2021 Chevrolet Bolt EV
This year drew an ordinary 66 complaints for a Chevrolet Bolt EV — the model's median is 58. What they were about is the unusual part: 10.6% of them mention others, against 3.7% across the model's other years.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 66 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 58 |
| Involving a crash | 4 |
| Recalls | 5 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 5/5 |
| EPA combined | 118 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- others — 10.6% of this year's complaints, against 3.7% across the model's other years (2.8×). Owners wrote it as: others, leave, groan, squeak.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
What owners wrote
Groan, Squeak or Rubbing Type Noise When Turning Steering Wheel. Vehicle turning sluggish, is a safety hazard. Sounds like premature failure of steering parts on vehicle at 3500 miles. Others are having the same problem on the Internet forums.
Vehicle is under recall. GM has gone beyond what would be considered a reasonable time resolve the issue. The vehicle remains a danger and the suggested restrictions by GM are impossible to follow and still use the vehicle as intended. GM is considering a buy…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 21V650000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 22V930000 STRUCTURE Fixed free of charge.
- 23V845000 STRUCTURE Fixed free of charge.
- 24V481000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 24V812000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Chevrolet Bolt EV was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2021 Chevrolet Bolt EV? What happened to yours?
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