GM has had a hell of a time dealing with the Chevrolet Bolt. No car manufacturer wants to build a car that lights up at random, let alone sell 100,000, which needs to be recovered to be repaired. This is the situation GM finds itself in, however, and it only gets more awkward from here on out. The company has been advising several owners to park at an astonishing distance of 50 feet from other cars due to the risk of fire, it reports. CNBC.
First reported by Bloomberg News, is advising customers who call GM when it comes to parking cars in parking lots or parking structures. GM spokesman Dan Flores stated in an email that “In an effort to reduce potential damage to nearby structures and vehicles in the rare event of a potential fire, we recommend parking upstairs or on a deck. outdoors and park 50 feet or more away from another vehicle. ” It’s understandable, as a recent Bolt fire in an outdoor parking lot caused the destruction of a Maserati and Hyundai near California.
Prior to the withdrawal, NHTSA’s advice was that owners should park outdoors, away from other vehicles and structures. However, for many living in apartments or areas without street parking, this is simply not an option.
Of course, 50 feet is a long way; in fact, a total of 15.24 French Yardsticks. Typical U.S. parking spaces are 9 feet wide, so owners are advised to leave 6 parking spaces between their vehicle and any other car. Hardly this could be achieved in some parking lots that are not subscribed, but it assumes that owners could somehow block the surrounding parking spaces within a radius of the vehicle, not just left and right, as the screws are not demanding which directions the burning debris throws. Damage to the structure itself must also be taken into account.
Maybe the owners could leave a sign on their vehicle stating “If you can read this, your car is too close, because mine could catch fire.” Still, it’s worth noting that while GM remembered all the bolts built from 2017 to 2022, we still don’t see cars explode in flames on a daily basis. The automaker has officially confirmed 12 fires, although there are more unconfirmed incidents in nature.
With the problem occurring in the defective cells produced by supplier LG Chem, GM hopes to receive some reimbursement from the company to help pay for the withdrawal process. GM has already spent $ 800 million on the withdrawal and expects to spend at least $ 1 billion more since it expanded to cover all the bolts accumulated through the 2022 model years. In particular, LG Chem was able to reach an agreement to cover 70% of the costs of a Hyundai recall on its batteries, so GM will likely chase a similar figure. Companies are working together to increase production of new cells to replace existing ones in bolts, and GM plans to notify customers when parts are available.
We probably haven’t heard the last of this memory, as GM will take quite some time to deal with all the cars that need to be replaced with the battery. Still, we hope that the lessons learned by GM and its battery-manufacturing partner will avoid such costly problems in the future.
Do you have any advice? Let the author know: [email protected]