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Chevrolet Bolt Production Halt Announced Amid Battery Fire Recall

Remember when countless motoring publications were hailing the Chevrolet Bolt EV as a Tesla Model 3 killer? They couldn’t have been more wrong, and General Motors couldn’t have made a bigger mess of their first mass-market electric car. Not only did they get the size wrong (it’s a subcompact), but the battery recall has surely affected the Bolt’s appeal.
Chevrolet Bolt EV Fire 7 photos
Photo: Victor Yesikov
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To make a long story easier to digest, GM found that a torn anode tab and a folded separator led to the battery fires you’ve heard about in the news. All told, more than 140,000 cars have been called back. The safety recall could end up costing $2 billion depending on the number of module replacements needed, and battery supplier LG Energy will cover the vast majority of the cost. GM started replacing modules in 2017 to 2019 models last month.

As the biggest of the Big Three in Detroit prepares to run diagnostic software on 2020 to 2022 models, including the Bolt EUV faux crossover, the automaker has announced a three-week production downtime at the Orion plant in Michigan. According to Automotive News, the bigwigs decided on this halt to prioritize battery module replacements for existing customers.

The assembly site will be offline from November 15th to December 3rd, and production is expected to resume on December 6th if everything goes according to plan. Automotive News understands from General Motors spokesperson Dan Flores that Orion is running on limited production this week to help optimize battery output to support dealers and owners.

Those who believe the rear-wheel-drive Tesla Model 3 is too expensive for them (and it sure is expensive at $43,990 sans taxes) can order a Bolt from $31,000 for the hatchback and $33,000 for the wannabe crossover. Slightly longer than the Bolt EV, the Bolt EUV gets worse driving range.

The EPA ratings for the cooler sibling is 247 miles (398 kilometers), which isn’t bad at all if you plan to commute in this fellow. The Bolt EV, by comparison, improves to 259 miles (417 kilometers) between charging stops.
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About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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