Do You Know How to Check Your Bolt’s Battery Recall?

Nov 15, 2021

Have you received your Battery Recall Notification?

First of all, if you are one of our hundreds of Bolt customers that purchased new from us, thank you for taking the leap with us on GM’s EV products and learning how much fun these Bolts are to drive. Your blog writer personally owns a Bolt, and my wife an incredibly cool new model Tahoe, but I’d rather drive the Bolt. And that isn’t a knock on the new Tahoe, which is excellent. I love my Bolt that much. So all of you that have been patient with GM, I’d guess you are showing a lot of patience because you love your Bolt as well.

Great news for 2017-2019 owners out there! The battery recall is opening gradually as the battery supply increases, and once you are eligible for the battery replacement to be completed, your recall bulletin will change from 212343880 to 212343881. Once that occurs, your Bolt should be eligible for us to order your battery replacement. For all of you with 2017s and 2018s, your range will be 259 miles instead of 238 miles with the new battery. And all of you will get an 8 year / 100,000 miles battery warranty (whichever comes first). When you go to https://experience.gm.com/ownercenter/recalls or check for recalls on your vehicle with your Chevrolet app, you will see the following if you are eligible.

How does the process work?

Step 1 is to reach out to us to confirm your battery can be replaced. Then step 2 is to arrange for your Bolt to arrive, and we can provide you with a loaner to drive. Once we receive your Bolt, we will order you a battery pack, which will take just 2-3 days to arrive. You may ask why you have to have the vehicle to us before we order the battery. It is because GM is very particular about tracking the batteries. With so many Bolts to replace compared to available batteries right now, it is only fair to send batteries to shops where the battery can for sure be installed right away. Think of it like a restaurant that won’t seat you until everyone in the party has arrived. Once we get the battery, so long as we don’t have too many customers getting battery replacements at once, the job is usually done within a day or two. We also need the vehicle before the battery is ordered because the car cannot be charged within 24 hours of the battery replacement, so getting it here before the battery gets here makes sure we can meet that.

Why come to us?

We have already done 11 battery replacements as of 11/8/21, with more scheduled. Our dealership is one of the top-selling dealers of EVs in the Southeast, and our service department was the first to perform a replacement in the Southeast region. You can see cool photos of the battery and its replacement here – https://www.donohoochevrolet.com/blogs/3987/bolt-recall-update-batteries-incoming. We understand Bolt customers, and we are invested in the EV future. We also have multiple technicians trained to complete the battery replacement. In addition, we have loaner vehicles, which is not common these days amongst dealers. Some of you may be in Huntsville, Chattanooga, Atlanta, or Birmingham metro areas. If you are, you can likely get to us on a full charge. If you are not, you can go to a dealer within a full charge’s drive of you if you can find a dealer that can complete Bolt recalls (not all are). This link from Chevrolet will enable you to search for EV dealers near you. https://www.chevrolet.com/electric/dealer-locator. We’d love for you to come to us, but we realize that isn’t always possible. If you want to use us, give us a call, and let’s see how we can help arrange it. Complete the contact form and add your VIN into the comments to submit something to us. https://www.donohoochevrolet.com/contactus.aspx

What if I am not eligible?

Keep being patient. GM is releasing more VINs each week. If you would like us to help monitor, complete the contact form and add your VIN into the comments to submit something to us https://www.donohoochevrolet.com/contactus.aspx, and we will give you another set of eyes. If you install the Chevrolet app on your phone, that can notify you on the recall status. You saw above what the recall will look like in the GM Recall Center. Below is what you see when your vehicle is not eligible yet.