US automaker General Motors announced Monday that it will begin replacing faulty electric battery units in the recently recalled Chevrolet Bolt from mid-October due to manufacturing defects that could lead to fires.
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Stop time to solve this technical problem that has cast a shadow over the electric race started in recent years by General Motors, and production of these units has resumed at the factories of the South Korean group LG in the northern United States, the manufacturer explains in a press release.
The company said that LG “implemented new manufacturing processes and worked with General Motors to review and improve quality assurance programs to provide batteries that can be trusted.”
Faults identified by the group on the only electric vehicle batteries it currently markets can, under certain circumstances, lead to fires. A GM spokesman told AFP it had identified 13 planes so far.
The company had to recall a total of about 142,000 Chevrolet bolts.
GM also recommended that owners of affected cars park them outside immediately after recharging, not leave them in a charging state overnight, and most recently leave enough space in their parking lots with other cars to avoid any risk of spread.
The manufacturer plans to send them notifications when new units become available.
These twists and turns have highlighted the difficulties associated with the production of electric cars, the widespread use of which has become a key component of policies to combat climate change.
General Motors has big ambitions in this area, and the group hopes to offer 30 models of electric vehicles by 2025 and then sell more than one million annually.
“This issue reflects the drastic change ‘currently affecting the sector’ and the learning curve that accompanies it,” said Karl Brauer, an analyst at specialist website iSeeCars.
By accepting learning and dealing directly with problems of this nature, he added, “GM will be able to transition from thermal to electric in the next 10-20 years.”
