Friend of mine and his wife have a 2017 Bolt. They are steadfastly unconcerned about this issue because being concerned about it would be counterproductive. That's just how they are. "It's so unlikely to happen to us, why even think about it?" They're hopeful they'll get a new battery and everything will be fine. Dumping the Bolt isn't something they would even consider because they drive their cars for 8-10 years and that's that. They can EASILY financially afford to move into something else but their mindset just won't go that direction.
I am not dumping on Bolts either. But the latest development would be the last straw for me.
I am still in my 18 Bolt. I am not overly concerned, the problem is primarily impacting cells made in mid-late 18 that went early 19 model year Bolts. When my recall update was performed last month, cell variances were well within the voltage variances that supposedly indicate weak cells, indicating mine is a healthy pack. That update was available to 1H 2019 models a month before the older ones, so they seem to be finding a pattern related to time and are less concerned about older models.
Problem is, LG is a strategic partner for GM, and two fires that might have been unrelated occurred in 2017 models. So the net was cast wide as they narrowed the search. Last thing they want to do is point fingers at their strategic partner. Unfortunately, that wide net increases fear among a larger population, but also leaves it to interpretation where blame lies.
The latest development seems to be that a second rare defect was identified, it had not been identified previously. So, apparently they think that diagnostics can be used to identify suspect groups of cells, flag those for section replacements, and be fixed. There may be no, or limited impact on older models.
Nonetheless, I am scoping out replacements in case they make buybacks super attractive. ID4 is #1 on my list. So I am here to learn. I may make the switch regardless, once dust settles on the whole thing and resale prices stabilize.
GM is quite confident the 2H 2019 and later cells are not prone to these defects, which should be comforting to VW owners as LG is a common supplier if I understand correctly, and no doubt VW benefits from what LG learned from the GM partnership.
