Class Action Lawsuit Filed Over Chevy Bolt EV Battery Pack

TruckElectric

Well-known member
First Name
Bryan
Joined
Jun 16, 2020
Threads
769
Messages
2,482
Reaction score
3,273
Location
Texas
Vehicles
Dodge Ram diesel
Occupation
Retired
Country flag
BY SAM MCEACHERN— DEC 3, 2020

A class-action lawsuit has been filed against General Motors over the problems some owners are experiencing with the Chevy Bolt EV battery pack.

Lawfirm Chimicles Schwartz Kriner & Donaldson-Smith filed the nationwide class-action lawsuit on behalf of plaintiff Andres Torres. The law firm claims that when the lithium-ion battery pack in the Chevy Bolt EV is “charged to full, or very close to full,” it can pose a risk of fire. It also says that GM’s only fix for the problem is a software update that limits the maximum state of charge to approximately 90% battery capacity, thereby reducing the amount of mileage that these vehicles can otherwise travel on a full charge.

Tesla Cybertruck Class Action Lawsuit Filed Over Chevy Bolt EV Battery Pack -LT-Dubai-Exteror-019-rear-three-quarters-1024x683


The complaint accuses GM of violating the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Practices Act and the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, along with fraudulent concealment/fraud by omission. It also accuses GM of breaching its express and implied warranties on its vehicles. The plaintiff is seeking restitution and punitive damages as a result of “GM knowingly introducing defective vehicles into the marketplace and defrauding consumers across the country, and also an award for costs and fees and other relief,” the law firm says.

Tesla Cybertruck Class Action Lawsuit Filed Over Chevy Bolt EV Battery Pack vrolet-Bolt-EV-Premier-Brazil-exterior-02-1024x649


GM issued a recall for almost 69,000 units of the Chevy Bolt EV worldwide in November after it received five separate complaints of the battery packs in the vehicles catching fire. GM has not yet identified the root cause of the fires and has instructed dealers to install a software patch that limits the battery capacity to 90 percent of its limit as a sort of stop-gap measure. A more permanent fix for the problem is expected to arrive sometime in the New Year.

Tesla Cybertruck Class Action Lawsuit Filed Over Chevy Bolt EV Battery Pack vrolet-Bolt-EV-Premier-Brazil-exterior-03-1024x683


The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has also launched an investigation into the Chevy Bolt EV battery fires. The safety watchdog has received three complaints from owners pertaining to the issue thus far and says all the fires started under the rear seat of the vehicle while it was parked.

Tesla Cybertruck Class Action Lawsuit Filed Over Chevy Bolt EV Battery Pack GM-Battery-Production-Brownstown-1-1024x589


Chevy Bolt Executive Chief Engineer Jesse Ortega said previously that the battery fires can be traced back to defective cells manufactured by GM supplier LG Chem in South Korea between May 2016 and May 2019. Only certain 2017, 2018 and 2019 model year Chevy Bolt EV models are believed to be affected by this problem.

We’ll be following this Chevy Bolt EV battery fire situation closely, so be sure to subscribe to GM Authority for more Chevrolet Bolt EV news, Chevrolet news, and around-the-clock GM news coverage.


SOURCE: GM AUTHORITY
Sponsored

 

TruckDaddy

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 14, 2020
Threads
9
Messages
221
Reaction score
387
Location
Texas
Vehicles
Tri-motor
Country flag
I'm surprised Chevy didn't just install a fire extinguisher, and call it fixed.
 

ajdelange

Well-known member
First Name
A. J.
Joined
Dec 8, 2019
Threads
4
Messages
3,213
Reaction score
3,403
Location
Virginia/Quebec
Vehicles
Tesla X LR+, Lexus SUV, Toyota SR5, Toyota Landcruiser
Occupation
EE (Retired)
Country flag
Read up on how to extinguish a lithium ion battery fire.
 

Dids

Well-known member
First Name
Les
Joined
Dec 21, 2019
Threads
8
Messages
1,766
Reaction score
3,771
Location
Massachusetts
Vehicles
04 Tacoma, 23 Cybertruck
Occupation
Self
Country flag
That is what Chevy will tell Bolt owners after the fire.
That is exactly what they did with 1995 pickup trucks. 2 weeks after the truck burned they sent a replacement dipstick and a letter saying original can cause a fire.
 


