— A Chevrolet Bolt EV class action lawsuit in Canada alleges 2017-2022 Chevrolet Bolt EV and 2022 Chevrolet Bolt EUV cars are defective due to the batteries.
The General Motors Canada lawsuit alleges the EV batteries cause the electric cars to catch fire when the batteries are fully or nearly fully charged.
Chevy Bolt owners cannot charge their batteries to their capacity and GM advises not to allow the battery to be discharged lower than 30%.
The Chevy Bolt class action lawsuit was filed by the British Columbia owner of a 2017 Chevrolet Bolt and a 2018 Bolt.
According to the plaintiff, GM was deceptive in the marketing of the Bolts which has caused Canadian customers to drive dangerous cars due to the risk of battery fires.
The GM class action asserts when the Bolt cars are in operation, they use an active thermal management system to keep the batteries at safe temperatures. But when the cars are charging the thermal management system is disengaged.
This is dangerous because GM admits the batteries may have two defects that cause battery fires: A torn adnode tab, and a folded separator. A Bolt battery fire is possible if both defects exist at the same time.
In addition to the inability to discharge the batteries below 30%, Chevy Bolt owners have been told to charge the batteries to 90% capacity. The plaintiff alleges Bolt customers didn't receive the electric cars they were promised considering the Bolts have only 60% of the advertised range.
"GM and GM Canada have been aware of issues affecting the batteries in the Class Vehicles since at least 2018. Nonetheless, GM and GM Canada have marketed and sold Chevrolet Bolts with the knowledge that they contain defective and potentially dangerous batteries without warning customers or authorized dealerships of the issue." — Chevy Bolt class action lawsuit
General Motors finally did recall the electric vehicles, but only after "several fires" occurred in the Bolts. The plaintiff claims GM delayed the recall to avoid the financial consequences of admitting the batteries are defective.
The automaker allegedly wasted time by offering software updates for a problem that could only be fixed by replacing the entire battery. In addition, the Canadian plaintiff alleges General Motors repurchased Chevy Bolts in several areas of the U.S. but never made the same offer to Canadian customers.
According to the class action lawsuit, "GM and GM Canada were enriched by the inflated prices of the Class Vehicle and the delayed recall which resulted in increased revenues for GM and GM Canada."
The Chevrolet Bolt class action lawsuit was filed in the Supreme Court of British Columbia: G. W. Kent Scarborough, v. General Motors LLC, General Motors of Canada Company.
The plaintiff is represented by Klein Lawyers LLP.
