2018 Chevrolet Bolt EV problems
NHTSA has received 120 complaints about the 2018 Chevrolet Bolt EV, and 32% of them involve steering. After that come electrical system (25%) and drivetrain & axles (10%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 120 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Steering 32% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 2 and 1
- Injuries and deaths
- 2 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 17,000 miles 31 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 22 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 7 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 1 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 1 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 0 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 0 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 0 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 0 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Among the 31 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 17,000 miles.
Safety-related details: 2 complaints mention a crash; 1 complaint mentions a fire; 2 injuries reported. Its complaints are less severe on average than those of 89% of model years in our database.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2018 ranks 7th most-complained-about out of 7 model years of the Chevrolet Bolt EV with enough data (87 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 5 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
The contact owns a 2018 Chevrolet Bolt EV. The contact stated that when the driver (his wife) drove at 45mph a vehicle failed to yield the right of way and made a left turn. The driver was unable to stop and crashed into the vehicle's front passenger side and bumper. The contact stated that the driver's air bag and the front passenger air bag failed to deploy causing the driver injuries to the neck, shoulder, sides, right leg, and back.
On march 17, 2019 at approximately 3:45p.m., we parked the bolt in the driveway of our home. We exited the bolt and plugged it into our juicebox (level 2) charger as usual. At approximately 5:00 pm, we were alerted that the bolt was on fire. We discovered smoke billowing out of the rear of the bolt and the bolt apparently combusting from within in the area of the battery cells. The fire department was contacted and took approximately 3 hours to control the fire and smoke.
The incident involves a 2018 Chevy Bolt EV. I arrived at a parking space next to the electric charging station where I generally park the car. I park perpendicular to the side wall of a house. There is a small garden bed (about 2 ft wide) between the house and the parking area. As I pulled up I was not exactly perpendicular to the wall. I believe I was in Drive Low and had completely stopped or perhaps nearly stopped when I decided to tweak my parking position a bit to be exactly perpendicular to the wall.
Tl* the contact owns a 2018 chevrolet bolt ev. While driving 20 MPH, "system shutting down" appeared on the instrument panel and the vehicle seized in the middle of the road. The contact was unable to power off the vehicle with the start button. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified. The failure mileage was 7,403.
The first year of the lease, the main computer began to fail and the entire screen would become black, with the entire car intermittently losing power on the freeway. The computer was replaced. Later on, the blind spot sensors became erratic, but this is likely due to a shoddy repair by the dealership after someone rear-ended the car. The primary concern is the powertrain. The battery range decreased by nearly half while driving, which would have been dangerous in a remote location.