T3slaDad

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 5, 2019
Threads
3
Messages
200
Reaction score
292
Location
Hot Places
Vehicles
Model 3, RWD Cybertruck
Country flag
This is more confirmation of just how far behind Tesla everyone else is on their EV tech. Tesla had issues early on and has since gotten leaps and bounds better! Everyone else is starting figuratively 10 years behind Tesla's tech due to their lack of dedication over the years.
 
OP
OP
TruckElectric

TruckElectric

Well-known member
First Name
Bryan
Joined
Jun 16, 2020
Threads
769
Messages
2,482
Reaction score
3,273
Location
Texas
Vehicles
Dodge Ram diesel
Occupation
Retired
Country flag
This is more confirmation of just how far behind Tesla everyone else is on their EV tech. Tesla had issues early on and has since gotten leaps and bounds better! Everyone else is starting figuratively 10 years behind Tesla's tech due to their lack of dedication over the years.
LG Chem makes the battery for Chevrolet Bolt. They also have an agreement with Tesla to provide batteries.
 

TruckDaddy

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 14, 2020
Threads
9
Messages
221
Reaction score
387
Location
Texas
Vehicles
Tri-motor
Country flag
Kia and Hyundai had over 3,100 vehicle fires? in the link above.

If Tesla had just 3 fires, it would be MAJOR news!
 

ajdelange

Well-known member
First Name
A. J.
Joined
Dec 8, 2019
Threads
4
Messages
3,213
Reaction score
3,403
Location
Virginia/Quebec
Vehicles
Tesla X LR+, Lexus SUV, Toyota SR5, Toyota Landcruiser
Occupation
EE (Retired)
Country flag
Kia and Hyundai had over 3,100 vehicle fires? in the link above.

If Tesla had just 3 fires, it would be MAJOR news!
Think about what you are saying. Three fires isn't news at all. But 3,100 fires? Now that's news!
 


Crissa

Well-known member
First Name
Crissa
Joined
Jul 8, 2020
Threads
126
Messages
16,227
Reaction score
27,092
Location
Santa Cruz
Vehicles
2014 Zero S, 2013 Mazda 3
Country flag
Think about what you are saying. Three fires isn't news at all. But 3,100 fires? Now that's news!
And yet, which one made national headlines? And which one was relegated to industry news?

One where It was 1:13,000 having fires or one where it was 1:95?

-Crissa
 

T3slaDad

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 5, 2019
Threads
3
Messages
200
Reaction score
292
Location
Hot Places
Vehicles
Model 3, RWD Cybertruck
Country flag
LG Chem makes the battery for Chevrolet Bolt. They also have an agreement with Tesla to provide batteries.
Yes, but they provide two totally different technologies to their clients due to manufacturing guidelines. Tesla provides the guidelines for their batteries and LGchem makes them, and Chevy has their guidelines and LGchem makes the batteries.

The battery isn't the only thing that can influence the fire, it's just the fuel source. BMS failure, wiring problems, improperly gauged wiring configurations, poor charging setups, bad heat and thermal management, the list goes on and on.

Tesla has learned from all of these challenges and confronted to improve every aspect of the EV, whereas their competitors are just starting to get their feet wet. Tesla had growing pains taking into consideration all the nuances, now everyone else is too.

So yes, one manufacturer can provide cells to 2 brands, but they can be totally different specs and chemistries depending on the client's (the auto maker's) needs. This is not LGchem's fault as they have tight quality control guidelines, but the client's fault for choosing one chemistry over the other. There's more to EV safety than just the fuel source. ?
 

ldjessee

Well-known member
First Name
Lloyd
Joined
Apr 22, 2020
Threads
14
Messages
1,148
Reaction score
1,357
Location
Indiana, USA
Vehicles
Nissan Leaf, MYLR, Kaw 1700 Vaquero
Occupation
Business Intelligence Manager & Analyst
Country flag
I worked for a very short time for a supplier of speakers for automakers and the high end speakers and the cheap speakers were all made the same way, on the same line... the difference was the QA and amount of testing. When doing a high end batch (with the labelling as such), more thorough testing was done and a higher standard was required for the speaker to pass the QA process. It did happen that a cheaper speaker could sound better than a more expensive one, but there was never a 'bad' sounding high end speaker.

One QA problem once the speaker was mounted in the car was that length of wire was resonating so they shortened it by 1.5mm for the high-end speaker. The low end speaker... no change was made.

And this manufacturer charged a lot more for that more thorough testing and for the higher QA threshold.

If Chevy had said LG Chem would be replacing the batteries, then it was on LG Chem... but most likely Chevy was getting the quality they ordered and paid for.
Sponsored

 
 




Top