See attached document for complaint
2020 Chevrolet Bolt EV complaints
Owner reports filed with NHTSA about this vehicle, newest first and reproduced as filed. They are unverified accounts: one proves nothing, and a pattern across many is the thing worth reading. Back to the full 2020 record →
I narrowly escaped a home and vehicle fire when my vehicle charging port received extensive damage from a Mustart SAE J1772 Level 2 EVSE Portable Electric Vehicle Charger. The charging plug overheated and experienced meltdown. The Mustart unit became so hot that my vehicle charging port charred and fused to the Mustart charging plug. The charging head became very brittle, cracked exposing seals, and leaked oil down the vehicle charging port. Even though the charging head is now melted and broken, the charger does not register a fault, and still shows a green light if plugged into the wall. My first warning of a problem was the smell of burning plastic, oil leaking and what looked like smoke coming from the charging head. I immediately unplugged the charger from the wall, but could not remove the charging head from the vehicle charging port because it was fused to the car. I tried to shift the vehicle out of Park and into neutral to move the vehicle away from my home, but the vehicle would not shift with the plug still attached. Even though unplugged from the wall, the Bolt kept beeping, indicating an issue with the charger/port. Fearing a physical short in the charging circuitry of the vehicle, the burning smell and potential for fire, I forcefully removed the charger from the vehicle by pulling on the charging handle with full human stregnth until separated. The plastic parts of both the charger and charging port were burnt and broken. My Chevy Bolt was repaired by a license
The cameras around the car collectively stop working intermittently. When I try to access the cameras or put the car into reverse, I get a black screen with a camera with a line through it. It happens right after it has rained and remains that way for several days. There are not any warning lamps that come on during this time. This situation makes me feel extremely uncomfortable as I have difficulty backing the car up and ensuring that there is not any incoming traffic that I may run into. This can be reproduced, but a dealer has not inspected it yet. Looking at online forums, it would appear this is a common issue that cost several thousand dollars to repair.
Putting car into reverse, rear camera starts to glitch sporadically. Very dangerous when this happens in a busy parking lot. This car also features a 360 overhead view and this also glitches at the same time as reverse camera mode.
The engine compartment wiring harness Part Number: 42765196 wiring shorted out due to the chaffing of wires in the harness. The dealer is replacing the harness but there is no known changes that will prevent this in the future. $3,000 repair bill. I have asked for the defective harness to be returned to me for examination. This is a major safety concern as in my case, the Chevrolet Bolt would not move either in forward or reverse (Note: the other electrical systems and battery continue to work. This failure happen in rush hour traffic and the vehicle was nearly hit by passing cars. There was no warning that the propulsion would entirely shut down. The dealer reported that they had seen this problem before. No one from the manufacturer are interested in this. A check engine light had come on the night before and I had set up an appointment with the dealer for the next day and add reported the vehicles' issues that I had observed. There is no warning to indicate that the problem would result in the complete loss of propulsion.
In all models before 2022, the brake lights shut off while at a stop in one-pedal driving mode. This is a major safety concern that can be fixed entirely in software.
The car has only 20k miles and the gear steering box failed and had to be replaced. This is apparently a very common defect where if the part fails the dealer said the steering will lock up and potentially cause a crash. $2500 to replace it is a huge hit and kicked in just out of warranty. Chevy should admit to either bad design if this key part goes bad with minimal use/mileage or defective manufacturing by its part provider since the issue apparently stems from the grease within the gear box separating or breaking down. In short, Chevy is well aware of a dangerous defect in its Bolt product line that could lock up steering but will not fix it. It is only a matter of time before someone gets killed, if it hasn’t happened already. NHTSA should investigate reported Bolt accidents where vehicles go off the road.
I have a defective airbag--it stopped working out of nowhere in December 2023. I reported it to my Chevy dealership and they looked at it and said my whole safety restraint system is down. They said they have no airbags and can't fix it yet. Now it's April 2024 it's still not fixed and the dealership has not been actively working to get me a loaner or fix it.
