2020 Chevrolet Bolt EV reliability

Is it reliable?

NHTSA's file on the 2020 Chevrolet Bolt EV holds 173 complaints after 7 years, a rate of 23 per year. That is more complaints per year than most Bolt EV years here — over the median of the other years, which is 15. NHTSA has 8 recalls on file, including Traction battery, Roof and pillars, and Seat belts.

2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV — Photo by Kevauto, resized from the original. Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 4.0

Complaints

173

Per year

Recalls

Years on the road

What owners report

The complaints owners file most often name Electrical system (94 of 173), then Fuel and propulsion system (30) and Steering (22). Those filings include 7 that report a crash and 4 that report a fire.

Next to 2019 and 2021

The 2019 Bolt EV has 178 complaints, 34 per year, and the 2021 has 67 complaints, 18 per year. The 2020 has fewer complaints per year than the 2019. The 2020 has more complaints per year than the 2021.

The complaint rate is complaints filed in this year’s first 3 years on the road, divided by however many of those years have passed. Recalls are a separate count. The numbers are for the US-market 2020 Chevrolet Bolt EV. How we count. Data as of 2026-10-16.

Recalls (8)

Recall electrical system, propulsion system, traction battery 2024-10-31 · NHTSA campaign 24V812000

Summary 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.

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.

Recall electrical system, propulsion system, traction battery 2024-06-27 · NHTSA campaign 24V481000

Summary 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.

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.

Recall structure, body, roof and pillars 2023-12-14 · NHTSA campaign 23V845000

Summary General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2017-2023 Chevrolet Bolt EV vehicles. This recall includes certain vehicles previously repaired incorrectly under NHTSA recall number 22V-930. After a crash with seat belt pretensioner deployment, the pretensioner exhaust may ignite carpet fibers near the B-pillar, causing a fire.

Remedy Dealers will inspect both front seat belt pretensioners and, if necessary, install metal foil at the carpet near the pretensioner exhaust. Certain vehicles will also need a pretensioner cover installed. Repairs will be performed free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed January 24, 2024. These vehicles were previously recalled for this same issue under recall number 22V-930 and will need to have the new remedy performed. Owners may contact GM EV Concierge at 1-833-EVCHEVY (1-833-382-4389) (TTY 711 / 1-800-833-2438) or Customer Service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is N232421970.

Recall structure, body, roof and pillars 2022-12-15 · NHTSA campaign 22V930000

Summary General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2017-2023 Chevrolet Bolt EV vehicles. After a crash with seat belt pretensioner deployment, the pretensioner exhaust may ignite carpet fibers near the B-pillar, causing a fire.

Remedy Dealers will install metal foil at the carpet near the pretensioner exhaust, and install a pretensioner cover as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed between January 23, 2023 and April 25, 2023. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is N222383790.

Recall electrical system, propulsion system, traction battery 2021-08-20 · NHTSA campaign 21V650000

Summary 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.

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.

Recall Seat belts 2020-12-23 · NHTSA campaign 20V811000

Summary General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2020 Chevrolet Bolt EV and 2021 GMC Canyon and Sierra 1500, 2500 and 3500, Yukon, Yukon XL, Cadillac Escalade and Escalade ESV and Chevrolet Blazer, Camaro, Colorado, Equinox, Silverado 1500, 2500 and 3500, Suburban and Tahoe vehicles. Incorrect bolts may have been used at one or more fastening locations to secure the seat belts to the vehicle. If an incorrect bolt was used, the seat belt may not be properly attached to the vehicle.

Remedy GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the suspect bolts, free of charge. The recall began January 29, 2021. Owners may contact GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8785, Cadillac customer service at 1-800-458-8006, or Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is N202322230.

Recall hydraulic brakes, foundation components, disc, caliper 2020-12-22 · NHTSA campaign 20V808000

Summary General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2020 Chevrolet Bolt EV vehicles. These vehicles may have an improperly cast front left brake caliper that can fracture during a high-pressure braking event.

Remedy GM will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the casting lot number on the front left brake caliper and replace it if necessary, free of charge. The recall began January 29, 2021. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is N202321400.

Recall latches, locks, and linkages, doors, latch 2020-03-26 · NHTSA campaign 20V184000

Summary General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2019-2020 Chevrolet Bolt EV vehicles. The door-handle cable inside the rear doors may be too long, allowing contact with the window when it is opened, possibly damaging the cable. A damaged cable may cause the rear door to open unintentionally when the rear window is opened. Additionally, it may cause the rear inside door handle to not work.

