Chevy Bolt EV Goes Head-To-Head With Plow in Crash - Owner Asks, “Will It Be Totaled?”

This week, Massachusetts had its first hard snow in over five years. Depending on where you were, Mass. residents dealt with up to two feet of snow, and most areas got well over a foot. The cleanup has been messy, and deadly in one sad case. Fortunately, the owner of the Chevy Bolt shown in the image we obtained permission to use was OK after having a head-to-head collision with a front-end loader doing some snow removal. Here’s what the owner posted:

I'm surprised at how well the Bolt took a head-on collision with a front-end loader. The airbags didn't even go off, and I drove it home. I'm hoping it's not totaled, but it's old and has 130,000 miles, so we will see.

The damage appears to be relatively minor. You can see in the image that the front lower fascia has some damage. However, with no airbag deployment and the vehicle still running, there may be hope that the Bolt won't be totaled out by the insurer after an adjuster has a look at it.

We do have some more information to help us to understand the severity of the crash. The owner added, “There was dripping underneath, but it looked like it wasn't colored or anything, so it might have just been melted snow. No warning lights or anything.” We think these are all good signs.

Why This Bolt May End Up Totaled
A vehicle that is damaged and requires repairs at fair market value totaling more than approximately 75% of the actual cash value of the vehicle is often totaled by the insurer. It just doesn't make sense to repair them, because there are often added costs from hidden damage added later. So, the owner is paid the vehicle's value, assuming they have collision insurance, which is not mandatory if there is no loan on the vehicle.

The Bolt looks good to our eye, but with EVs, one can never be certain until a thorough inspection has been performed. If that Bolt has any damage, no matter how minor, to its high-voltage battery case or the battery itself, it is a certain goner. Insurance companies are not repairing EVs with damaged battery compartments in most cases. Certainly not in the case of older EVs. The liability in the event of a later fire is just too high.

Also, if the Bolt has suffered any hidden unit body damage and requires work to straighten, it is likely a totaled car due to its advanced age and its relatively high mileage.

Why The Owner May Be Lucky
The airbags not deploying is good for two reasons. First, airbag replacements and the work that goes with that job is very expensive. Second, the airbags not deploying signals an impact that was not very severe. Airbags only go off in severe crashes because airbags themselves are harmful to occupants. They are lifesavers, not intended for minor collisions. It also means the seatbelts likely did not fire their retractors, which again adds expense to any repair.  

Hopefully, this is a crash with just cosmetic repairs to the front fascia.

An Old Bolt’s Value
We’d peg the value of a 2017 or 2018 Chevy Bolt with a replaced battery pack at between $6K and $8K, based on its miles. If it has a DC charger, it will be worth more. Bolts didn't have standard DC charging in early model years. It was optional, and later standard on the highest trims only. It was not standard until after 2022.

What do you think? Will this Bolt end up being totaled, or will the owner have the repairs paid for by the insurance company and continue to enjoy it? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below. We are going to predict that unless the battery pack or battery cooling system was damaged, this Bolt will definitely be repairable.

About the image and post - We vetted this post by the Chevy Bolt owner. The owner is a Top Contributor at the club where this image was posted, and the owner has been a frequent poster with other images of this vehicle going back years. We communicated with the owner using the app. Based on these facts, we trust it is a factual post and actual image. 
 

John Goreham is the Vice President of the New England Motor Press Association and an expert vehicle tester. John completed an engineering program with a focus on electric vehicles, followed by two decades of work in high-tech, biopharma, and the automotive supply chain before becoming a news contributor. He is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE int). In addition to his fourteen years of work at Torque News, John has published thousands of articles and reviews at American news outlets. He is known for offering unfiltered opinions on vehicle topics. You can connect with John on LinkedIn and follow his work on his personal X channel or on our X channel. John employs grammar and punctuation software when proofreading, and he sometimes uses image generation tools.