Chevy Bolt Battery Recall & Replacement: What Owners Should Know in 2026

If you own or are considering a used Chevy Bolt EV or Bolt EUV, you’ve almost certainly heard about the Chevy Bolt battery recall and replacement. Between 2017 and 2022, every Bolt built was pulled into a sweeping recall for fire risk tied to defective LG battery cells. That sounds scary, but it’s also created some surprisingly good opportunities for informed buyers.

Chevy Bolt battery recall: the short version

GM first issued a limited recall of 2017–2019 Bolts in 2020 after a handful of battery fires. By late 2021, it expanded that to every Chevy Bolt EV and EUV from 2017 through 2022. The root cause traced back to rare manufacturing defects in LG’s battery cells that could create a short circuit and, in worst cases, a fire when the pack was near full charge.

• GM’s interim fix: software limits on charge level, extra diagnostics, and guidance to park outside and avoid deep discharges.
• GM’s permanent fix: replacing battery modules (and in many cases the full pack) with updated units not subject to the defect.
• Owners pay $0 for recall work, and the replacement pack carries its own long-term battery warranty.

Why Chevy Bolt batteries were recalled in the first place

To understand the Chevy Bolt battery recall replacement, it helps to know what actually went wrong. GM’s investigation, working with LG, found that some cells in the Bolt’s high‑voltage pack could have two simultaneous manufacturing defects, typically a torn anode tab and a folded separator. Either issue alone is rare; both in the same cell created a very small but non‑zero risk of an internal short and thermal runaway.