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2019 Chevrolet Bolt EV problems & recalls

NHTSA has issued 6 recalls covering the 2019 Chevrolet Bolt EV and owners have filed 178 complaints. The most-reported area is electrical system (85 complaints). 10 complaints describe a fire and 2 complaints describe a crash. 2 recalls tell owners to park outside until it is fixed.

Recalls
6
Complaints
178
Crash reports
2
Fire reports
10
Injuries
5

Recalls (6)

Dec 14, 2023#23V845000

Structure › Body › Roof and pillars

General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2017-2023 Chevrolet Bolt EV vehicles. This recall includes certain vehicles previously repaired incorrectly under NHTSA recall number 22V-930. After a crash with seat belt pretensioner deployment, the pretensioner exhaust may ignite carpet fibers near the B-pillar, causing a fire.

Risk: A fire increases the risk of injury.

Fix: Dealers will inspect both front seat belt pretensioners and, if necessary, install metal foil at the carpet near the pretensioner exhaust. Certain vehicles will also need a pretensioner cover installed. Repairs will be performed free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed January 24, 2024. These vehicles were previously recalled for this same issue under recall number 22V-930 and will need to have the new remedy performed. Owners may contact GM EV Concierge at 1-833-EVCHEVY (1-833-382-4389) (TTY 711 / 1-800-833-2438) or Customer Service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is N232421970.

Dec 15, 2022#22V930000

Structure › Body › Roof and pillars

General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2017-2023 Chevrolet Bolt EV vehicles. After a crash with seat belt pretensioner deployment, the pretensioner exhaust may ignite carpet fibers near the B-pillar, causing a fire.

Risk: A vehicle fire can increase the risk of injury.

Fix: Dealers will install metal foil at the carpet near the pretensioner exhaust, and install a pretensioner cover as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed between January 23, 2023 and April 25, 2023. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is N222383790.

Jul 23, 2021#21V560000⚠ Park outside

Electrical system › Propulsion system › Traction battery

General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2017-2019 Chevrolet Bolt EV vehicles previously recalled under NHTSA recall number 20V-701. The high voltage battery could catch fire when charged to full or nearly full capacity.

Risk: A battery fire increases the risk of injury.

Fix: Owners are advised to take the following interim steps: Activate either the Hill Top Reserve (2017 and 2018 models) or Target Charge Level (2019 models) feature in their vehicle to limit the charge level to 90%, charge their vehicle more frequently, avoid depleting the battery to 70 miles range remaining, park outside after charging, and do not charge the vehicle indoors overnight. Defective battery modules will be replaced by GM, free of charge. Interim notification letters notifying owners of the safety risk were mailed on August 13, 2021. Owner notification letters were mailed on August 13, 2021. Owners may contact the Bolt EV Concierge Team at 1-833-382-4389. GM's number for this recall is N212343880.

Nov 13, 2020#20V701000⚠ Park outside

Electrical system › Propulsion system › Traction battery

General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling all 2017-2018 and certain 2019 Chevrolet Bolt EV vehicles. The high voltage battery could catch fire when charged to full or nearly full capacity.

Risk: A battery fire increases the risk of injury.

Fix: This recall has been superseded by recall number 21V-560. Vehicles previously repaired under 20V-701 will still need to have the new remedy under recall 21V-560. GM will notify owners, and as an interim repair, beginning on November 17, 2020, dealers will reprogram the hybrid propulsion control module 2 (HPCM2) to limit the full charge to 90%, free of charge. Owners are advised to activate either the Hill Top Reserve (2017 and 2018 models) or Target Charge Level (2019 models) feature in their vehicle to limit the charge level to 90%, or park outside, until the software update is completed. Owners were notified of the interim repair beginning November 17, 2020. The second notice was mailed on May 11, 2021. Owners may contact the Bolt EV Concierge Team at 1-833-382-4389. GM's number for this recall is N202311730.