Remedy GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the rear inside door-handle cables, free of charge. The recall began April 17, 2020. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is A202298320.

Complaints by component (173 total)

Electrical system

Fuel and propulsion system

Steering

Powertrain

Engine

Speed control

Air bags

Seat belts

Exterior lighting

Lane departure

Structure

Forward collision avoidance

Service brakes

Back-over prevention

Equipment

Suspension

Visibility and wipers

Hybrid propulsion

Tires

Wheels

Show 12 more Show less

Crash-flagged

Fire-flagged

Injury reports

Death reports

Complaints filed per year

Excerpts from recent NHTSA complaint filings

"Camera(s) stopped working altogether after intermittent issues. The vehicle has no functioning backup camera."
Electrical system · filed 2026-09-16
"Steering rack is starting to fail at under 47000 miles, car pulls to right during acceleration and pulls left when decelerating. Steering wheel does not return to the center and a slight left pull on the wheel has to be…"
Steering · filed 2026-08-06
"GM installed Advanced Monitoring Software on the car rather than replace the battery. The software detected a battery fault. Under the battery recall if a fault is detected the battery is replaced free of charge. GM is…"
Fuel and propulsion system · filed 2026-07-06
"General Motors is using the arbitrary 6,213-mile tracking window of Recall 944 to deny coverage for a diagnosed Cell Section 3 hardware failure at 123,582 miles. However, this vehicle is directly impacted by the failure…"
Electrical system, Fuel and propulsion system · filed 2026-06-19
"Steering stiffened over several weeks. Then steering wheel would not automatically return to center while turning while driving. Diagnosed by service as a fault with steering column. This is apparently very common in…"
Steering · filed 2026-06-08

NHTSA crash ratings

Version	Overall	Front	Side	Rollover
2020 Chevrolet Bolt EV 5 HB FWD	5 stars	4 stars	5 stars	5 stars

Stars are how this vehicle did in NHTSA crash tests. They are a safety result, separate from the complaint record. Not rated means that test was not run for this version.

Fuel economy

Trim	Engine	Transmission	Drive	City	Hwy	Combined	Annual fuel cost
Bolt EV	—	Automatic (variable gear ratios)	Front-wheel drive	127	108	118 MPG / 259 mi range	$650

Specs and fitment

1st generation, 2017–2023

Body styles Hatchback

Tire size 215/50R17

Known issues for this generation

Recall 21V-650 covers certain 2020-2022 Chevrolet Bolt EV and 2022 Bolt EUV vehicles: the high-voltage battery could catch fire when charged to full or nearly full capacity; GM's remedy includes battery module replacement and advanced diagnostic software. Earlier recall 20V-701 and 21V-560 addressed the same battery fire risk on 2017-2019 and previously repaired packs. Follow-up recalls 24V-481 and 24V-812 address failures in installing that diagnostic software on some vehicles already remedied under 21V-650. Recall 22V-930 covers certain 2017-2023 Bolt EV vehicles: after a crash with seat belt pretensioner deployment, pretensioner exhaust may ignite carpet fibers near the B-pillar.

Compare

Previous year 2019 Chevrolet Bolt EV Next year 2021 Chevrolet Bolt EV See every Chevrolet Bolt EV model year →

Frequently asked questions

Is the 2020 Chevrolet Bolt EV reliable?

What are common problems with a 2020 Chevrolet Bolt EV?

The complaints owners file most often name Electrical system (94 of 173), then Fuel and propulsion system (30) and Steering (22). Those filings include 7 that report a crash and 4 that report a fire.

Is the 2020 Chevrolet Bolt EV more reliable than the years next to it?

Has the 2020 Chevrolet Bolt EV been recalled?

The 2020 Chevrolet Bolt EV has 8 recalls on file with NHTSA. See the recalls table on this page for dates, components, and remedies.

How many complaints have owners filed about the 2020 Chevrolet Bolt EV?

Owners have filed 173 complaints about the 2020 Chevrolet Bolt EV with NHTSA.

What mpg does a 2020 Chevrolet Bolt EV get?

EPA-rated combined fuel economy for the 2020 Chevrolet Bolt EV is 118 MPG. See the fuel economy table on this page for city and highway figures by engine and transmission.

Does the Chevrolet Bolt EV use engine oil?

No. It is battery-electric; routine fluid checks focus on brake fluid and coolant loops, not motor oil.

What tire size does a Chevrolet Bolt EV use?

US first-generation pages list 215/50R17.

What model years does the first-generation Chevrolet Bolt EV cover?

2017-2023 on this site's Bolt EV record.