Chevy Bolt owners told to park 50 feet from other cars to prevent spread of fire

General Motors Co. reportedly urged some owners of Chevrolet Bolt electric cars to park and store their vehicles at least fifty feet away from other cars to reduce the risk that a spontaneous fire could spread, according to the Orange County Register.

Parking fifty feet away from other cars is virtually impossible, especially in the cities where electric vehicle ownership is most prevalent. For example, there are more than 1,300 Chevy Bolt’s registered in Minnesota, according to Atlas EV Hub. The vast majority of these Bolts are located in the Twin Cities area.

Chevy has now recalled all of the roughly 142,000 Bolts sold since 2016 because the batteries can catch fire. To reduce the risk of these fires, Chevy has recommended Bolt owners not charge their batteries up all the way, and to park their vehicles outside immediately after charging them. Bolt owners were also told not to leave their cars charging indoors overnight.

These defects are expensive, dangerous and deeply unfortunate, but they highlight the perils of heavy-handed government mandates for technologies that have not proven their worth on the free market.

Electric vehicles deserve to compete for your transportation dollars as much as any other fuel source, but Gov. Walz’s California car mandates requiring auto manufacturing to stock 14,000 electric vehicles in the state every year promotes immature technologies that may have a lot of wrinkles to iron out. As such, the California car rules should be repealed.