2020 Chevrolet Bolt Ev problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Electrical System (54) · Steering (22) · Fuel/Propulsion System (22)
🧭 Reliability snapshot
Compared against other Chevrolet Bolt Ev model years — complaint volume vs the model's median year, recalls and severity. How we score →
🛣️ Complaints by mileage
22 NHTSA complaints that reported an odometer reading.
Safety recalls (8)
Electrical System:propulsion System:traction Battery Thermal:management:software 2024-10-31 · campaign 24V812000 · 107 vehicles ⚠ PARK OUTSIDE
Defect: General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2020-2022 Chevrolet Bolt EV and 2022 Bolt EUV vehicles previously repaired under Recall 21V-650. The installation of advanced diagnostic software may have failed. As such, the high voltage battery could catch fire when charged to full or nearly full capacity.
Risk: A battery fire increases the risk of injury.
Fix: Owners are advised to take the following interim steps: Set the Target Charge Level 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 outside after charging, and do not charge the vehicle indoors overnight. Dealers will reinstall advanced diagnostic software, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed December 3, 2024. Owners may contact the Bolt EV Concierge Team at 1-833-
Electrical System:propulsion System:traction Battery 2024-06-27 · campaign 24V481000 · 72 vehicles ⚠ PARK OUTSIDE
Defect: General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2020-2022 Chevrolet Bolt EV and 2022 Chevrolet Bolt EUV vehicles that were previously remedied under recall number 21V-650. The advanced diagnostic software may have been incorrectly installed and fail to detect defective battery modules, possibly resulting in a battery fire.
Risk: A battery fire increases the risk of injury.
Fix: Owners are advised to take the following interim steps: Set the Target Charge Level 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 outside after charging, and do not charge the vehicle indoors overnight. Dealers will reinstall the advanced diagnostic software, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on August 1, 2024. Owners may contact the Bolt EV Concierge Team at
Seat Belts:pretensioner 2023-12-14 · campaign 23V845000 · 6,771 vehicles
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, causing a fire.
Risk: A fire increases the risk of injury.
Fix: 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 vehicles were previously recalled for this same issue under recall number 22V-930 and will need to have the new remedy performed. Owners may contact GM EV Concierge at 1-833-EVCHEVY (1-83
Seat Belts:pretensioner 2022-12-15 · campaign 22V930000 · 111,242 vehicles
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.
Risk: A vehicle fire can increase the risk of injury.
Fix: 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 recall is N222383790.
Electrical System:propulsion System:traction Battery 2021-08-20 · campaign 21V650000 · 52,414 vehicles ⚠ PARK OUTSIDE
Defect: General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2020-2022 Chevrolet Bolt EV and 2022 Chevrolet Bolt EUV vehicles. The high voltage battery could catch fire when charged to full or nearly full capacity.
Risk: A battery fire increases the risk of injury.
Fix: Owners are advised to take the following interim steps: Set the Target Charge Level 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 outside after charging, and do not charge the vehicle indoors overnight. Defective battery modules will be replaced by GM, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on October 1, 2021 and June 23, 2023. Owners may contact the Bolt EV Concie
Seat Belts:critical Fasteners 2020-12-23 · campaign 20V811000 · 470 vehicles
Defect: General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2020 Chevrolet Bolt EV and 2021 GMC Canyon and Sierra 1500, 2500 and 3500, Yukon, Yukon XL, Cadillac Escalade and Escalade ESV and Chevrolet Blazer, Camaro, Colorado, Equinox, Silverado 1500, 2500 and 3500, Suburban and Tahoe vehicles. Incorrect bolts may have been used at one or more fastening locations to secure the seat belts to the vehicle. If an incorrect bolt was used, the seat belt may not be properly attached to the vehicle.
Risk: If a seat belt assembly is not properly attached to the vehicle, the seat belt may not properly restrain an occupant in the event of a crash, increasing the risk of injury.
Fix: GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the suspect bolts, free of charge. The recall began January 29, 2021. Owners may contact GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8785, Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006, or Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is N202322230.
Service Brakes, Hydraulic:foundation Components:disc:caliper 2020-12-22 · campaign 20V808000 · 464 vehicles
Defect: General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2020 Chevrolet Bolt EV vehicles. These vehicles may have an improperly cast front left brake caliper that can fracture during a high-pressure braking event.
Risk: If a brake caliper fractures and brake fluid is lost, the vehicle may experience reduced brake performance, increasing the risk of a crash.
Fix: GM will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the casting lot number on the front left brake caliper and replace it if necessary, free of charge. The recall began January 29, 2021. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is N202321400.
