Posted on 07/26/2021 3:24:35 PM PDT by SaxxonWoods
General Motors‘ shift to electric vehicles isn’t going smoothly, with the auto maker announcing last week it is recalling Chevrolet Bolts—again.
The recall affects previously recalled Chevrolet Bolts produced between 2017 and 2019 over battery defects that may cause fires, the company said. The issue affects 50,932 Bolts, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA.
Earlier this month, General Motors (ticker: GM) advised owners of the affected Bolts to avoid parking their vehicles inside or charging them unattended overnight. That warning followed a November recall for the vehicles after the NHTSA confirmed five instances of fires and two injuries. In the first recall, GM updated its software to look for and identify issues with batteries.
(Excerpt) Read more at marketwatch.com ...
The recall affects previously recalled Chevrolet Bolts produced between 2017 and 2019 over battery defects that may cause fires, the company said. The issue affects 50,932 Bolts, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA.
Earlier this month, General Motors (ticker: GM) advised owners of the affected Bolts to avoid parking their vehicles inside or charging them unattended overnight. That warning followed a November recall for the vehicles after the NHTSA confirmed five instances of fires and two injuries. In the first recall, GM updated its software to look for and identify issues with batteries.
It appears the software update hasn’t fully addressed the risk of fire. A GM spokesperson told Barron’s that the software diagnostics update wasn’t effective at addressing the safety risk in all vehicles. The spokesperson also said there are now nine instances of battery-related fires among the recalled vehicles, with one occurring after the software update had been completed.
The financial implications for GM remain unclear. According to automotive research company Kelley Blue Book, the Chevrolet Bolt was one of the top five bestselling EVs in 2020, behind Tesla’s (TSLA) EV lineup. But the Bolt still constitutes a small portion of GM’s total sales.
Investors should remain wary of the potential costs associated with repairing or replacing EV batteries. Earlier this year, Hyundai recalled 76,000 Kona EVs, determining that the company would have to replace all of the batteries at a cost of $900 million. Hyundai’s battery supplier LG Energy Solutions, a subsidiary of LG Chem (051910.Korea), assumed 70% of the costs. As a result, Hyundai reduced its fourth-quarter operating profit by nearly 20%.
GM said LG Energy Solutions manufactured the cells and battery packs for the vehicles that are part of the Bolt recall. LG Chem didn’t return a request for comment.
GM stock closed down 1.3% at $54.94 on Friday on the recall news, while the S&P 500 finished up 1% and notched a new closing record. On Monday, shares of GM more than regained Friday’s losses.
Write to editors@barrons.com
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Jay Arant 2 minutes ago
Battery defects causing fires? Hmmm...sounds like Tesla's early days growing pains just got acquired by GM! Not so easy cranking out EVs as they have painfully discovered.....
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Gm used to make some great cars. Sadly, they now deserve to fade out of existence.
Those replaced batteries come in at $11,842 each.
Hunk of junk for virtue signaling liberals..
My next vehicle purchase just may be an early 80’s chevy squarebody. I can fix that, and parts are everywhere.
CC
Had like 7 gm vehicles in a row....when they got in bed with obama That was the end of that.
To paraphrase Ralph Nader.....unsafe at any voltage.
Here’s my understanding about GM’s venture into electric vehicles. They never intended to go into full production on them. They were to be technology demonstrators. They were for press releases and generating buzz, like Chrysler’s turbine cars. But then the government got involved. The liberal theory, and this is theory developed by people who wouldn’t be caught dead in any car costing below seventy thousand dollars, is that “people*” want small, fuel efficient cars. The reason “people*” aren’t buying small fuel-efficient cars is car companies don’t build them. This ignores the fact that you can buy a huge number of small, fuel-efficient cars. But nobody buys them, at least not in the number’s liberals think the “people*” should be buying them. Therefore, the government forced GM to fulfill the “people’s*” “need” for small, Fuel-efficient cars. GM knew from day one that there was not a sufficient market for these vehicles. They knew the technology wasn’t ready…and, they knew about the fire problem from day one. But when the government owns your butt, you do what the government wants even though it makes no sense whatsoever.
* People…to a liberal that’s the great, unwashed, public transportation using, smelly masses that liberals wouldn’t be caught dead befriending. “People” are those “things” that mow your grass and blow off your driveway.
I do not buy any vehicles built by those sons of Satan the UAW
I had a ‘79 suburban I bought new and got over 300,000 miles when I sold it. Sold it to a local fishing guide who used it to tow his fishing boat.
I’d rather use a Flintstone car.
The battery looks very very complicated
NBC Nightly News:
Bolt stock jolt says Holt.
Before World War II?
Or if you want EMP-proof, go pre EFI 1970s.
“Gm used to make some great cars.
Before World War II?”
I paid $700 for 69 Chevy C10 with 120,000+ miles and a broken frame horn in 75. Had the frame welded back together several times over the years, drove it until 1991. Never knew the miles because the speedo stopped worked before I got it. It was reliable, only broke down once with a broken water pump. I had ignored the bearing noise that was trying to warn me.
Shucks. Now I can't surprise you with a CD of Pete Seeger and the Almanac Singers called The Original Talking Union. Track 8 is Get Thee Behind Me, Satan. After Solidarity Forever and Union Maid. Read about it, never heard it.
Incredible that for all those decades the Communist Party and the fools who believed in it, thought the American workers would rise up and sabotage the factories to spearhead a revolution to otherthrow capitalism.
Actually the workers liked Archie Bunker and Richard Nixon. Remember the fistfights between "hardhats" and Leftists? And Their leaders never represented the membership voting for Reagan and Trump. And I have heard to this day the silent schism is between the whites and blacks----unspoken.
I wouldn’t buy a GM anything right now. And I say this as the current owner of my trusty 98 K2500 Ext Cab. 250K miles so far.
The barn find and long sitting K5 has about 255k on it but pretty much zero oil control now.
It started deteriorating a few years ago but it sat way longer than I planned.
A replacement engine was always in the plan for it. I got it cheap enough.
Just keep some spare points.
CC
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