General Motors Recalls 68,000 Vehicles Due to Battery Fire Threat

General Motors is recalling approximately 68,667 vehicles after the company received multiple reports of battery fires.

TheVerge.com reports that General Motors is recalling Chevy Bolt model vehicles manufactured between 2017 and 2019 due to numerous reports of battery fires in the vehicles. There have been at least five such fires, which all involved batteries that were fully or nearly fully charged.

In all, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating three of the fires. Two of the fires reportedly resulted in injuries resulting from smoke inhalation. Battery manufacturer LG Chem manufactured all of the batteries at its South Korean manufacturing facility Verge reports.

Verge quotes an NHTSA report that states that “The affected vehicles’ cell packs have the potential to smoke and ignite internally, which could spread to the rest of the vehicle and cause a structure fire if parked inside a garage or near a house.” Approximately 51, 000 of the recalled vehicles are in the U.S.

GM has released a software patch to limit the batteries’ charging to 90 percent in an attempt to prevent future fires while it investigates the issue.