While approaching a stop light, the car experienced a loss of propulsion and gave me an error message about it. The car told me to pull over as soon as possible, however, in busy morning traffic, this was impossible. Even if I'd had space to pull over, the car came to a stop and locked up with the error message "Conditions Not Right For Shift." It had to be rebooted several times before it could be shifted into neutral long enough to be pushed to safety. From there, it then had to undergo a hard reboot to return to a state where it could be shifted into Drive. A dealership service center confirmed the problem under as described under service bulletin 19-NA-220. There were no warning lamps or other symptoms of the problem. The car is available for inspection upon request.
The steering wheel does not return to center. When turning and then releasing the steering wheel to come out of the turn, the wheel stays where it is, causing the car to continue to turn. You must manually steer the wheel back to center position. This always happens when steering. It is not a one-time or intermittent. This is not safe as it makes the car go off the road. There is no warning light or alert from the car itself that something is wrong. I purchased the car used from a used car dealership and it is doing this when I bought it. They confirmed it. To my knowledge, no one else has inspected the vehicle's steering. Looking online, there seems to be many other Chevrolet Bolt owners complaining/experiencing the same steering problem.
My 2020 Chevy Bolt EV Premier has had intermittent problems with the Rear Camera Mirror going to a black screen and shutting down. After re-seating the wiring harness, which didn't fix the problem, they replaced the wiring harness, and then when it continued to happen, they replaced the rear camera. This cleared things up for a while, but then intermittently, it started to happen again. Over the past week, things have become worse, and the mirror assembly would turn off and get extremely hot. It was so hot to the touch, almost at the stage of burning my hand. I have not gotten a resolution from the Chevy dealership as they are too busy and won't be able to diagnose the issue for a week and a half. I am concerned that this is a safety issue that might result in a vehicle fire.
I recently purchased a 2020 Chevy Bolt. I was never told that the battery could catch on fire and that they have a range limit. My work has banned this vehicle from their parking lot. The current recall for the battery requires software that reduces the battery by 80% which interferes with my driving schedule. This is a huge safety risk parking a vehicle that could potentially light on fire. I talked with GM and they can't guarantee that the software will detect if the battery has an issue.
Passenger air bag no longer functions. Passenger airbag shows as off when a passenger is in seat. Display shows that safety restrain system has an error. According to dealer, air bag system is disabled and requires the replacement of the passenger air bag. Air bags are on back order and dealer cannot provide timeline for repair.
On Monday,[XXX], I got in my car to go to work and the car messages on my dash stated "Propulsion Power is Reduced", "Service Vehicle Soon". I was able to drive to work but noticed the defrost/heater was not working. I called the local Chevrolet Dealer and scheduled an appt for Friday at 8:30am. This car had already had a recall performed earlier in 2023 that limited my car charging to 80% but never converted to allow full charging after 6200 miles. I drove home with no /defroster/heater and plugged in the car charger monday night. On tuesday morning ([XXX]), the car had not charged at all overnight. It was suppose to charge to 80% (approx 170 miles). When I drove home that evening, a torrential rainfall occurred. My windshield fogged up but since the defrost/heater wasn't working, I had to constantly wipe the windshield with a rag. I thankfully made it home after 6pm and now noticed the car charging was limited to 30%. This is why the car didn't charge on Monday night. The dealership was closed, so I called first thing Wednesday morning to tell the dealership that I needed to drop the car off today ([XXX]) because it was unsafe to drive and I might have to tow the car in because of the very limited charging allowed. They rescheduled the service appt for Thursday ([XXX]) at 8:30am. On Thursday, the repairs took 18 minutes to complete. I received a call from Jordan Ames at at the Rick Hendrick Chevrolet Dealership Thursday telling me the car was ready to be picked up.. He told
Multiple observations of water egress that collects in the rear hatch error, water puddle shorts out audio amplifier and ALL SOUNDS are disabled. No warnings, no pedestrian warning, no turnsignal click, no audible notifications at all . This is noted on many vehicles and GM has been uncertain as to water access point at this time, meanwhile the customer pays for the repair.
