Every safety complaint, recall and defect investigation the US government
holds on this vehicle.
Owners have filed 67 safety complaints
about the 2021 Chevrolet Bolt EV with the US government. Of those, 4 describe a crash, 1 person was injured and no death is recorded. 5 recall campaigns are open against it, covering the electrical system and the body structure.
The most complained-about system is the electrical system,
named in 33 complaints, 49% of the total.
The typical failure was reported at 2,700 miles,
the median across the 6
complaints that gave
an odometer reading.
Compiled from NHTSA's complaint, recall and investigation files
· Covers May 2021 to August 2026 · How this is counted
What is on file
67 complaints on file
67
Complaints
4
Describe a crash
0
Mention fire
1
People injured
0
Deaths
A complaint is an unverified account by the person who filed it, not a
finding of fault. One complaint is one ODI number, which is how NHTSA counts
them.
A recall is the manufacturer conceding a defect, and the repair is free.
Whether one covers your particular car is a question only its VIN can
answer, because a campaign covers a production range rather than a
model year.
Which system owners named
Complaints naming each system
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 33 · 49%
33 49%
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 15 · 22%
15 22%
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 12 · 18%
12 18%
POWER TRAIN 10 · 15%
10 15%
STEERING 9 · 13%
9 13%
ENGINE 4 · 6%
4 6%
SERVICE BRAKES 3 · 4%
3 4%
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 3 · 4%
3 4%
AIR BAGS 2 · 3%
2 3%
SUSPENSION 2 · 3%
2 3%
LANE DEPARTURE 1 · 1%
1 1%
SEAT BELTS 1 · 1%
1 1%
01531
Red marks a system with a recall campaign against it.
One complaint can name several systems, so these add up to more than 67.
When the complaints arrived
By the year NHTSA received them
By the year NHTSA received them, which is not the year the failures
happened. They peaked in 2021 at 25.
28 21 14 7
212021222022232023242024252025262026
This is the year the complaint was filed, not the year the failure
happened. The range runs from 2021 to 2026, the last of them a part year, which is why its column is drawn faint.
Crash test ratings
NHTSA New Car Assessment Program
NHTSA crashes a car into a barrier and a pole and measures what
happens to the dummies inside. This is what it awarded the 2021 Chevrolet BOLT EV, and it is a separate
question from what owners report going wrong later.
Test
5 HB FWD
Overall
Frontal crash
Frontal, driver
Frontal, passenger
Side crash
Side barrier
Side pole
Rollover
Chance of rollover
9.7%
Stability control standard Forward collision warning standard Lane departure warning standard
A dash means NHTSA did not rate that test for this vehicle.
General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2020-2022 Chevrolet Bolt EV and 2022 Bolt EUV vehicles previously repaired under Recall 21V-650. The installation of advanced diagnostic software may have failed. As such, the high voltage battery could catch fire when charged to full or nearly full capacity.
The risk
A battery fire increases the risk of injury.
The remedy
Owners are advised to take the following interim steps: Set the Target Charge Level feature in their vehicle to limit the charge level to 90%, charge their vehicle more frequently, avoid depleting the battery to 70 miles range remaining, park outside after charging, and do not charge the vehicle indoors overnight. Dealers will reinstall advanced diagnostic software, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed December 3, 2024. Owners may contact the Bolt EV Concierge Team at 1-833-382-4389. GM's number for this recall is N242470160.
General Motors, LLC · up to 107 vehicles across all model years covered
General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2020-2022 Chevrolet Bolt EV and 2022 Chevrolet Bolt EUV vehicles that were previously remedied under recall number 21V-650. The advanced diagnostic software may have been incorrectly installed and fail to detect defective battery modules, possibly resulting in a battery fire.
The risk
A battery fire increases the risk of injury.
The remedy
Owners are advised to take the following interim steps: Set the Target Charge Level feature in their vehicle to limit the charge level to 90%, charge their vehicle more frequently, avoid depleting the battery to 70 miles range remaining, park outside after charging, and do not charge the vehicle indoors overnight. Dealers will reinstall the advanced diagnostic software, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on August 1, 2024. Owners may contact the Bolt EV Concierge Team at 1-833-382-4389. GM's numbers for this recall are N242443000 and N242443002.
