Chevy Bolt recall: Michigan plant to take more downtime

DETROIT — General Motors' Chevrolet Bolt plant, in Orion Township, Mich., will take three weeks of downtime this month as the automaker continues to work through a recall of all Bolts for battery-fire risk.

Prioritizing battery module replacements for existing customers has led to a shortage of battery parts for new-vehicle production. GM notified employees at Orion Assembly that the plant will take downtime from Nov. 15 to Dec. 3. Production is slated to resume Dec. 6.

The plant is running limited production this week and next week to help optimize LG battery output and support customer and dealer needs related to the recall, spokesman Dan Flores said in a statement.

"Battery module replacements remain the priority. We will continue to adjust Orion's production schedule moving forward to best support the recall," Flores said.

The recall includes more than 140,000 Bolt EVs and EUVs and could cost up to $2 billion depending on the number of module replacements needed. Battery supplier LG Energy plans to cover the vast majority of the cost.

GM began replacing battery modules in 2017-19 models last month. The automaker plans to run diagnostic software on 2020-22 Bolts to determine whether modules need to be replaced. That software is not yet available.