Diagsheet

2020 Chevrolet Bolt EV · symptom sheet

Battery dies or the car will not start

  • 37owner reports
  • 48,000median miles
  • 0involved a crash

Newest report Jun 19, 2026 · checked Sep 9, 2026

94 of the 173 complaints on this car are about the electrical system. 37 of those describe dead battery, which makes it the most reported problem on the 2020 Bolt EV.

Tick what matches of 37 reports

4
10
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1

What got replaced

Owners who name the part that was replaced mention the battery (37 reports).

Recalls and investigations

3 recalls on the electrical system cover the 2020 model year. A recall on the same system isn't always the same failure, so read the defect text.

24V-812Oct 31, 2024
Electrical System:Propulsion System:Traction Battery

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.

Risk and remedy
Risk: A battery fire increases the risk of injury.
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.
24V-481Jun 27, 2024
Electrical System:Propulsion System:Traction Battery

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.

Risk and remedy
Risk: A battery fire increases the risk of injury.
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.
21V-650Aug 20, 2021
Electrical System:Propulsion System:Traction Battery

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.

Risk and remedy
Risk: A battery fire increases the risk of injury.
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.

NHTSA investigations into the electrical system on the Bolt EV

PE24-028opened Oct 3, 2024
Equipment · model years 2018

Electrical arcing and thermal events, potentially leading to fires, while utilizing enel x way usa, llc's juicebox residential charger.. Closed jun 5, 2025.

NHTSA summary
On October 3, 2024, the Office of Defects Investigations (ODI) opened PE24028 to investigate alleged failures of Enel X Way's JuiceBox Level 2 residential EV chargers. The allegations were described as thermal incidents and electrical malfunctions, which could trip the circuit breakers in Juicebox owners’ homes and disrupt electric vehicle charge cycles. On October 2, 2024, Enel X Way posted on its website that Enel X Way North America would cease operations in the United States and Canada on October 11, 2024. The closure would potentially impact the charging app and supporting software. ODI sent Enel X Way an Information Request (IR) letter on October 21, 2024. Enel X Way provided an incomplete response to the IR on December 9, 2024. Enel X Way later provided a complete response to the IR on January 24, 2025. ODI reviewed Enel X Way’s IR submissions to determine whether further action is required. Based on ODI’s analysis, there was no clear trend in the cause of the failures described in customer complaints and warranty reports. Additionally, there have been no recent reports alleging safety issues. The available information does not warrant further action at this time. The closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by NHTSA that a safety-related defect does not exist. The Agency will continue to monitor for any safety trends and reserves the right to take additional action if warranted by future circumstances. To review the ODI reports cited in this C
DP22-005opened Jan 27, 2023
Electrical · model years 2017 to 2022

Pedestrian alert sounds. Closed aug 7, 2023, led to recall 22V-063.

NHTSA summary
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.
PE20-016opened Oct 9, 2020
Electrical · model years 2017 to 2020

Electric vehicle battery fires. Closed feb 7, 2022, led to recall 20V-701.

NHTSA summary
In October 2020, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened a Preliminary Evaluation (PE) on 2017-2020 Model Year (MY) Chevrolet Bolt vehicles based on complaints received alleging that the vehicles caught fire under the seating area while parked and unattended. At the time, ODI had received 2 Vehicle Owner Questionnaires (VOQs) and several field reports. All complaints alleged vehicles caught fire during or after electrical charging.ODI's review found vehicle thermal events occurred during and/or at the end of the battery module charging cycle. The information learned from NHTSA and General Motors joint vehicle inspections prompted General Motors to file Recall 20V-701 on April 29, 2021. The remedy for this recall included 1) performing diagnostic procedures to identify and replace potentially defective battery cell-module assemblies and 2) installing onboard diagnostic software, designed to detect and warn owners regarding potential issues related to changes in battery module performance over time. Until this interim remedy became available for all affected vehicles, General Motors instructed their customers to enable ?Hilltop Reserve or ?Target Charge Level, based on the vehicle-equipped technology. Enabling these technologies would limit charging capacity of the battery module to a maximum of 90 percent. General Motors then continued to investigate the root cause of these battery cell module thermal events, which would lead them to their long-term recall remedy solu

When it happens

Too few of these reports state a mileage to give a range.

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What owners wrote

“VEHICLE FAILS TO CHARGE. Receiving error message that the vehicle fails to accept a charge. I've attempted charging using 3 separate chargers and all fail. This issue has been in service at numerous dealerships with no resolve. I was able to charge previously at a reduced rate but now the battery will no longer accept a charge and gives me an error message.”

Filed Apr 20, 2026

“It has been 21 months and I still have not received a new battery for this Chevy Bolt.”

Filed May 26, 2023

“The battery recall has been open since Aug 2021, it's Feb 2023 now, I've been waiting for 18 months for my defective battery to be fixed. I cannot charge the car to 100% and I cannot let the car go below 70 miles and I have to park outside. I tried two times to get GM to replace my vehicle but they denied me both times. The last time was with the BBB Auto Line, my denied case number is CHV2312333.”

Filed Feb 17, 2023

“I have called my dealer at least 10 times over the last 2 years and still get the same answer from them on when I will be getting my batteries changed out. They say they are on backorder and do not know when they will be available. I would thin more than 2 years is sufficient time to correct their recall if they really wanted to.”

Filed Dec 20, 2022

Should you keep driving it?

This page can't tell you that. 0 of 37 reports involved a crash. Owners who file are the ones who had a bad experience, and nobody checks their reports. If the problem affects steering, braking, power or a fire risk, treat it as a safety fault and have it inspected before a long or high-speed drive.

File your own report with NHTSA. Complaint counts are how a problem gets an investigation.