Chevrolet dealer was unable to install software during 2 hour N212345944 recall service. Stated that due to error codes and were unable to contact technical support for assistance with errors. I was told to reschedule and leave the vehicle for another attempt. My concern is that GM/Chevrolet repeatedly lead me to believe they had a Final software remedy and they are not delivering on it. They have had more than three years to fix the problem and I am still being denied full use of my vehicle.
Steering wheel makes noise when you turn it. probable steering gear bad
The contact owns a 2020 Chevrolet Bolt EV. The contact stated while at a complete stop with the L(Low) mode activated, the brake lights failed to illuminate. The failure caused a crash for other vehicles that were coming from behind; however, the contact's vehicle was not impacted by the crash. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 2,400.
I plug in my phone and the infotainment system goes black. It also happens when my phone isn’t plugged in I don’t know what’s going on but it happens when I’m driving
None of my local dealers will service recalls on this vehicle. They either tell me that they only perform work on vehicles purchased at that dealership or they continually reschedule my appointment.
An inspection of this vehicle has found the steering to be binding. The car is only 3 years old and there is no logical reason to justify the need to replace the steering gear. If others are reporting this issue, which I'm guessing they are, I think a recall is warranted. The steering binding is a safety issue, and if it further or fully binds up it could cause an accident. I understand that it could also reduce my ability to sense road traction conditions and make fine adjustments.
The contact owns a 2020 Chevrolet Bolt EV. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V650000 (Electrical System), and the vehicle was taken to the dealer for the recall repair; however, after the repair, the vehicle made abnormal loud while charging. Additionally, the battery started overheating, causing the front end of the vehicle to become significantly hot. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated he had received a message through the Chevrolet app advising that the battery had failed. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer, where the failure could not be duplicated. The vehicle was taken to a second dealer, Goss Chevrolet (622 US-11, Champlain, NY 12919), where the same assessment was made. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the dealer. The contact stated that the recall remedy did not fix the issue. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 48,000.
On Oct 1, 2023 I drove about 5 miles from home to Menards. It was a sunny day. I went to leave and turned on my car and both display screens were blank. Like they were unplugged. The important screen is located behind the steering wheel and tells you your speed, engine problems (if any) and turn signals. The other tv screen just has heat/ac info, radio info, etc. I turned my car on and off 6-7 times in Menards parking lot. I left different amounts of time in between tries... up to 5 minutes. Nothing worked. So I drove home with blank screens. I stopped at a Taco Bell and tried again. Still didn't work. It was like both monitor screens were unplugged. This has happened a few times in the past. About 6 months after I bought the car. The screens went out during a car wash. Champion Chevrolet in Avon Indiana told my it was probably humidity and don't go to car wash. It happened a year ago on a rainy day. In the past, I only had to turn the car off and on once and the screens would work. This time I tried 6-7 times n two different parking lots. I drove home. Plugged it in to charge and it worked perfectly the next day. Weird and scary.
The steering system seems to be binding up. The wheel will not return to center after taking a corner. I have to apply force to steer the car back to straight ahead.
I took my chevy bolt to dealer to get this recall fix: Manufacturer Recall NumberN212345941 NHTSA Recall Number21V650 and after my car being a month at dealer, they haven't fixed it yet.
Chevrolet declared a recall on the battery in 2020/2021 and reset the caR BATTERY so that it will no longer take a full charge. The original charge was 240 miles. Now the full charge varies from about 190 to 220 miles.It has been almost 3 years, no new battery. With restricted mileage and summer air conditioning needs, the car has reduced value. It seems about time to get the new battery.
I HAVE BEEN UNABLE TO RESOLVE BOTH RECALLS FOR THIS VEHICLE, AFTER MULTIPLE ATTEMPTS DIRECTLY WITH THE CHEVROLET DEALER FROM WHICH THE VEHICLE WAS BOUGHT NEW, AND THE CHEVROLET EV CONCIERGE. THERE ARE NO INCIDENTS TO REPORT, OTHER THAN THE INABILITY TO RESOLVE BOTH RECALLS IN A TIMELY MANNER
The contact owns a 2020 Chevrolet Bolt EV. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V650000 (Electrical System) however, the contact was not satisfied with the temporary remedy. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was notified of the issue and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.
