August 26, 2021
General Motors recently announced it is recalling all of its Chevrolet Bolt.
The recalls also include the new electric utility vehicle model, which debuted this year.
After a series of fires affected Bolt models, the company attributed the problem to two simultaneous defects in the cars’ LG Chem batteries.
According to General Motors, the problem was caused by a cracked anode tab and a folded separator.
Greg Less, Technical Director of the Battery Lab at the University of Michigan, commented on GM’s recent decision: ” It wouldn’t surprise me if both defects are caused by the same thing. I would imagine that the separator must be folded at the edge near where the anode tab is at. What I’m guessing is that at some point during the handling of the cell, before it’s fully packaged, some part of the robot machine is catching. The tab is catching, the separator is catching–something is catching very infrequently so that it hasn’t been noticed, and it’s causing this damage.”
Fortunately, GM and LG were able to dissect some batteries and determine the cause of the problem.
For more information, read the original story in Ars Technica.
