General Motors can’t seem to catch a break. One week after the automaker announced it was suspending production at all but four of its North American manufacturing facilities, it said it plans to extend the shutdown of its Orion assembly plant by two weeks. The facility is where the company makes its Chevy Bolt electric vehicles. It was one of the assembly plants GM shut down last week — though it did so because of the recent Bolt recall, not the chip shortage that affected its other factories.
Per Reuters, GM expects the shutdown to continue until at least September 24th. The company blamed battery pack shortages for the extended halt to production. GM added it won’t resume Bolt manufacturing or sales until it’s sure it has addressed the fire concerns that forced it to recall the vehicle in the first place.
It’s the latest setback in a series of setbacks for GM when it comes to the Bolt. The automaker initially recalled more than 68,000 cars last November after five reports of battery fires between 2017 and 2019. After two Bolt EVs included in the company’s 2020 recall caught fire recently, GM issued a second recall. It then widened that action to include more than 140,000 vehicles globally. It’s estimated the entire saga will cost the company more than $1.8 billion.