioner exhaust in the Chevrolet Bolt EV. Certain vehicles will also need a pretensioner cover installed. These additional parts should prevent the said ignition of the carpet material. As always, these services will be free of charge.
GM indicated that the affected units are model years 2017 to 2023 Chevrolet Bold EVs, manufactured between July 26, 2016 and October 25, 2022. Of note, Chevrolet Bolt EUV models use a different design and are not affected by this voluntary safety recall.
This isn't the first recall concerning the Chevrolet Bolt. Earlier this year, 2017-2022 model years Bolt EV and Bolt EUV had their battery packs replaced due to a fire risk.
LG Chem, the supplier of the battery packs, supported most of the cost of the replacement battery packs. The company also worked with GM to narrow down the cause of the issue, which is possibly a broken anode tab or a folded separator.
Chevy Bolt EV and Bolt EUV units manufactured in April onward are already installed with fixed battery packs.