Although the NHTSA website now reports that my vehicle is longer the subject of a safety recall, NHTSA Campaign Number 21V650000 was not resolved by the software update that Chevrolet installed on my vehicle on June 26, 2023. The high voltage battery on my car failed only 65 miles after the new software was installed. When the newly installed software detected a problem with my car's high voltage battery, the driver information screen on the car's instrument panel advised me that "propulsion power is reduced" and "service vehicle soon." That prompted me to return to my dealer's service department. The dealer that sold me the car and performed the "reprogram field action multimodules coordinated sequence" on June 26 informed me on July 10 that the high voltage battery needs replacement and cannot now be recharged. However, neither the dealer nor Chevrolet can specify a date by which the required battery replacement can and will be completed. I have been told that necessary replacement parts will not be available for "weeks or months." In my case, Chevrolet addressed the risk of fire that prompted NHTSA Campaign Number 21V650000 by confirming the problem and then rendering my car inoperable. I do not believe that NHTSA would consider that an effective response to the recall.
The contact owns a 2020 Chevrolet Bolt EV. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V650000 (Electrical System) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that recently a software update limiting the charging capacity of the battery was performed. The contact stated that the software update was not sufficient to satisfy the recall. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.
The contact owns a 2020 Chevrolet Bolt EV. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V650000 (Electrical System) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.
The contact owns a 2020 Chevrolet Bolt EV. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V650000 (Electric System) and 22V930000 (Structure, Seat Belts) however, the parts to do the recall repairs were unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.
It has been 21 months and I still have not received a new battery for this Chevy Bolt.
Why is GM allowed to wait years to fix EV recalls that can kill people or burn down homes.
The contact owns a 2020 Chevrolet Bolt EV. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V650000 (Electrical System) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.
My 2020 Bolt has been under recall for three years due a serious safety issue. The batteries can catch fire and burn up my car and the surrounding area. Seems very serious? GM knew this before they even sold me my car as the earlier versions had also been recalled. It is also hard to believe that with GM selling thousands of new Bolts every year that batteries for the repair are still not available, after well over 3 years. And with the discontinuation of the Bolt, batteries should now be plentiful. What is a reasonable time to wait for a major manufacturer to repair a serious safety issue? 5 years? 10 years? Obviously over 3 years isn't enough.....
The contact owns a 2020 Chevrolet Bolt EV. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V650000 (Electrical System) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.
The contact owns a 2020 Chevrolet Bolt EV. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V650000 (Electrical System) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.
The contact owns a 2020 Chevrolet Bolt EV. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V650000 (Electrical System); however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The dealer was notified of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.
The contact owns a 2020 Chevrolet Bolt EV. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V650000 (Electrical System) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was not contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.
My battery still has an open recall replacement since August of 2021 and every time I call GM to inquire about the availability of a replacement they just tell me it's not available yet. I do not consider this being handled in a timely manner and that's my complaint. I don't understand how they are allowed to sell new Bolt EV's and EUV's without having replaced current owners batteries yet, it's been over a year and a half now. The suggested remedy was to limit charging to 90% and park outside away from other vehicles and structures which was an incredible burden in practice. In the meantime they issued a software patch that limited charging to 80% which further reduced usefulness of driving car any longer distances and especially in winter cold temperatures range is greatly impacted.
The contact owns a 2020 Chevrolet Bolt EV. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V650000 (Electrical System) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The dealer was made aware of the issue. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available. The contact stated that they would like their complaint removed. GM has been addressing the battery issue. The only complaint that the contact stated was that the issue took two years to fix.
We are a municipally owned electric utility. We were notified of GM safety recall N222383791 on January 26, 2023, we have been unable to use our EV Chevy Bolt since that date due to the fact that this vehicle is driven by employees and we do not want to be liable if injury occurs. As of 3/20/23, the EV Concierge told us that the part is not available yet. We need a solution soon.
