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Tag: Bolt

  • Fridays Are the Latest Casualty of Hybrid Work

    Fridays Are the Latest Casualty of Hybrid Work

    As companies increasingly embrace hybrid work, Fridays appear to be the most recent casualty, with employees not coming in on the last workday.

    The global pandemic upended the workplace, leading to a massive adoption of remote and hybrid workflows. Even as many companies are bringing employees back more days during the week, very few want to be in the office on Friday.

    According to The Washington Post, Kastle Systems is collected swipe-in data from their security systems installed in 2,600 buildings. Tuesdays had the highest in-person attendance, coming in at 50%. Mondays only had 41%, but Fridays were the lowest of all, with only 30% in-person attendance in June.

    “It’s becoming a bit of cultural norm: You know nobody else is going to the office on Friday, so maybe you’ll work from home, too,” said Peter Cappelli, director of the Center for Human Resources at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, told the Post. “Even before the pandemic, people thought of Friday as a kind of blowoff day. And now there’s a growing expectation that you can work from home to jump-start your weekend.”

    Interestingly, employers have not yet settled on the best option going forward. Some are doubling down on their attempts to get people back in the office on Fridays, while others are at least trying to make Fridays a little easier with moves like “Zoom-free” Fridays.

    Still others, like tech company Bolt, are switching to a four-day work week after an overwhelmingly positive response from employees.

    “There was no hesitation: Everybody was like, ‘Sign me up,’ ” Angela Bagley, the company’s head of employee experience, told the Post. “And it was amazing: We kept getting the job done. Managers were onboard, people kept hitting their goals. And they come back on Mondays energized and more engaged.”

    One thing is clear: Companies still have much to figure out when it comes to optimizing their way forward in a post-pandemic “new normal.”

  • GM and LG Working to Fix Bolt Battery Issues

    GM and LG Working to Fix Bolt Battery Issues

    General Motors and LG are working to fix the issues that led to a recall of the Chevy Bolt over fire concerns.

    GM originally recalled some Bolts in late 2020 over reports they could catch on fire while charging. In July, reports surfaced that some vehicles had caught on fire despite being serviced in the recall, leading GM to expand the recall.

    The issue appears to be the result of defective LG batteries, and both companies are pulling out the stops to address the issue.

    “Experts from GM and LG continue to work around the clock on the issues,” GM spokesman Dan Flores said, according to Reuters. “We are determined to do the right thing for our customers and resolve the problem once and for all. Once we are confident LG can provide us with good battery modules, we will begin repairs as quickly as we can.”

    The fix will vary, depending on the specific Bolt model, with older vehicles having the entire battery pack replaced. In contrast, newer vehicles will only have the defective modules replaced.

  • GM Extends Bolt Recall to 73,000 Additional Vehicles

    GM Extends Bolt Recall to 73,000 Additional Vehicles

    GM is voluntarily recalling an additional 73,000 Chevrolet Bolt and Bolt EUVs over a fire risk.

    GM initially issued a recall for the Bolt in November 2020 due to a charging issue that could cause the high-voltage battery pack to catch fire. GM then issued a warning a month ago over reports that at least two Bolts caught on fire despite being fixed in the initial recall.

    The company is now expanding its recall to cover all 2019-2022 Bolts, including the Bolt EUV.

    In rare circumstances, the batteries supplied to GM for these vehicles may have two manufacturing defects – a torn anode tab and folded separator – present in the same battery cell, which increases the risk of fire. Out of an abundance of caution, GM will replace defective battery modules in Chevrolet Bolt EVs and EUVs with new modules, with an expected additional cost of approximately $1 billion.

    The issue appears to be a manufacturing defect in the batteries LG supplied to GM, and the two companies are working together to rectify the problem and replace the batteries.

    The recall impacts 9,335 2019 Bolts (6,989 in the US and 1,212 in Canada) and 63,683 2020-2022 Bolt and Bolt EUVs (52,403 in the US and 9,019 in Canada).

    “Our focus on safety and doing the right thing for our customers guides every decision we make at GM,” said Doug Parks, GM executive vice president, Global Product Development, Purchasing and Supply Chain. “As leaders in the transition to an all-electric future, we know that building and maintaining trust is critical. GM customers can be confident in our commitment to taking the steps to ensure the safety of these vehicles.”

  • Recalled Chevrolet Bolts Caught Fire, GM Issues Warning

    Recalled Chevrolet Bolts Caught Fire, GM Issues Warning

    GM is warning that at least two Chevrolet Bolts have caught fire, despite being serviced in a recall.

    GM issued a recall for nearly 51,000 Chevy Bolts over a risk of the vehicles catching on fire when “charged to full, or very close to full, capacity.” At the time, GM recommended parking the vehicles outside, away from buildings until they could be fixed.

    It appears the fix may not be 100% foolproof, with two Bolts catching on fire despite already being fixed under the recall. As a result, the company is once again asking users to leave the vehicles parked outside until the issue can be investigated further.

    General Motors has been notified of two recent Chevrolet Bolt EV fire incidents in vehicles that were remedied as part of the safety recall announced in November 2020. Out of an abundance of caution, we are asking owners of 2017-2019 Chevrolet Bolt EVs who were part of the recall population to park their vehicles outdoors immediately after charging and not leave their vehicles charging overnight while we investigate these incidents.

    The company also asks customers that have not yet taken advantage of the recall to go ahead and do so. With only two known cases, out of the thousands that have already been fixed, it’s entirely possible this new issue may be completely unrelated.

  • GM’s Sales Increase 40% on Strong Consumer Demand

    GM’s Sales Increase 40% on Strong Consumer Demand

    Despite constrained inventory and a global semiconductor shortage, GM sold 40% more vehicles in its second quarter.

