2018 Chevrolet Bolt Ev Recalls

Recalls on record Updated July 2026

The 2018 Chevrolet Bolt Ev has 5 NHTSA recall campaigns affecting an estimated 436,987 vehicles. Recall repairs are always free at any authorized dealer. Owners have filed 118 complaints with NHTSA, most often about the steering. Last updated July 5, 2026.

Recall campaigns

SEAT BELTS 23V845000 2023-12-14 6,771 affected
Defect

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,…

Consequence

A fire increases the risk of injury.

Remedy

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…

SEAT BELTS 22V930000 2022-12-15 111,242 affected
Defect

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.

Consequence

A vehicle fire can increase the risk of injury.

Remedy

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…

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 21V560000 2021-07-23 57,414 affected
Defect

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.

Consequence

A battery fire increases the risk of injury.

Remedy

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…

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 20V701000 2020-11-13 50,932 affected
Defect

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.

Consequence

A battery fire increases the risk of injury.

Remedy

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…

SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC 18V576000 2018-08-30 210,628 affected
Defect

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…

Consequence

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

Remedy

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…

Complaints by component

STEERING
36
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
29
1fires
POWER TRAIN
12
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
11
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
8
1crashes
SERVICE BRAKES
7
ENGINE
5
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
3
SUSPENSION
2
VISIBILITY/WIPER
2
Total complaints118

What owners report

Verbatim reports filed with NHTSA, lightly edited for readability and with personal information removed.

“Steering randomly will fail to return to center in turns, causing the driver to have to manually turn wheel back to center. Happens in both sharp and sweeping turns in both the left and right direction while accelerating, decelerating, and maintaining speed. Issue occurs several times a week. I…”

STEERING · reported 2026-05-10

“Steering clunks during low speed maneuvers, shimmy started while rounding a curve at highway speed on uneven pavement. Local garage has identified it as a broken steering gear. Car has only 36000 miles.”

STEERING · reported 2026-04-17

“The steering wheel gets stuck, is difficult to turn, and doesn't return to center. Issues with this make the car much more difficult to drive and makes it impossible to sense the state of the road with the steering wheel. This can lead to loss of control. No warning lamps or messages informed me…”

STEERING · reported 2026-04-09

“Steering doesn't return to center when moving. When moving at low speeds steering is heavy. Possible steering gear issue. Always present while driving vehicle and turning.”

STEERING · reported 2026-04-01

“[xxx] has stearing gear needing to be replaced after <60k miles. Is there a way to report that this may be design flaw. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6)”

SUSPENSION · reported 2026-01-05

“When driving at parking lot speeds, I hear a clunk sound and I feel some vibration in the steering column. This is not observed at higher speeds. Also, the steering intermittently becomes stiff and at other times is loose.”

STEERING · reported 2026-01-01

“Steering wheel makes noise and is hard to steer. The car creaks and clunks when driving over any type of speed bump, pothole, etc. Looking online, this seems to be a chronic safety problem with this make and model.”

STEERING · reported 2025-10-10

“Steering does not return to center without effort. Feels stiff. Very different from other owned cars.”

STEERING · reported 2025-09-18

Defect investigations

Investigation DP22005 Opened 2023-01-27 · closed 2023-08-07

Pedestrian alert sounds

NHTSA received a petition on or about July 18, 2022, requesting that Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 141 be applied to all electric and hybrid vehicles operating in the United States. The petition can be reviewed at NHTSA.gov under ODI Number 11486072. FMVSS 141 establishes performance requirements for…

Investigation PE20016 Opened 2020-10-09 · closed 2022-02-07

Electric Vehicle Battery Fires

In October 2020, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened a Preliminary Evaluation (PE) on 2017-2020 Model Year (MY) Chevrolet Bolt vehicles based on complaints received alleging that the vehicles caught fire under the seating area while parked and unattended. At the time, ODI had received 2 Vehicle Owner…

Investigation PE20016 Opened 2020-10-09 · closed 2022-02-07

Electric Vehicle Battery Fires

In October 2020, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened a Preliminary Evaluation (PE) on 2017-2020 Model Year (MY) Chevrolet Bolt vehicles based on complaints received alleging that the vehicles caught fire under the seating area while parked and unattended. At the time, ODI had received 2 Vehicle Owner…

Investigation PE20016 Opened 2020-10-09 · closed 2022-02-07

Electric Vehicle Battery Fires

In October 2020, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened a Preliminary Evaluation (PE) on 2017-2020 Model Year (MY) Chevrolet Bolt vehicles based on complaints received alleging that the vehicles caught fire under the seating area while parked and unattended. At the time, ODI had received 2 Vehicle Owner…

Investigation PE20016 Opened 2020-10-09 · closed 2022-02-07

Electric Vehicle Battery Fires

In October 2020, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened a Preliminary Evaluation (PE) on 2017-2020 Model Year (MY) Chevrolet Bolt vehicles based on complaints received alleging that the vehicles caught fire under the seating area while parked and unattended. At the time, ODI had received 2 Vehicle Owner…

Investigation PE20016 Opened 2020-10-09 · closed 2022-02-07

Electric Vehicle Battery Fires

In October 2020, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened a Preliminary Evaluation (PE) on 2017-2020 Model Year (MY) Chevrolet Bolt vehicles based on complaints received alleging that the vehicles caught fire under the seating area while parked and unattended. At the time, ODI had received 2 Vehicle Owner…

Investigation PE20016 Opened 2020-10-09 · closed 2022-02-07

Electric Vehicle Battery Fires

In October 2020, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened a Preliminary Evaluation (PE) on 2017-2020 Model Year (MY) Chevrolet Bolt vehicles based on complaints received alleging that the vehicles caught fire under the seating area while parked and unattended. At the time, ODI had received 2 Vehicle Owner…

Investigation PE24028 Opened 2024-10-03 · closed 2025-06-05

Electrical arcing and thermal events, potentially leading to fires, while utilizing Enel X Way USA, LLC's JuiceBox residential charger.

On October 3, 2024, the Office of Defects Investigations (ODI) opened PE24028 to investigate alleged failures of Enel X Way's JuiceBox Level 2 residential EV chargers. The allegations were described as thermal incidents and electrical malfunctions, which could trip the circuit breakers in Juicebox owners’ homes and…

Sources & methodology

Recall, complaint, and investigation records from official NHTSA datasets (FLAT_RCL, FLAT_CMPL, FLAT_INV), synced weekly. Counts reflect NHTSA records for the 2018 Chevrolet Bolt Ev as of July 5, 2026. Complaint narratives are consumer-submitted and unverified. This page contains ads and affiliate links. Full methodology.