2018 Chevrolet Bolt EV problems, complaints & recalls
Far fewerToo few recent reports to judge
NHTSA has received 6 owner complaints about the 2018 Chevrolet Bolt EV, or 0.7 per year on the road — far fewer complaints than typical (complaint index 0.02, where 1.00 is the average of all tracked vehicles). Among the 76 model-year 2018 vehicles we track, it ranks #1 of 76 by complaints per year (#1 = fewest). Against other Chevrolet models its rate is 98% lower; against other Electric vehicles it is 99% lower.
Counts are normalized by time on the road, not by sales volume: a popular model generates more reports than a rare one, and complaints are not verified individually. How we count
Limited data: fewer than 30 complaints, so shares and indexes are unstable.
Complaints filed between 2022-08-21 and 2026-09-17. Median delay from incident to filing: 46 days.
6Complaints
0.7Complaints per year on the road
0.02Complaint index vs. all tracked vehicles
5Recalls · ⚠ 2
0.0%Share involving a crash or fire
1Last 12 months
Analysis
The following model year (2019) drew 22.9 per year, more than this one.
The most common problem area is Steering (100.0% of complaints). Steering complaints are 15.6 times as common here as across all tracked vehicles. No report describes a crash, fire, injury or death.
In the last 12 months 1 complaint was filed, versus none in the 12 months before.
NHTSA lists 5 safety recalls for this model year, 2 with a do-not-drive or park-outside warning. 3 NHTSA investigations cover this model year; the most recent is “Electrical arcing and thermal events, potentially leading to fires, while utilizing Enel X Way USA, LLC's JuiceBox residential charger.” (preliminary evaluation, opened 2024-10-03, closed 2025-06-05).
Complaint index
vs. all tracked vehicles0.02
vs. other Chevrolet models0.02
vs. other 2018 models0.01
vs. other Electric vehicles0.01
Complaints in first 2 years on the road · vs. same-year average (0)0.0
Steering has resistance and will not to return to center/neutral position without driver manipulation. I've never experienced this probelm with another car and See many other Chevrolet Bolt owners have experienced the same problem.
Steering · 2026-09-17 · ODI 11765054
I purchased this car at 15,000 miles in October 2021. It’s my first electric car, and I just assumed that the stiffness in the steering wheel was part of the electric car experience. Big mistake!
Steering · 2022-12-17 · ODI 11497866
This car has only 33,000 miles and has been driven gently, mostly on the highway. My wife took her car into the dealer to have the computer software updated (from the battery fiasco-it has never worked correctly since the batteries were changed) and the…
Steering · 2022-10-21 · ODI 11490285
The steering binds up while turning and the steering wheel does not return to its center neutral position. This is a major safety issue because it takes significant effort to get the car to go straight again.
Steering · 2022-09-16 · ODI 11484862
Over the last month I have noticed that the steering fails to return to center once I turn the front wheels more than a few degrees to the right or left.
Steering · 2022-08-31 · ODI 11482146
Excerpts from complaints filed with NHTSA, trimmed for length. The ODI number is NHTSA's record identifier.
STRUCTURE:BODY:ROOF AND PILLARS Campaign 23V845000 · 2023-12-14
Summary: 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.
Remedy: 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 (1-833-382-4389) (TTY 711 / 1-800-833-2438) or Customer Service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is N232421970.
STRUCTURE:BODY:ROOF AND PILLARS Campaign 22V930000 · 2022-12-15
Summary: 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.
Remedy: 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.
Summary: General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2017-2019 Chevrolet Bolt EV vehicles previously recalled under NHTSA recall number 20V-701. The high voltage battery could catch fire when charged to full or nearly full capacity.
Risk: A battery fire increases the risk of injury.
Remedy: Owners are advised to take the following interim steps: Activate either the Hill Top Reserve (2017 and 2018 models) or Target Charge Level (2019 models) 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. Interim notification letters notifying owners of the safety risk were mailed on August 13, 2021. Owner notification letters were mailed on August 13, 2021. Owners may contact the Bolt EV Concierge Team at 1-833-382-4389. GM's number for this recall is N212343880.
Summary: General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling all 2017-2018 and certain 2019 Chevrolet Bolt EV 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.
Remedy: This recall has been superseded by recall number 21V-560. Vehicles previously repaired under 20V-701 will still need to have the new remedy under recall 21V-560. GM will notify owners, and as an interim repair, beginning on November 17, 2020, dealers will reprogram the hybrid propulsion control module 2 (HPCM2) to limit the full charge to 90%, free of charge. Owners are advised to activate either the Hill Top Reserve (2017 and 2018 models) or Target Charge Level (2019 models) feature in their vehicle to limit the charge level to 90%, or park outside, until the software update is completed. Owners were notified of the interim repair beginning November 17, 2020. The second notice was mailed on May 11, 2021. Owners may contact the Bolt EV Concierge Team at 1-833-382-4389. GM's number for this recall is N202311730.
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:FOUNDATION COMPONENTS:DISC:CALIPER Campaign 18V576000 · 2018-08-30
Summary: General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2018-2019 Chevrolet Equinox, Impala, Cruze, Volt and Bolt EV vehicles, GMC Terrain vehicles, Buick Lacrosse and Regal vehicles, Cadillac XTS and XTS Professional vehicles and 2018 Chevrolet Malibu vehicles. The rear brake caliper pistons may have an insufficient coating causing gas pockets to form, potentially reducing rear brake performance.
Risk: A reduction of braking performance can increase the risk of a crash.
Remedy: GM will notify owners, and dealers will bleed the vehicle's brake system, free of charge. The recall began October 11, 2018. Owners may contact Buick customer service at 1-800-521-7300, Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006, Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, or GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is 18279.
Electrical arcing and thermal events, potentially leading to fires, while utilizing Enel X Way USA, LLC's JuiceBox residential charger.Closed
PE24028 · preliminary evaluation · EQUIPMENT:ELECTRICAL · Opened 2024-10-03 · Closed 2025-06-05 · Model years: 2018
On October 3, 2024, the Office of Defects Investigations (ODI) opened PE24028 to investigate alleged failures of Enel X Way's JuiceBox Level 2 residential EV chargers. The allegations were described as thermal incidents and electrical malfunctions, which could trip the circuit breakers in Juicebox owners’ homes and disrupt electric vehicle charge cycles. On October 2, 2024, Enel X Way posted on it…
Pedestrian alert soundsClosed
DP22005 · defect petition · ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:PROPULSION SYSTEM · Opened 2023-01-27 · Closed 2023-08-07 · Campaign 22V063000 · Model years: 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022
NHTSA received a petition on or about July 18, 2022, requesting that Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 141 be applied to all electric and hybrid vehicles operating in the United States. The petition can be reviewed at NHTSA.gov under ODI Number 11486072. FMVSS 141 establishes performance requirements for pedestrian alert sounds for motor vehicles. The standard applies to hybrid and ele…
In October 2020, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened a Preliminary Evaluation (PE) on 2017-2020 Model Year (MY) Chevrolet Bolt vehicles based on complaints received alleging that the vehicles caught fire under the seating area while parked and unattended. At the time, ODI had received 2 Vehicle Owner Questionnaires (VOQs) and several field reports. All complaints alleged vehicles caug…