    Like virtually every automaker, GM has been impacted by a global semiconductor shortage, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. GM has been forced to halt production at some plants, and has resorted to shipping some trucks without their full complement of fuel economy chips, resulting in 1 MPG less for the life of the vehicle.

    Despite these challenges, GM posted sales of some 688,236 vehicles in the US during the second quarter. This represents an increase of 40% over the year-ago quarter.

    The company’s SUV and EV sales were an especially strong bright spot. The Chevy Bolt EV, along with the Traverse SUV, had its best ever second-quarter and first-half sales.

    “The U.S. economy is accelerating, consumer spending is robust and jobs are plentiful,” said Elaine Buckberg, GM chief economist. “Consumer demand for vehicles is also strong, but constrained by very tight inventories. We expect continued high demand in the second half of this year and into 2022.”

    “The agility and creativity of our supply chain, purchasing, engineering and manufacturing teams, in collaboration with our suppliers and dealers, have helped us continue to satisfy customers and gain market share in some of the highest demand segments of the market,” said Kurt McNeil, U.S. vice president, Sales Operations.

  • GM Recalls Chevrolet Bolts Over Fire Risk

    GM Recalls Chevrolet Bolts Over Fire Risk

    General Motors has issued a recall for nearly 51,000 Chevrolet Bolts over fire risks.

    The Chevy Bolt is one of the more popular electric vehicles, and has consistently received good reviews for its combination of features and price. Despite its success, however, GM is now recalling 50,932 of the vehicles due to fire risks.

    According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), “GM has issued a recall of 50,932 Chevrolet Bolt vehicles for the potential of an unattended fire in the high-voltage battery pack underneath the back seat’s bottom cushion. The affected vehicles’ cell packs have the potential to smoke and ignite internally, which could spread to the rest of the vehicle and cause a structure fire if parked inside a garage or near a house.”

    GM says the issue impacts 2017-2019 models and “may pose a risk of fire when charged to full, or very close to full, capacity.” In 2017 and 2018 models, GM recommends changing the charge settings “to use the Hill Top Reserve option,” and recommends changing the 2019 charge settings “to enable Target Charge Level at 90%.” Starting November 17, GM will be rolling out a software update that dealers can apply to limit charging to 90% while the company works on a permanent solution.

    In the meantime, until the charge settings are modified, GM and the NHTSA recommend vehicles be parked outside and away from dwellings.

  • Instagram’s Bolt App Launches – But Not in the US

    Despite the protests of an app with the same name, Instagram has officially launched Bolt – but not in the US. As of now, users can only download Bolt in New Zealand, Singapore, and South Africa. This shouldn’t surprise you, as Facebook commonly tests things in English-speaking countries that aren’t the US before taking them global.

    Bolt, which was leaked to a handful of users last week, is a one-tap photo messaging app that produces ephemeral messages.

    Here’s how it works. It’s pretty simple, really. You install the app and sign up with your phone number. The app is then populated by your contacts who also use the app. They appear as little chat heads at the bottom of the screen, and all you have to do is tap their face to send them a photo. Tapping a contact both takes a photo and sends it to them – one-tap. You can press and hold to send a video instead.

    If you happen to send something and regret it immediately, you have a few seconds to “shake to unsend.”

    And that’s about it.

    Instagram told The Southland Times that “Bolt was not built in response to what others were doing in the market, but rather to address problems with being able to quickly share images and videos with close friends and family.”

    As you know, Facebook just recently launched a Snapchat competitor called Slingshot. It’s not going so well.

    Bolt will likely hit other parts of the world once Instagram has worked out the kinks. When it does, it’s going to draw the ire of the CEO of Bolt, who today penned a post asking Facebook to please consider a new name for the app lest they have to “police [their] mark.”

    Image via TechCrunch

  • ‘Bolt’ CEO Kindly Asks Facebook to Not Take Their Name

    You may have heard that the Facebook-owned Instagram is possibly launching a Snapchat competitor – a one-tap photo messaging app likely called Bolt. I know there’s a lot of doubt built into that sentence, and that’s because the evidence for said launch has been sparse at best.

    Even so, outlets are reporting that Instagram Bolt is a real thing and likely to launch soon. Despite the obvious questions like Why? and Can Facebook actually create a standalone app that people want to use?, the company is now facing another issue. A legal one.

    Turns out, there’s already an app called Bolt – and it’s a messaging app. And in an elegant and incredibly level-headed blog post, Bolt CEO Andrew Benton kindly asks Instagram (Facebook) to reconsider its choice of name.

    “We know it’s a great name, because we chose it last year when we set out to build a better mobile voice and messaging experience,” he writes. “We’ve worked really hard since then building the Bolt brand and technology to where it is today. Please don’t destroy all that effort.”

    Benton then takes a “don’t make us sue you” stance, a we really don’t want to go through this, so please just don’t argument:

    It wasn’t too long ago that you were the little guy. I know you haven’t forgotten how hard it is to build something from nothing. And not just technology, but a brand and distinct identity for yourself. Imagine how it would have felt if Google or Apple or Facebook had launched a photo-sharing app called Instagram in 2011.

    We’ve been using the Bolt name in the mobile messaging market for a year, and technically we have to “police our mark”, otherwise we risk losing it.

    We don’t want a legal battle over this, and we think it’s not too late for you to consider an alternate name before launch. I have a whole list of names we brainstormed last May that I’d be happy to share.

    Please do the right thing, and choose an alternate name.

    Benton claims that Bolt users are already confused, and some have asked if the company is being acquired.

    According to TechCrunch, ‘Bolt’s trademark application is currently pending.

    Image via Bolt