Chevy Bolt Crashed On Its Own, Says Owner

Chevy Bolt Owner Claims Empty Car Reversed By Itself, Damaging Brand-New Vehicle and Garage

Update: The owner of the Bolt followed up with “Chevrolet Forum” to say that “a GM engineer and [another rep] from Michigan are flying out tomorrow (Jan. 19) and all three will…review the situation.”

The Chevrolet Bolt EV has been getting a lot of ink lately. Green Car Reports named the Bolt the “Best Car to Buy.” After consideration from a jury of distinguished automotive journalists, the Bolt EV was recently awarded the title of “North American Car of the Year.”

Those are both positives. So is the Bolt EV’s all-electric range of 238 miles on a full charge, and the fact that it’s eligible for substantial tax credits. Those awards and traits generate what you’d call “good attention.”

However, one particular Bolt EV is not getting any of that from its owner. He claims it spontaneously put itself into reverse in his garage. He posted the following on My Chevy Bolt:

“Here is a strange one, but it seriously happened. I was out of town (the only driver of the Bolt). I get a call saying there was a crash in the garage. BOTH keys were out of the vehicle; car [was] self-locked and shut down in park from the previous night. Wife heard a crash, goes to the garage and sees that the car backed up and ran into a work bench, pushing in a wall. Granted, hard to believe, but both keys out of the car, she was in the house (no other drivers here), I was 40 miles away, and somehow the car moved???? Insurance called, dealership notified, GM messaged.”

The owner even documented how he shut off and left the car:

“I did not press the P (parking brake) button on the left side of the shifter. I did this: 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 went into P (Park).

4. Turn the vehicle off.

5. Exited vehicle, and the vehicle’s horn sounded and the doors locked.”

While the owner awaits a formal response from Chevy (he currently has a case number with the automaker) and his insurance company, he has the wheels chocked — just in case. Thankfully, no one was injured. Let’s hope it stays that way.

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