General Motors, LLC · up to 72 vehicles across all model years covered
General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2017-2023 Chevrolet Bolt EV vehicles. This recall includes certain vehicles previously repaired incorrectly under NHTSA recall number 22V-930. After a crash with seat belt pretensioner deployment, the pretensioner exhaust may ignite carpet fibers near the B-pillar, causing a fire.
The risk
A fire increases the risk of injury.
The remedy
Dealers will inspect both front seat belt pretensioners and, if necessary, install metal foil at the carpet near the pretensioner exhaust. Certain vehicles will also need a pretensioner cover installed. Repairs will be performed free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed January 24, 2024. These vehicles were previously recalled for this same issue under recall number 22V-930 and will need to have the new remedy performed. Owners may contact GM EV Concierge at 1-833-EVCHEVY (1-833-382-4389) (TTY 711 / 1-800-833-2438) or Customer Service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is N232421970.
General Motors, LLC · up to 6,771 vehicles across all model years covered
General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2017-2023 Chevrolet Bolt EV vehicles. After a crash with seat belt pretensioner deployment, the pretensioner exhaust may ignite carpet fibers near the B-pillar, causing a fire.
The risk
A vehicle fire can increase the risk of injury.
The remedy
Dealers will install metal foil at the carpet near the pretensioner exhaust, and install a pretensioner cover as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed between January 23, 2023 and April 25, 2023. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is N222383790.
General Motors, LLC · up to 111,242 vehicles across all model years covered
General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2020-2022 Chevrolet Bolt EV and 2022 Chevrolet Bolt EUV vehicles. The high voltage battery could catch fire when charged to full or nearly full capacity.
The risk
A battery fire increases the risk of injury.
The remedy
Owners are advised to take the following interim steps: Set the Target Charge Level feature in their vehicle to limit the charge level to 90%, charge their vehicle more frequently, avoid depleting the battery to 70 miles range remaining, park outside after charging, and do not charge the vehicle indoors overnight. Defective battery modules will be replaced by GM, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on October 1, 2021 and June 23, 2023. Owners may contact the Bolt EV Concierge Team at 1-833-382-4389. This recall is an expansion of NHTSA recall 21V-560. GM's number for this recall is N212345940.
General Motors, LLC · up to 52,414 vehicles across all model years covered
Defect investigations
1 on file
An investigation means NHTSA has decided a pattern is worth examining. A
preliminary evaluation is often closed with no action; an engineering
analysis is the stage that usually precedes a recall.
Pedestrian alert sounds
DP22005
Closed defect petition · opened January 27, 2023 · closed August 7, 2023 · led to recall 22V063000
the electrical system
NHTSA received a petition on or about July 18, 2022, requesting that Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 141 be applied to all electric and hybrid vehicles operating in the United States. The petition can be reviewed at NHTSA.gov under ODI Number 11486072. FMVSS 141 establishes performance requirements for pedestrian alert sounds for motor vehicles. The standard applies to hybrid and electric vehicles that have a gross vehicle weight rating of 4,536 KG or less or are defined as low-speed vehicles. The standard became fully applicable to all such vehicles manufactured on or after March 1, 2021.On January 27, 2023, NHTSA opened Defect Petition (DP) 22-005 to evaluate the subject matter described in the petition. On June 24, 2023 and as supplemented on June 25, 2023, the petitioner notified NHTSA he was withdrawing his petition. The petitioner indicated that, based on his review of data, there is no justification for asserting potential benefits that could be derived from actions sought by my petition. Based on the petitioner's withdrawal, DP22-005 is closed. Closure of this DP does not represent a determination by NHTSA regarding the subject matter of the petition.
In owners’ own words
Quoted from the complaint file
Quoted from NHTSA's complaint file. These are unverified accounts by the
people who filed them, not findings of fault.