I live in New England and when we get close to the end of winter when it still snows and the roads begin to thaw some, they typically become pothole utopia. I was driving my car at night with the highbeams on when I hit a fairly decent sized pothole (1/4 wheel sized, 6-12inches deep) at a speed of 35-40mph. The impact was typical of a pothole of that magnitude (complete compression of front strut, little hop) and it knocked out the front highbeams on the side of the impact. The highbeams on the car are a bi-xenon HID projector system, which has a mechanically actuated shutter in the projector housing contained within the headlamp assembly. The mechanically actuated shutter is controlled by a spring loaded rotating bearing system with an ovoid control end which connects to a rotating L-shaped peice of metal via a hole in the ovoid connector. The force of the impact caused the solenoids metal peice to come out of the shutter control end, preventing the actuating solenoid from actuating the shutter. I believe this is a very poor design, as it's clearly not rated to take routine impacts. This issue caused my vehicle to fail a state saftey inspection and the reccomened repair was a total replacement of the headlamp assembly to the tune of $1,100 + labor because the headlamp shipped sealed. Nothing is in place in the assembly to keep the solenoid pin attached to the shutter control arm. I ended up being able to repair the projector assembly myself, using a tar/ gum like substance i
The high voltage battery has a possible defect that can cause the car to burst into flame without warning. December 2020 - 2020 Chevy bolt purchased with open recall on Chevy Bolt batteries February 2021 - Received letter from GM that the newly purchased car is dangerous and must not be parked inside nor used for more then 50% of it's range [no contact from GM or the local dealer for over 2 years on satisfying the recall] March - 2023 - Contacted the local GM dealer and was told not to contact them again until I get a second letter from GM stating they can repair the defect March 2023 - Contacted GM directly and was handed off to a California specific agent. The agent was clear - There is no repair for this recall at this time. I now have a car that is approaching 3 years old labeled as dangerous by GM and the NHTA yet there remains no timeline for repair or remediation. It is unacceptable to have a continuing known danger to the owner and public at large for years with no remediation and no remediation timeline.
The contact owns a 2020 Chevrolet Bolt EV. The contact received notifications of NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 21V650000 (Electrical System) and 22V930000 (Structure, Seat Belts) however, the parts to do the recall repair were unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repairs. The manufacturer was made aware of the issues. The contact had not experienced a failure. The contact was unable to take possession of the vehicle due to the parts not being available for the recall repair. VIN tool confirms parts not available.
The contact owns a 2020 Chevrolet Bolt EV. The contact received notification of the NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V650000 (Electrical System) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The local dealer was notified of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not notified of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distributions disconnect.
I am filing a complaint with regards to the 2020 Chevy Bolt recall. When I purchased the vehicle in July 2021 from Chevy, the 2020 model was not affected. They then issued a recall August 2021. I have been waiting patiently for the battery replacement; however, this has still not been remedied. When I contacted Chevy online and my local dealer, they were unable to give me a timeline for when this will be fixed. As it has been >18 months, I am frustrated that this has not been resolved in a timely manner. Thank you for your time and consideration. Sincerely, [XXX] INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
The contact owns a 2020 Chevrolet Bolt EV. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V650000 (Electrical System) and 22V930000 (Structure, Seat Belts) however, the parts to do the recall repairs were unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repairs. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact stated that the vehicle had reduced mileage for the battery charge down to approximately 80%. The approximate failure mileage was 20,000. VIN tool confirms parts not available.
The battery recall has been open since Aug 2021, it's Feb 2023 now, I've been waiting for 18 months for my defective battery to be fixed. I cannot charge the car to 100% and I cannot let the car go below 70 miles and I have to park outside. I tried two times to get GM to replace my vehicle but they denied me both times. The last time was with the BBB Auto Line, my denied case number is CHV2312333.
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NHTSA publishes every complaint as the owner wrote it and investigates only a fraction. Spelling, capitalisation and judgement are the filer’s own. What carries weight is repetition: the same component failing the same way across many filings, and whether the manufacturer eventually opened a recall for it.
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