Owners have filed 526 complaints on the Chevrolet Bolt EV, covering 2019–2023. The system named most often is Electrical System (228 reports). Worst years by volume: 2019, 2020, 2021; cleanest: 2023, 2022, 2021. 23 reports describe a crash, 15 a fire. On average the car was 2.2 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Chevrolet Bolt EV
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 526 Bolt EV complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Electrical System 228 Read
On 11-17-23 someone rear ended me making me lose control of the vehicle and getting off the road into the woods and eventually hitting a tree, the airbags did not deploy, the car is equipped with OnStar system from Chevrolet as a safety feature in which as soon as there is a collision I supposed to get a call from an…
Sudden rapid acceleration of car while parking vehicle on December 20, 2023 at approximately 2:00pm. The sudden rapid acceleration caused the vehicle to jump a curb and hit the base of the light pole damaging the right front of the car. Car was towed to the dealership and is currently there. If the car had not hit the…
I was sitting in the passenger seat of my new 2023 Chevy Bolt EV while parked at a convenience station. The vehicle was on and not hooked up to a charger. I smelled something burning and quickly thereafter I saw smoke coming from under the driver side seat. The driver exited the vehicle and looked under the seat. The…
Steering 95 Read
While driving at a low speed (approx. 5–10 mph), the front passenger-side lower ball joint suffered a catastrophic structural shear without warning. This caused the wheel assembly to collapse outward and the CV axle to pull out of the transmission. The failure caused a complete loss of steering control, veering the…
There is a clicking, or a light clunk, sound that *I THINK* is coming from the front passenger side of the car. The sound only occurs when accelerating, most often from a stop but not always, and occasionally when breaking. It is not a repeated click. It happens once at the beginning of the acceleration or breaking…
When the steering wheel is turned, it does not return back to the center on its own. It requires me (driver) to turn the steering wheel back to center. If it is not done manually, the vehicle continues turning, possibly causing an accident. This is at lower speeds
Power Train 45 Read
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…
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…
When I was parking my car on the street, in front of my house, my Chevy Bolt suddenly accelerated. Like it was full throttle. I slammed the brake pedal, didn't help. My Bolt pushed forward, then to the sidewalk, my parked 4000lbs van, that was in front of me (van had front wheels turned/pointing to the curb). My bolt…
Fuel/propulsion System 37 Read
Component: We don't know for sure. The was a recall on the battery, and several other of these cars have had thier batteries explode in similar fashion. The primary remnants of the car are missing and are being investigated as being stolen and are unavailable for inspection. The melted remnants of the car left in the…
Electronic drive unit fault, Auxilary transmission pump needs to be replaced. It’s a brand new vehicle and this is a very common problem
Car will unexpectedly accelerate when car is coming to a stop. Almost causing a crash a few times. (cruse control is not on)
Air Bags 14 Read
The contact rented a 2023 Chevrolet Bolt EV. The contact stated that while driving approximately 30 MPH the driver depressed the brake pedal but the vehicle did not stop and crashed into the rear of a second vehicle. The contact indicated that during the crash the vehicle was low on electrical charge and was being…
Electric pole broken onto the street and hit the car, cause severe damage to the front-left-corner on the Chevy Bolt EV 2023. The airbags did not deploy. Safety of the driver and infant was diminished greatly
I was was traveling at 68 mph, then rear ended and pushed into the center divide. The entire front drivers tire + assembly was destroyed. The airbags didn't deploy. The cab did fill with a white 'smoke'. A little bit later I received a message from the Chevy app that there was a problem with my airbags and I should…
Exterior Lighting 11 Read
I have a 3 month old Chevy Bolt EV. I like this car. I rarely have any accidents. I am a safe driver. I was hit hard from behind driving while stopped. I was driving on a crowded freeway in Austin TX in stop and go traffic. This was a hard hit that broke the rear bumper and bent the rear frame of the car. The Chevy…
Been almost rear ended twice, both drivers said my brake lights were out, after checking, brake lights were working but are so low on car they did not see them
The brake lighting only includes the upper light and the lower lights of the vehicle. The lights on the hatch do not light up when braking. Given that the upper light and lower lights are relatively small and hard to see from a close distance or in taller vehicles, this poses a significant risk for rear-ending from…
Vehicle Speed Control 11 Read
I was approaching an intersection at a light that had turned red. I slowed down to stop but accidentally bumped into the car in front, 2 mph (approximately), no damage, not even a scratch. I put the vehicle in reverse and gently tapped the accelerator but it instantly raced backwards at full as though the accelerator…
The contact owns a 2022 Chevrolet Bolt EV. The contact stated that while in the process of parking the vehicle on the side of a street, the vehicle unintendedly accelerated, and the front end of the vehicle crashed into an unoccupied parked vehicle, which crashed into a second occupied vehicle parked in front of it.…
The contact owns a 2020 chevrolet bolt EV. The contact was pulling into a parking space, she took her foot off the accelerator pedal however, the vehicle inadvertently accelerated forward into the retaining wall. The vehicle was towed to capital chevrolet (9820 capital blvd, wake forest, nc 27587) however, the contact…
Service Brakes 6 Read
2023 Chevy bolt has a hand 'regenerative brake'. I was using it while driving in traffic. My speed was around 40 mph when the car in front of me abruptly stopped. The distance between us was approximately 30 ft. I immediately switched from hand brake to foot brake and the pedal felt soft and there was a delay in…
Yes I almost got rear-ended three times in the last 3 weeks because the brake lights on the Chevy Bolt are below the bumper and the tail lights do not go on when you step on the brakes only the Collision lights and the turn signal lights
While braking I have had multiple cars almost crash into the rear of my vehicle due to the breaking system of the vehicle. The break lights are too low and people expect the “running lights” on the rear to indicate breaking. I have also had multiple people tell me my break lights are out due to this. This is a safety…
Bolt EV years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Air Bags,forward Collision Avoidance | 7 | 1 | |
| 2022 | Air Bags | 3 | — | |
| 2021 | Air Bags | 4 | — | |
| 2020 | Air Bags | 7 | 4 | |
| 2019 | Air Bags | 2 | 10 |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 135 |
| Average complaints per series | 3.9 |
| Worst single series | 12 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 2.2 years |
A model average of 3.9 hides a worst series at 12. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
- The original window sticker and factory options
- Full research report as a PDF for the pre-purchase inspection
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How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the Bolt EV?
By complaint volume, 2019, 2020, 2021 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which Bolt EV years are the cleanest?
2023, 2022, 2021 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Chevrolet Bolt EV have?
526 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2019–2023. Of those, 23 describe a crash and 15 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.