Mar 26, 2020#20V184000

Latches/locks/linkages › Doors › Latch

General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2019-2020 Chevrolet Bolt EV vehicles. The door-handle cable inside the rear doors may be too long, allowing contact with the window when it is opened, possibly damaging the cable. A damaged cable may cause the rear door to open unintentionally when the rear window is opened. Additionally, it may cause the rear inside door handle to not work.

Risk: If the rear door opens while driving, or the door handle fails to open the rear door, there is an increased risk of injury to the rear passengers.

Fix: GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the rear inside door-handle cables, free of charge. The recall began April 17, 2020. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is A202298320.

Aug 30, 2018#18V576000

Service brakes, hydraulic › Foundation components › Disc › Caliper

General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2018-2019 Chevrolet Equinox, Impala, Cruze, Volt and Bolt EV vehicles, GMC Terrain vehicles, Buick Lacrosse and Regal vehicles, Cadillac XTS and XTS Professional vehicles and 2018 Chevrolet Malibu vehicles. The rear brake caliper pistons may have an insufficient coating causing gas pockets to form, potentially reducing rear brake performance.

Risk: A reduction of braking performance can increase the risk of a crash.

Fix: GM will notify owners, and dealers will bleed the vehicle's brake system, free of charge. The recall began October 11, 2018. Owners may contact Buick customer service at 1-800-521-7300, Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006, Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, or GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is 18279.

Owner complaints (178)

What owners reported to NHTSA, by component. One complaint can name several components.

  • Electrical system85
  • Steering46
  • Fuel/propulsion system44
  • Unknown or other21
  • Power train13
  • Service brakes5
  • Forward collision avoidance5
  • Visibility/wiper4
  • Air bags3
  • Seat belts3
  • Lane departure3
  • Wheels2

Complaints over time

Nov 2018: 1 complaintDec 2018: 1 complaintJan 2019: 0 complaintsFeb 2019: 0 complaintsMar 2019: 0 complaintsApr 2019: 0 complaintsMay 2019: 0 complaintsJun 2019: 1 complaintJul 2019: 2 complaintsAug 2019: 2 complaintsSep 2019: 5 complaintsOct 2019: 1 complaintNov 2019: 0 complaintsDec 2019: 0 complaintsJan 2020: 0 complaintsFeb 2020: 2 complaintsMar 2020: 0 complaintsApr 2020: 1 complaintMay 2020: 0 complaintsJun 2020: 2 complaintsJul 2020: 1 complaintAug 2020: 1 complaintSep 2020: 1 complaintOct 2020: 4 complaintsNov 2020: 1 complaintDec 2020: 0 complaintsJan 2021: 2 complaintsFeb 2021: 1 complaintMar 2021: 1 complaintApr 2021: 2 complaintsMay 2021: 6 complaintsJun 2021: 0 complaintsJul 2021: 37 complaintsAug 2021: 15 complaintsSep 2021: 6 complaintsOct 2021: 3 complaintsNov 2021: 2 complaintsDec 2021: 2 complaintsJan 2022: 5 complaintsFeb 2022: 0 complaintsMar 2022: 3 complaintsApr 2022: 1 complaintMay 2022: 2 complaintsJun 2022: 2 complaintsJul 2022: 1 complaintAug 2022: 3 complaintsSep 2022: 1 complaintOct 2022: 2 complaintsNov 2022: 2 complaintsDec 2022: 1 complaintJan 2023: 3 complaintsFeb 2023: 3 complaintsMar 2023: 2 complaintsApr 2023: 2 complaintsMay 2023: 3 complaintsJun 2023: 0 complaintsJul 2023: 1 complaintAug 2023: 0 complaintsSep 2023: 0 complaintsOct 2023: 1 complaintNov 2023: 1 complaintDec 2023: 1 complaintJan 2024: 0 complaintsFeb 2024: 0 complaintsMar 2024: 2 complaintsApr 2024: 0 complaintsMay 2024: 2 complaintsJun 2024: 1 complaintJul 2024: 2 complaintsAug 2024: 1 complaintSep 2024: 1 complaintOct 2024: 0 complaintsNov 2024: 1 complaintDec 2024: 0 complaintsJan 2025: 0 complaintsFeb 2025: 0 complaintsMar 2025: 0 complaintsApr 2025: 3 complaintsMay 2025: 1 complaintJun 2025: 0 complaintsJul 2025: 2 complaintsAug 2025: 1 complaintSep 2025: 0 complaintsOct 2025: 1 complaintNov 2025: 1 complaintDec 2025: 2 complaintsJan 2026: 0 complaintsFeb 2026: 1 complaintMar 2026: 2 complaintsApr 2026: 2 complaintsMay 2026: 4 complaintsJun 2026: 1 complaintJul 2026: 1 complaintAug 2026: 0 complaintsSep 2026: 3 complaints2020202120222023202420252026
Complaints filed per month. Peak: 37 in Jul 2021. Hover a bar for its count.
Complaints filed per month
MonthComplaints
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Oct 20204
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Recent owner reports

