Chevrolet Bolt EV Years to Avoid — and the Years to Buy
Every Chevrolet Bolt EV model year from 2017 to 2027, benchmarked against each other with 1,360 federal complaints, 14 recall campaigns, and the odometer readings owners put in their reports.
Avoid: 2017. These years top the Bolt EV's complaint rankings by volume and severity.
Safer bets: 2021–2022 — the quietest years with at least four years on the road.
The method in one line: every NHTSA complaint for this model is counted, weighted for crashes, fires, injuries, and deaths, and each year is measured against the Bolt EV's own worst year — full methodology.
The trouble strip
One cell per model year. The whole answer in one glance — click any year for the full report.
The defining problem
Electrical tops the Chevrolet Bolt EV file with 422 complaints, concentrated in the 2017, 2019–2020 model years, most often reported around 21,500 miles. The year pages break down what fails and when.
Every year, ranked
| Year | Verdict | Complaints | Recalls | Top problem | Trouble index |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2027 | Few reports | 5 | 1 | — | 1 |
| 2023 | Typical | 95 | 3 | Electrical | 29 |
| 2022 | Better year | 94 | 7 | Electrical | 19 |
| 2021 | Better year | 96 | 5 | Electrical | 20 |
| 2020 | Below average | 246 | 8 | Electrical | 52 |
| 2019 | Below average | 241 | 6 | Electrical | 54 |
| 2018 | Typical | 119 | 5 | Steering | 24 |
| 2017 | Avoid | 464 | 4 | Steering | 100 |
Technical service bulletins
Beyond complaints and recalls, 4,505 manufacturer communications — service bulletins, service campaigns, warranty extensions — are on file for the Chevrolet Bolt EV. A TSB is factory repair guidance, not a recall — the repair is not automatically free.
Browse the Chevrolet Bolt EV TSB list by year →
Questions buyers ask
What Chevrolet Bolt EV years should I avoid?
Federal complaint records point to 2017 as the Chevrolet Bolt EV years to avoid — they drew the highest volume of serious complaints relative to the model's other years.
What is the most common Chevrolet Bolt EV problem?
Electrical tops the Chevrolet Bolt EV file with 422 complaints, concentrated in the 2017, 2019–2020 model years, most often reported around 21,500 miles.
What are the best Chevrolet Bolt EV years to buy used?
The quietest Chevrolet Bolt EV years in federal records are 2021–2022 — each with at least four years on the road and well-below-average complaint volume for this model.
Every number on this page is a count of records in the federal complaint, recall, and investigation files published by NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation. Counts cover the Chevrolet Bolt EV only, scored against this model's own worst year — not against other models. Check any specific vehicle's open recalls by VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.