- As per the GM Chevy Bolt EV recall update page, the company will fix the faulty battery on the vehicle with a software update in April 2021.
- Strangely, the Hyundai Kona which utilizes the same battery as the Bolt will undergo a full battery replacement.
- When the issue of fires first emerged a few months ago, GM had issued an update via dealerships that capped the Bolt EV’s charging capacity to 90%.
Just a few months after recalling around 68,000 Chevy Bolt EVs due to multiple incidents of fire, manufacturer General Motors (GM) has said that it will fix the bug that caused these fires with a software patch in April this year. GM made no comment about it in public, though the official Chevy Bolt recall page has added an update discussing the status of the recall.
It’s worth noting that when the issue of fires was discovered in November last year, GM asked customers to take their Bolt EVs to the nearest dealership so as to get an update that would cap the battery’s charging capacity to 90%.
From the Chevy Bolt recall update page:
“A team of GM engineers has made substantial progress in identifying the root cause and potential remedies for this issue. They are in the process of validating state-of-the-art software that can diagnose potential issues early and restore 100% charge capability. A final remedy for this recall is anticipated for April 2021. Until that time, if you have not already done so, we recommend scheduling a service appointment with your dealership to update the vehicle’s battery software to automatically limit the maximum state of charge to 90 percent.”
What makes this entire episode pretty strange is the fact that the Hyundai Kona which uses the same battery as the Bolt EV, is going through a battery replacement as a remedy for the same issue.
It’s quite surprising that Hyundai and GM have reached different solutions for pretty much the same problem. The Kona battery recall is expected to be global given that they all have the same battery unit, albeit across different segments.
Hyundai’s ties with battery manufacturer by LG Chem have been strained over this controversy. We expect GM to shed light on the reasoning behind using a software patch rather than a full battery replacement.
Do you own a Bolt EV? What do you make of this development?
Via: Electrek