Sep 21, 2026Wheels, Service brakes

I am reporting a recurring safety defect with our 2019 Chevrolet Bolt (80,000 miles). On multiple occasions the left front wheel has overheated severely while driving, accompanied by a rapid, severe side-to-side steering wheel wobble and a burning smell. On XXX after 35 miles of driving (10 miles at 50-63 mph), the steering wheel began shaking. We had to pull over and drive slowly along the shoulder, stopping twice to let the wheel cool. The left front wheel measured 627.9F, while other wheels were under 200F. On XXX, only three days after replacing the front brake pads and rotors, the left f…

Sep 20, 2026Steering

The steering wheel on my 2019 Chevy bolt is feeling stiff and harder to turn when making a right and left turn.

Sep 17, 2026Unknown or other

A rear passenger side door handle/latch stopped working. The door cannot be opened from the inside, only from the outside. It’s a safety issue and it has affected other 2019-2020 Bolts which resulted in their recall. Why not this one?

Jul 10, 2026Steering

Steering wheel does not return to center on turns when driving at low speeds.

Jun 13, 2026Steering

Steering wheel does not return to center after making a turn. Over time the steering rack fails leading to a steering wheel that will not return to center even when force is applied to wheel. The dealership is charging $3-4k to fix this safety issue.

May 18, 2026Steering, Service brakes

when driving my car from the airport at Bradley International in CT (parked for a week), I experienced a terrible vibration in the steering wheel which has been intermittent. The vibration went away at lower speeds. I brought the car in to the shop on 5/18/2026 with 74,000 miles on the car. They told me I had to replace rotors, brakes, calipers, brake fluid, and do a front end alignment because the rotors have failed internally. The EV doe not use braking as frequently and this was taken from the Chevy forum: ISSUE: Frozen or Seized Calipers The Issue: Because Bolt drivers heavily rely o…

May 12, 2026Steering

The steering wheel takes more effort to turn than it should and does not return to center after making a turn. It has been like this since I bought the car used, and I did not realize until recently that it should not be like this. Comments on some online forums indicate that this is a common issue with Chevy Bolts, usually requiring a steering rack replacement. This is a complex operation requiring certified EV technicians (I am told) and very expensive. I am not sure if GM has addressed this issue in any way.

May 11, 2026Steering

The steering wheel locks and stiffens on turns to the left or right refusing to come back to center on its own. In the middle of the turn the wheel locks up. Been told by multiple dealerships and forums I've read online it's a known issue with the car needing a steering gear replacement. A job that costs $4-5k per GM based on labor. There's no warning lights. GM has reproduced issue And based on this forum multiple accounts of this have happened to others [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recall and complaint records, updated Oct 1, 2026. Complaints are owner reports and are not verified by NHTSA. Check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.