Chevy Bolt Owner Claims His Car Turned Itself On and Crashed Itself
GM is apparently looking into the matter.
There was a time when a loud crash from the garage would leave us fearing an intruder was attempting to rob us. These days, however, it may be just as likely to be your electric car trying to make a break for it. Or at least it seems we might be headed that way, after hearing what one Chevy Bolt owner experienced.
On Tuesday, a user of the My Chevy Bolt forum known as "SoCalif" made a post claiming that his Bolt backed itself into a workbench in his garage. In the forum post, he explained that he was 40 miles away from the vehicle when it happened, the car was locked and supposed to be off—which is how he left it the previous night—and the keys were not inside the vehicle. The owner said that when he did return home to inspect the damage, he found that the car's shifter was still in the "P" position, just as he remembered leaving it. Though the car was in the Park gear, the owner did not set the actual parking brake.
This is how the owner described leaving the car:
1. Hold the brake pedal down.
2. Press the button on top of the shift lever to shift into P (Park).
3. The P indicator on the shift lever turned red when the vehicle is in P (Park).
4. Turn the vehicle off.
5. Exited vehicle, and the vehicle's horn sounded and the doors locked.
After the incident, the owner informed his insurance company of the damage, told his dealership, and contacted GM corporate. Since then, the American automaker sent employees to check out the car—a process the owner claimed took more than four hours as they "went over every detail."
The Bolt uses GM's by-wire Electronic Precision Shift system to digitally select drive gears.
According to The Truth About Cars, GM has not yet released a statement regarding the incident.
