NHTSA Complaint #11426166 — 2017 CHEVROLET BOLT EV

General Motors failed to resolve an issue with batteries starting fires in select Chevy Bolts (an all electric vehicle). This a problem they’ve known about since at least 11/2020. Now we are awaiting the third “fix” for this problem. For months we’ve had to reduce our range and be careful about plugging the car in. GM’s temporary answer now (again) is to 1) Restrict our full battery charge - known as Hilltop mode (basically 200 miles summer/170 in the winter). 2) Not let the battery charge fall below 70 miles, and charge up to the hilltop mode limitation after each use. 3) Park outside after charging and don’t charge overnight. We may have to wait months or years for resolution, it’s already taken them 8 months to try 2 fixes that didn’t work. We are completely inconvenienced and our car may still burn up! We had a charger installed in our garage and don’t charge elsewhere. Our range radius has now shrunk to 60 miles for summer and 45 or less in winter. We live in the country 50-60 miles from a bigger city. The reason we chose a Bolt was for its range, which has been substantially reduced. We shouldn’t have to deal with the cost, time and inconvenience by having to charge halfway through a relatively short trip. We also have high forest fire danger currently, any fire besides damaging our property, could cause a wide area catastrophe. Overnight charging makes sense as we are using our vehicle during the day and we don’t charge during peak load times. We also park in the garage to protect from the elements and rodents. It also helps with keeping the battery from getting to cold. Mary Barra, GM’s CEO, on 6/5/14, said GM found “a pattern of incompetence and neglect” in the handling of a faulty ignition switch. She said she wanted GM employees to never forget this! GM has failed it’s customers again. We like our Bolt, but currently it’s an unacceptable safety risk and range is now too severely restricted from GM’s original range specifications.