Photo: Cherokee County Fire & Emergency Services
The new Chevrolet Bolt EV fire in Canton, Georgia, has apparently made General Motors add an extra precaution to those already listed on the EV's recall page. According to Bloomberg, the automaker requested some of their customers them to park their Bolt EVs at least 50 feet (15 meters) away from other vehicles. The goal would be “to reduce potential damage to structures and nearby vehicles in the rare event of a potential fire.”
If you go check the recall page for the Bolt EV, you’ll see the new guidance is not included there, which makes it seem pretty specific. Bloomberg did not mention how the company is contacting these owners. Luckily, CNBC got in touch with the automaker to ask about that and announced that it was not GM who contacted clients. It was actually, the other way around.
The carmaker is advising all customers that have already contacted GM’s call center, to park the Bolt EV in structures or parking lots. We also got in touch with GM and we are expecting to receive a similar answer soon.
In other words, this is a general recommendation that should probably show up on the recall page any day now. According to the company, Bolt EV owners should also try to park “on the top floor or on an open-air deck,” always respecting the minimum 50-feet distance from other vehicles.
As Bloomberg stresses, many Bolt EV customers that live in crowded urban areas may not have anywhere to park their at such a distance from others. On the Chevrolet Bolt EV forums, people are also arguing that they can only charge their vehicles at night, among other things. That said, some refuse to wake up in the middle of the night to unplug their cars and park them outside their garages. Unfortunately, as uncomfortable as the procedure is, avoiding it is not an option.
According to NHTSA, 110,324 Bolt vehicles from 2017 up to 2022 are included in the recall: 50,932 cars from 2017 up to 2019 and 59,392 EVs from the 2019 model year until the 2022 model year. CNBC says that GM reported 12 fires so far. It is not clear if the count includes the latest blaze in Georgia.
The carmaker is advising all customers that have already contacted GM’s call center, to park the Bolt EV in structures or parking lots. We also got in touch with GM and we are expecting to receive a similar answer soon.
In other words, this is a general recommendation that should probably show up on the recall page any day now. According to the company, Bolt EV owners should also try to park “on the top floor or on an open-air deck,” always respecting the minimum 50-feet distance from other vehicles.
As Bloomberg stresses, many Bolt EV customers that live in crowded urban areas may not have anywhere to park their at such a distance from others. On the Chevrolet Bolt EV forums, people are also arguing that they can only charge their vehicles at night, among other things. That said, some refuse to wake up in the middle of the night to unplug their cars and park them outside their garages. Unfortunately, as uncomfortable as the procedure is, avoiding it is not an option.
According to NHTSA, 110,324 Bolt vehicles from 2017 up to 2022 are included in the recall: 50,932 cars from 2017 up to 2019 and 59,392 EVs from the 2019 model year until the 2022 model year. CNBC says that GM reported 12 fires so far. It is not clear if the count includes the latest blaze in Georgia.
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