GM Warns Some Bolt Owners To Park Outdoors Due To Fire Risk – CBS New York

DETROIT (AP) — General Motors is telling house owners of some older Chevrolet Bolts to park them outside and to not cost them in a single day as a result of two of the electrical automobiles caught hearth after recall repairs had been made.

The corporate stated Wednesday that the request covers 2017 by 2019 Bolts that had been a part of a gaggle that was recalled earlier as a result of fires within the batteries.

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The newest request comes after two Bolts that had gotten recall repairs caught hearth, one in Vermont and the opposite in New Jersey, GM spokesman Kevin Kelly stated.

Homeowners ought to take the steps “out of an abundance of warning,” he stated. The steps must be continued till GM engineers examine and develop a restore, he stated.

The automobiles must be parked outside after charging is full, GM stated in an announcement. “We’re shifting as rapidly as we are able to to analyze this subject,” the corporate stated.

Vermont State Rep. Tim Briglin, whose 2019 Bolt caught hearth, stated he drove it to work and again dwelling in Thetford, Vermont, on June 30, depleting the battery to round 10% of its vary. He plugged it right into a 240-volt outside charger round 8 p.m. and left the Bolt in his driveway after the automobile messaged that it will be totally recharged by 4 a.m.

Round 6:30 a.m. the following day, he noticed smoke coming from the rear of the automobile and referred to as the fireplace division. Volunteer firefighters arrived inside 10 minutes and extinguished the blaze with loads of water, however stayed for an additional three hours, utilizing an infrared digital camera to verify the battery temperature didn’t improve and the fireplace didn’t restart, he stated. Nothing aside from some close by crops had been broken, he stated.

Briglin stated he had the recall repairs executed on June 9, and charged his Bolt to 100% of its battery capability the morning of the fireplace, he stated.

Briglin stated he’s pleased GM is taking the motion, as a result of he’s heard from Bolt house owners who didn’t know what to do due to the latest fires. “I’ve had an incredible expertise with it, however on the identical time, an sad ending for this Bolt,” he stated.

GM, he stated, plans to search out him a 2021 or 2022 mannequin to interchange his, which was a complete loss.

In April, GM introduced that it had developed diagnostic software program to search for anomalies within the batteries of 69,000 Bolts worldwide. If issues are discovered, the corporate will change defective components of the battery.

Kelly stated house owners who haven’t had the recall repairs executed ought to nonetheless take their automobiles to sellers to get the fixes.

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In November, GM recalled the electrical automobiles after getting studies of a number of battery fires. Two individuals suffered smoke inhalation and a home was set ablaze.

At first the corporate didn’t know what was making the issue, however it decided that batteries that caught hearth had been close to a full cost. In order a brief repair, house owners and sellers had been instructed to make software program modifications to restrict charging to 90% of a battery’s capability.

GM traced the fires to what it referred to as a uncommon manufacturing defect in battery modules. It could trigger a brief in a cell, which may set off a fireplace. Underneath the treatment, sellers had been to put in software program designed to warn house owners of issues, and any faulty cells had been to get replaced.

Every Bolt has 288 battery cells, and engineers labored to research information from lots of of hundreds of cells, the corporate stated.

The recall got here after the U.S. Nationwide Freeway Visitors Security Administration opened an investigation into the fires final yr. The company stated in paperwork that the fires started below the rear seat whereas the automobiles had been parked and unattended.

In an announcement Wednesday, the protection company additionally urged individuals to park the automobiles outside and away from constructions.

“Autos must be parked exterior no matter whether or not the interim or ultimate recall treatments have been accomplished, the company stated.

Engineers decided the fires happened in Bolts with battery cells made at an LG Chem manufacturing unit in Ochang, South Korea, from Might of 2016 to Might of 2019.

Some 2019 Bolts and all 2020 and 2021 variations have cells made at an LG Chem plant in Holland, Michigan, and aren’t included within the recall.

As soon as the ultimate recall repairs are made, the Bolts’ full vary will likely be restored. Older Bolts can go about 238 miles per cost.

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