General Motors Co. is expanding its safety recall of the all-electric Chevy Bolt to include newer models, an action that will cost an additional $1 billion to remedy a problem that has increased the risk of battery fires in this particular vehicle.
The expansion adds another 73,000 Bolt electric vehicles to GM’s recall campaign and includes 2019 models not covered under the previous action, as well as 2020-2021 model-year vehicles, the company said Friday.
GM’s stock, which closed at $48.80 Friday, was down 2% in after hours trading.
The Detroit auto maker last year recalled about 69,000 older model-year Bolts, saying it was aware of five fires involving the cars and advising owners not park the vehicles in garages until they can get them fixed. In July, it recalled the same Bolts for a second time because of a potential battery defect that could result in a fire.
At the time, GM said it had since learned of one battery fire that occurred after the vehicle had received a software update intended to fix the problem.
