General Motors (GM) -Get Report is recalling nearly 70,000 Chevy Bolt electric vehicles made between 2017 and 2019 over potential fire risks.
Five fires have been reported from among the 68,667 vehicles that have been on the road in the past 3 1/2 years.
GM said that it recommends that drivers not park their vehicles in a garage at full state of charge and that 2017-2018 Bolt owners set "Hilltop" state of charge to be safe.
Bolt model year 2019 owners should manually set to 90% when charging. Some 2019 Bolts were made from LG Cells manufactured in Holland, Mich., and those vehicles are not affected by this recall.
The company said that it is introducing a temporary fix by locking the 10% capacity in battery packs.
GM's announcement comes about a month after Hyundai recalled 77,000 Kona electric vehicles over the risk of battery fires.
About a dozen Kona EV fires were reported over the past 18 months, leading to Hyundai's decision to recall the vehicles.
In a call with the media, GM reportedly appeared to attribute the fires to issues at its battery cell partner, LG Chem, according to Electrek.
Hyundai also blamed LG Chem for its own battery issues, with its investigation finding that “the separator in the battery cell was damaged due to errors in the manufacturing process, Electrek reported.
[DETROIT] General Motors is moving ahead in its talks with startup Nikola Corp over a proposed partnership to make electric and fuel-cell-powered trucks, a senior executive at the Detroit automaker said.
GM and Nikola announced a tentative agreement last month but have yet to come to final terms. Nikola's stock price has plunged in the wake of allegations of deception by a short seller, raising questions from investors about GM's due diligence and commitment to a deal.
"Right now we are going forward," Mark Reuss, GM's president, said in a Bloomberg TV interview taped Oct 16. In what he called "the exciting piece" of those discussions, Mr Reuss said GM plans to share hydrogen-fuel-cell technology developed with Honda Motor with Nikola for use in both a pickup and big-rig trucks.[DETROIT] General Motors is moving ahead in its talks with startup Nikola Corp over a proposed partnership to make electric and fuel-cell-powered trucks, a senior executive at the Detroit automaker said.
GM and Nikola announced a tentative agreement last month but have yet to come to final terms. Nikola's stock price has plunged in the wake of allegations of deception by a short seller, raising questions from investors about GM's due diligence and commitment to a deal.
They are taking what I believe is the best fuel cell in the world - with our fuel cell that is made in our joint venture with Honda right here in Michigan - and taking that fuel cell and looking at deploying it in the heavy-duty transport market with the large trucks - the Class 7 and 8s - and also in the light-duty Badger truck," he said.
The proposed deal would give GM an 11 per cent stake in Nikola and allow the startup to use its hydrogen-fuel-cell technology. GM also said it plans to manufacture the Badger pickup truck for Nikola, which initially would be battery-electric and eventually fuel-cell powered.
Nikola Corporation and General Motors Co. have announced a strategic partnership that begins with the Nikola Badger and carries cost reductions through Nikola’s programmes, including: Nikola Badger, Nikola Tre, Nikola One, Nikola Two and NZT. As part of the agreement, Nikola will utilize General Motors’ Ultium battery system and Hydrotec fuel cell technology, representing a key commercialization milestone for General Motors.
Nikola will exchange $2 billion in newly issued common stock for the in-kind services and access to General Motors’ global safety-tested and validated parts and components. General Motors will be subject to a staged lock-up provision beginning in one year and ending in June 2025. General Motors will engineer, homologate, validate and manufacture the Nikola Badger battery electric and fuel cell versions.
Trevor Milton, founder and executive chairman, Nikola, said: “You couldn’t dream of a better partnership than this. By joining together, we get access to their validated parts for all of our programs, General Motors’ Ultium battery technology and a multi-billion-dollar fuel cell programme ready for production. Nikola immediately gets decades of supplier and manufacturing knowledge, validated and tested production-ready EV propulsion, world-class engineering and investor confidence. Most importantly, General Motors has a vested interest to see Nikola succeed. We made three promises to our stakeholders and have now fulfilled two out of three promises ahead of schedule. What an exciting announcement.”
Mary Barra, chairman and CEO, General Motors, said: “This strategic partnership with Nikola continues the broader deployment of General Motors’ all-new Ultium battery and Hydrotec fuel cell systems. We are growing our presence in multiple high-volume EV segments while building scale to lower battery and fuel cell costs and increase profitability. In addition, applying General Motors’ electrified technology solutions to the heavy-duty class of commercial vehicles is another important step in fulfilling our vision of a zero-emissions future.”
The agreement with Nikola extends General Motors’ utilization of its fuel cell technology to the Class 7/8 semi-truck market and represents a high-volume commercialization of its leading Hydrotec fuel cell system and complements the company’s battery-electric propulsion. Fuel cells will become increasingly important to the semi-truck market because they are more efficient than gas or diesel. General Motors sees additional growth opportunities in multiple transportation, stationary and mobile-power end markets.
General Motors’ battery development work is ongoing. Its Ultium battery technology roadmap includes silicon anodes and lithium metal anodes, which will improve vehicle range, affordability, and reduced dependence on rare and costly metals. It is already demonstrating automotive-grade durability and significantly higher energy density.
Nikola will be responsible for the sales and marketing for the Badger and will retain the Nikola Badger brand. The Badger was first announced in Februay 2020 and will make its public debut in December 2020 at Nikola World 2020 in Arizona. Badger production is expected to start in late 2022 at a location to be announced at a later date.
