19th March 2024

Basic Motors Co. GM -1.26% is recalling its all-electric Chevrolet Bolt for a second time due to a possible battery defect that may trigger a fireplace, underscoring the technical challenges automobile corporations face as they race to develop extra plug-in autos.

GM mentioned Friday that its investigation into current battery fires involving the vehicles discovered that manufacturing defects in a sure battery cell had been the basis trigger. It’s asking homeowners of 2017-2019 mannequin yr Bolts to maintain their electric-vehicle expenses at a sure degree and to park the vehicles exterior after charging them.

Below the earlier recall, initiated in November, homeowners of 69,000 Bolts had been suggested to get a software program replace that will monitor the situation of the lithium-ion battery and flag any potential issues.

GM has since realized that not less than one battery fireplace occurred in a car that had acquired the software program replace, the corporate spokesman mentioned. The corporate is conscious of eight fires whole and two associated accidents however no deaths, he mentioned.

“Sadly the software program replace was not totally efficient in addressing the protection danger within the car, therefore the second recall,” the spokesman mentioned.

The treatment will embrace some adjustments to the battery {hardware} however a closing answer hasn’t but been decided, he mentioned.

Shares of GM fell 31 cents to $55.33 in noon buying and selling Friday.

The issues come as main auto makers deepen their funding in electrical autos with plans to launch dozens of latest plug-in fashions within the coming years, a shift being pushed by tighter tailpipe-emissions rules. GM is inserting one of many auto business’s largest bets on the know-how with plans to spend $35 billion by 2025 on 30 new electrical fashions.

Electrical-vehicle entrepreneurs are engaged on the business’s largest bottleneck: charging infrastructure. Corporations are constructing extra chargers, but it surely is probably not sufficient to make EVs work for individuals who can’t plug in at residence. Picture illustration: Carlos Waters/WSJ

Electrical autos nonetheless account for a small share of the general automobile market, however their gross sales are choosing up within the U.S. and globally, as new choices develop into accessible in showrooms and auto executives push to spotlight the advantages of the know-how. Within the first half of 2021, gross sales of plug-in electrical autos within the U.S. greater than doubled over the prior-year interval, far outpacing the broader auto business’s development.

Nonetheless, challenges stay for auto producers making an attempt to persuade patrons to make the swap, together with greater sticker costs, vary nervousness and an absence of charging stations. Issues about battery fires have additionally weighed on the auto business, though researchers have mentioned the dangers of a blaze in an electrical car are akin to gas-powered vehicles and incidents are comparatively uncommon.

The lithium-ion batteries in electrical vehicles are much like these present in shopper electronics and are designed to retailer giant quantities of power relative to their dimension. To energy an car, automobile corporations use extra of them, and the power calls for are greater, creating a singular hazard.

Different automobile corporations even have had bother up to now yr with fires involving lithium-ion batteries utilized in electrical autos. Ford Motor Co. , Hyundai Motor Co. and BMW AG every issued remembers for brand spanking new battery-powered fashions final yr.

The Bolt till not too long ago was GM’s solely electrical car on sale within the U.S. It not too long ago started promoting a bigger model of the Bolt and later this yr is scheduled to launch a Hummer electrical pickup truck beneath its GMC model.

In the meantime, homeowners are being advised to cost their vehicles to 90% capability and to not drive them beneath 70 miles of vary. Additionally they ought to park their automobile exterior instantly after charging and never cost them in a single day, the corporate mentioned.

The auto maker mentioned notified prospects final week that it was investigating the reason for two battery fires.

LG Vitality Resolution, a unit of Korea’s LG Group, provides the battery cells for the Bolt. A LG consultant didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.

The Hummer and different plug-in fashions within the works for GM manufacturers will use a brand new electric-vehicle system that was developed by the Detroit auto maker and contains an up to date battery chemistry, the corporate has mentioned.

GM is transferring to supply its personal batteries via a three way partnership with LG. The 2 corporations are constructing a battery manufacturing facility in Ohio and GM has mentioned it plans three extra U.S. battery vegetation. Their collaboration displays a broader push by automobile corporations to safe future battery provides as competitors for the elements and supplies intensifies.

Write to Mike Colias at Mike.Colias@wsj.com

The Street to Extra Electrical Autos

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