— A Chevy Bolt battery lawsuit settlement has been reached after eight class action lawsuits were consolidated into one.
The class action lawsuits were filed in a period of a few months in late 2020 and early 2021 regarding battery fires in 2017-2022 Chevrolet Bolt electric cars.
The Chevy Bolt lawsuit settlement includes:
"All persons within the United States who purchased (whether new or used) or leased, other than for resale, a Model Year 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 or 2022 Chevrolet Bolt built and shipped to a dealer on or before August 19, 2021 and who have not received a buyback of their vehicle from General Motors or a General Motors authorized dealer."
Most of the settlement benefits offered to customers are things General Motors already offered for free to customers months before the settlement was reached.
GM denies all wrongdoing and allegations in the consolidated Chevy Bolt battery class action lawsuit titled, In re Chevrolet Bolt EV Battery Litigation.
In October 2020, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened a 2017-2020 Chevrolet Bolt battery fire investigation. This was followed by a November 2020 recall to replace the batteries if necessary and to install software.
But Bolt battery fires continued which caused GM to announce recalls in July and August 2021.
NHTSA closed the Bolt battery fire investigation based on the recalls, software updates, battery replacements and extended warranties. But the lawsuits continued in court.
One Chevrolet Bolt battery fire recall included about 57,000 model year 2017-2019 Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicles, then an expanded recall involved about 52,000 model year 2020-2022 Chevrolet Bolts.
Chevy Bolt Battery Lawsuit Settlement
In October 2023, GM announced a compensation program for Bolt customers to receive $1,400 Visa eReward cards. Though this was months before the settlement, the eReward program and the previously announced battery replacement recalls and software updates are "benefits" of the settlement.
According to the Bolt battery settlement, customers who registered for the e-card program and met the requirements of the program have already received their $1,400 compensation.
Customers who received the Bolt software update but who did not register for the e-card program, or who tried to register but the program expired, will be entitled to $1,400.
Customers who were owners or lessees of Bolts that were eligible for the final software update but sold their Bolt or terminated their lease before June 13, 2023, will be entitled to $700.
A Chevrolet Bolt customer, "who owns, owned, leases, or leased a Vehicle at any time before preliminary approval of the Settlement Agreement is granted and that has received or is eligible to receive the Battery Replacement Final Remedy will be entitled to a Distribution Amount of $700...."
According to the Bolt battery settlement, each of these plaintiffs who filed the lawsuit will receive $2,000 each.
Robin Altobelli, F. Dayle Andersen, Bruce James Cannon, Mary Carr and Jan G. Wyers, Yohanes Chitra, Christine Chung, Daniel Corry, John DeRosa, William Dornetto and Russell Ives, Kevin Harris and Pamela Duprez, Michael Hickey, Michael and Denise Holbrook, Fred Kass, James Kotchmar, Robert Kuchar, Joseph Poletti, Edward and Janet Rock, Evi Schulz, Michael Smith, Ashley Strong, Alucard Taylor, Jason Vaaler, Tony Verzura, Shawn Walker, and Thomas and Carol Whittaker.
The settlement says the attorneys representing the plaintiffs will receive $52.5 million.
The Chevy Bolt battery lawsuit settlement must still be granted preliminarily then final approval by the judge.
The Chevy Bolt battery lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan (Southern Division): Altobelli et al., v. General Motors LLC, or, In Re Chevrolet Bolt EV Battery Litigation, Case No. 2:20-cv-13256.