AIR BAGS
1 injured · crash · towed
I was in a car accident on February 9th, in which my airbags did not deploy, however, I did receive an error in my Chevy app that my Air Bag system requires attention. I sustained facial injuries due to impact with the steering wheel. I believe the airbags should have deployed, but did not.
NHTSA complaint 11717938. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.
POWER TRAIN
crash · towed · 2,700 miles
The contact owns a 2021 Chevrolet Bolt EV. The contact stated while parking the vehicle and placing it into park, the vehicle lunged forward which resulted in the contact hitting the vehicle in front of them. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an unknown dealer but was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 2,700.
NHTSA complaint 11430469. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.
AIR BAGS
crash · towed
While involved in a side impact collision, and significant force, airbags failed to deploy.
NHTSA complaint 11447358. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
crash · towed
Video available and was given to USAA insurance company. This 2021 GM Chevrolet Bolt EV Premier trim vehicle experienced a sudden uncommanded extreme acceleration when I selected "D" (drive) mode on the transmission selector after using "R" (reverse) to back out of a parking lot parking space. The vehicle, despite my stomping and holding the brake pedal down and repeatedly selecting a different mode on the transmission selector, could not be stopped and still wanted to accelerate. The vehicle traveled an estimated 250 feet through a parking lot, crossing a street, hitting the curbs at high speed and through a field. The vehicle stopped against some concrete debris in the field pushing in …
NHTSA complaint 11655690, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.
STEERING
The electronic steering gear (steering rack) on my 2021 Chevrolet Bolt has malfunctioned, causing the steering to feel rough, stiff, and sticky. Crucially, the steering wheel fails to naturally return to the center position after completing a turn, forcing me to manually pull the wheel back straight. This poses a severe safety hazard, as the vehicle will continue turning off the road or into oncoming traffic unless actively corrected, and the increased physical resistance makes precise lane adjustments difficult at highway speeds. There were no warning lights, error codes, or diagnostic messages on the dashboard prior to or during this failure, as the issue is strictly mechanical
NHTSA complaint 11759703. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
My 2021 Chevy Bolt keeps showing a battery or power-Propulsion warning light related to the high-voltage system. The warning keeps coming back even after multiple repairs. The first repair was on April 28, 2025, the second was on December 17, 2025, and it is scheduled again for another repair on March 3, 2026. The light is the same every time and affects the car’s performance and reliability. I’m concerned this could be a safety issue involving the battery or propulsion system. The dealer repairs it temporarily, but the warning keeps returning, and the problem has never been fully resolved.
NHTSA complaint 11721358. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.
STEERING
Steering rack binding. Becoming progressively harder to turn over time. Steering wheel doesn't return to center. Clunking in front end occasionally heard when hitting bumps.
NHTSA complaint 11714633. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.
STEERING
The steering wheel will not return to center and feels like its binding on something, sometimes its tough to steer other times not. Does not feel safe. No warning lamps and nobody has inspected or worked on it yet.
NHTSA complaint 11688686. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.
STEERING
Steering gear is bound up due to a documented manufacturing error. Steering is increasingly stiff at speed, and will not return to center without significant driver input. This is a widespread issue that has been documented and causes a major safety concern to Chevy Bolt owners and should be addressed and repaired by the manufacturer.
NHTSA complaint 11681730. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.
If this is your car and a dealer keeps failing to fix it, your state's
lemon law may require the manufacturer to replace it or buy it back. How
many repair attempts it takes, and how long you have to file, is set by
the state you bought in and by nothing on this page.
Complaints: NHTSA's ODI
complaint file, published October 2, 2026. One
complaint is one ODI number, which is how NHTSA counts them.
Recalls: NHTSA's recall
campaign API, newest campaign on this vehicle filed October 31, 2024.
Investigations: NHTSA's ODI
investigation file, published October 2, 2026.
A complaint is one owner's account and has not been verified by NHTSA or by
us. A vehicle with more complaints is not necessarily worse: models that
sold in larger numbers collect more of them. How this is counted.
G
Compiled and maintained by guarledes Independent developer and analyst