Latches/Locks/Linkages:doors:latch 2020-03-26 · campaign 20V184000 · 897 vehicles
Defect: General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2019-2020 Chevrolet Bolt EV vehicles. The door-handle cable inside the rear doors may be too long, allowing contact with the window when it is opened, possibly damaging the cable. A damaged cable may cause the rear door to open unintentionally when the rear window is opened. Additionally, it may cause the rear inside door handle to not work.
Risk: If the rear door opens while driving, or the door handle fails to open the rear door, there is an increased risk of injury to the rear passengers.
Fix: GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the rear inside door-handle cables, free of charge. The recall began April 17, 2020. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is A202298320.
Service bulletins (601)
Technical service bulletins are repair instructions manufacturers send dealers for known issues. Unlike recalls, the fix is not automatically free — but naming the bulletin at the service desk can save diagnosis time and support goodwill repairs.
Unknown Or Other 2026-09-26 · PIT5698F · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this pi provides diagnostics tips on how the lin bus works and how to diagnosis it.
Unknown Or Other 2026-09-04 · PIP4902W · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this preliminary information advises a dealer on how to email gds2 session logs into technical assistance.
Unknown Or Other 2026-08-19 · N252530430-01 · Service Campaign
certain vehicles may have a condition where a false diagnostic trouble code (dtc) is set. dealers are to reprogram the hybrid powertrain control module 2.
Unknown Or Other 2026-07-21 · PIT5099J · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
pi to help diagnose a/c concern
Unknown Or Other 2026-04-01 · PIT3271Q · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this preliminary information communicates information about how to determine if a wheel and tires size change is available.
Unknown Or Other 2026-03-09 · PIP6104 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this preliminary information communicates the steps on how to save a gds2 session log and upload to a technical assistance case in cx connect.
Showing the 6 most recent of 601 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
2026-10-23 · Fuel/Propulsion System“recall 21v650 (gm n212345944) remedy not provided. the advanced diagnostic software (software final remedy) was installed xxx. i bought the car used on xxx at 16,187 miles. while charging was still limited to 80% by the recall software, the software flagged the battery (dtc u362c-09) and propulsion power was reduced. ron tonkin chevrolet ([xxx]) re…”
2026-10-21 · Steering“steering is stiff and fails to return to center. problem is slowly getting worse.…”
2026-09-16 · Electrical System“camera(s) stopped working altogether after intermittent issues. the vehicle has no functioning backup camera. …”
2026-08-06 · Steering“steering rack is starting to fail at under 47000 miles, car pulls to right during acceleration and pulls left when decelerating. steering wheel does not return to the center and a slight left pull on the wheel has to be maintained at all times so the car doesn't merge right into traffic. it is available upon inspection request. i almost didn't real…”
2026-07-06 · Fuel/Propulsion System“gm installed advanced monitoring software on the car rather than replace the battery. the software detected a battery fault. under the battery recall if a fault is detected the battery is replaced free of charge. gm is refusing to replace the battery. now the car will not move. …”
2026-06-19 · Fuel/Propulsion System“general motors is using the arbitrary 6,213-mile tracking window of recall 944 to deny coverage for a diagnosed cell section 3 hardware failure at 123,582 miles. however, this vehicle is directly impacted by the failure parameters outlined in the expanded gm safety recall n242470160 / n242470162, where gm openly acknowledges to federal regulators t…”
2026-06-08 · Steering“steering stiffened over several weeks. then steering wheel would not automatically return to center while turning while driving. diagnosed by service as a fault with steering column. this is apparently very common in chevy bolts. …”
2026-06-06 · Structure:body“after putting washer fluid in, my son closed the hood. the hood did not latch. he tried again but it still didn’t latch. he lifted the hood to find the hood striker had come off the hood. there was nothing to hold the hood closed. i’ve included photos of the striker welds. there is no rust or tearing of the welds. it just separated. it was a bad w…”
2026-06-02 · Power Train“when driving the car through a busy intersection there was a sudden, brief surge of acceleration, followed by deceleration and the vehicle cutting all motor power and becoming inoperable. the mil lamp illuminated and the "ready" light went out. i was unable to move the vehicle out of traffic until i got out and disconnected / reconnected the 12v …”
2026-05-15 · Vehicle Speed Control“accelerating to merge onto the highway the accelerator pedal got stuck under the all weather mat (provided and installed by the manufacturer). when i took my foot off the pedal the vehicle continued to accelerate. i had to break against the force of the motor trying to accelerate until i was going slow enough for the car to allow me to put it into …”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.