AutoUtility currently tracks 175 official NHTSA owner defect complaints for the 2019 Chevrolet Bolt EV. Electrical System issues are the most frequently reported category, appearing in 85 complaints (48.6% of submitted records). Among these NHTSA complaint records, 2 filings cite a crash, 10 cite a fire, 2 report one or more injuries.
- • Total NHTSA Complaints: 175 reports
- • #1 Reported Problem Area: Electrical System (85 reports • 48.6% of submitted complaints)
- • Secondary Problem Areas: Steering System (45), Fuel & Propulsion System (44)
- • Crash-Citing Complaints: 2 filings
- • Fire-Citing Complaints: 10 filings
- • Complaints Reporting Injuries / Fatalities: 2 injury filings • 0 fatality filings
Most Reported Problems for 2019 Chevrolet Bolt EV
Top automotive subsystem defect categories ranked by unique owner complaint volume in federal records
Electrical System
NHTSA records list 2 official safety recall campaigns for this model year involving the same broad component area:
- Campaign #21V560000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:PROPULSION SYSTEM:TRACTION BATTERY
- Campaign #20V701000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:PROPULSION SYSTEM:TRACTION BATTERY
Steering System
Fuel & Propulsion System
NHTSA records list 2 official safety recall campaigns for this model year involving the same broad component area:
- Campaign #21V560000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:PROPULSION SYSTEM:TRACTION BATTERY
- Campaign #20V701000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:PROPULSION SYSTEM:TRACTION BATTERY
Powertrain & Transmission
Driver Assistance & Safety Tech
Symptoms Mentioned in NHTSA Owner Reports for 2019 Chevrolet Bolt EV
Specific mechanical, electrical, and driver-assist defect symptoms identified via deterministic narrative analysis
AutoUtility uses deterministic phrase matching to identify recurring symptom descriptions within consumer-submitted NHTSA complaint narratives.
Loss of Motive Power While Driving
Recent NHTSA Owner Reports for 2019 Chevrolet Bolt EV
Representative defect filings submitted by owners to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
"Steering wheel does not return to center on turns when driving at low speeds."
"Steering wheel does not return to center after making a turn. Over time the steering rack fails leading to a steering wheel that will not return to center even when force is applied to wheel. The dealership is charging $3-4k to fix this safety issue."
"when driving my car from the airport at Bradley International in CT (parked for a week), I experienced a terrible vibration in the steering wheel which has been intermittent. The vibration went away at lower speeds. I brought the car in to the shop on 5/18/2026 with 74,000 miles on the car. They..."
"The steering wheel takes more effort to turn than it should and does not return to center after making a turn. It has been like this since I bought the car used, and I did not realize until recently that it should not be like this. Comments on some online forums indicate that this is a common issue..."
"The steering wheel locks and stiffens on turns to the left or right refusing to come back to center on its own. In the middle of the turn the wheel locks up. Been told by multiple dealerships and forums I've read online it's a known issue with the car needing a steering gear replacement. A job that..."
Complaint History for Chevrolet Bolt EV
Reported defect complaint volume across sibling model years (2017–2023)
| Model Year | NHTSA Complaints | Crash Reports | Safety Recalls | Detailed Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV | 2 | 0 | 4 | View 2017 Problems → |
| 2018 Chevrolet Bolt EV | 0 | 0 | 5 | View 2018 Problems → |
| 2019 Chevrolet Bolt EV Current Page | 175 | 2 | 6 | Current |
| 2020 Chevrolet Bolt EV | 172 | 7 | 8 | View 2020 Problems → |
| 2021 Chevrolet Bolt EV | 66 | 4 | 5 | View 2021 Problems → |
| 2022 Chevrolet Bolt EV | 59 | 3 | 7 | View 2022 Problems → |
| 2023 Chevrolet Bolt EV | 59 | 8 | 3 | View 2023 Problems → |
Detailed NHTSA Component Breakdown for 2019 Chevrolet Bolt EV
Complete distribution of consumer defect reports across all 36 granular NHTSA system and subsystem classifications
| Vehicle Component / System | Total Complaints | Crash Reports | Fire Reports | Reported Injury Entries | Reported Fatality Entries |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electrical System NHTSA category: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | 49 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 0 |
| Steering NHTSA category: STEERING | 42 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Fuel & Propulsion System NHTSA category: FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Other / Uncategorized NHTSA category: UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| UNKNOWN OR OTHER,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Forward Collision Avoidance NHTSA category: FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Powertrain NHTSA category: POWER TRAIN | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Visibility & Wipers NHTSA category: VISIBILITY/WIPER | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Air Bags NHTSA category: AIR BAGS | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| AIR BAGS,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| AIR BAGS,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,LANE DEPARTURE,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SEAT BELTS,LANE DEPARTURE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VISIBILITY/WIPER,BACK OVER PREVENTION | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Equipment & Accessories NHTSA category: EQUIPMENT | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| LANE DEPARTURE,BACK OVER PREVENTION,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Doors, Latches & Locks NHTSA category: LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| POWER TRAIN,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Seat Belts NHTSA category: SEAT BELTS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| SEAT BELTS,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,SERVICE BRAKES | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| SEATS,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Service Brakes NHTSA category: SERVICE BRAKES | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| STEERING,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| STEERING,SERVICE BRAKES | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| STEERING,SUSPENSION,WHEELS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| SUSPENSION,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM,VISIBILITY/WIPER | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Official NHTSA Defect Investigations (2)
Formal safety defect inquiries and engineering analyses opened by the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI)
Pedestrian alert sounds
NHTSA received a petition on or about July 18, 2022, requesting that Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 141 be applied to all electric and hybrid vehicles operating in the United States. The petition can be reviewed at NHTSA.gov under ODI Number 11486072. FMVSS 141 establishes performance requirements for pedestrian alert sounds for motor vehicles. The standard applies to hybrid and electric vehicles that have a gross vehicle weight ra...
Electric Vehicle Battery Fires
In October 2020, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened a Preliminary Evaluation (PE) on 2017-2020 Model Year (MY) Chevrolet Bolt vehicles based on complaints received alleging that the vehicles caught fire under the seating area while parked and unattended. At the time, ODI had received 2 Vehicle Owner Questionnaires (VOQs) and several field reports. All complaints alleged vehicles caught fire during or after electrical charging.ODI's...
The complaint records on this page are retrieved directly from the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) public database.
Local Production Store Compiled: August 2026 • Deterministic Audited Dataset • Zero Dynamic External API Runtime Latency.