GMC Sierra EV & Chevrolet Silverado EV Problems: Your California Lemon Law Rights

On July 30, 2026, General Motors filed two separate safety recalls with NHTSA on the same day, and both landed on its electric trucks. One covers steel wheels that can crack. The other covers a high-voltage battery defect with a fire risk. If you own a GMC Sierra EV or a Chevrolet Silverado EV, both are worth a VIN check — and neither is the reason most owners of these trucks end up with a lemon law claim.

Recall 26V496000 — steel wheels that can crack

The larger of the two campaigns covers 952 trucks: 439 model-year 2026 Sierra EVs and 513 Silverado EVs. A process at supplier Topy America that forms the vent holes in the steel wheel disc may not have been properly adjusted, and fatigue testing turned up hairline cracks at the outer ring of those vent holes. A crack can grow over time and eventually cause disc separation — the wheel coming apart — which means reduced steering control and a real crash risk. GM estimates roughly 74 percent of the recalled trucks genuinely have the defective wheels, which is an unusually high hit rate for a recall.

Which wheels are covered differs by truck, and this catches people out. On the Silverado EV, both the steel road wheels (RPO RT3) and the steel spare (RPO SG8) are covered. On the Sierra EV, only the steel spare is covered — a Sierra EV ordered without a spare is not affected at all. Dealers inspect and replace only wheels traced to the supplier's suspect lots, free of charge. Owner letters were expected to begin mailing September 14, 2026. Because the same wheels were also sold over the counter, GM instructed dealers to trace parts sales back to October 21, 2025 and notify those buyers separately — so you can be affected by this recall without your VIN being on the list.

Recall 26V494000 — a ten-truck battery fire risk

The second campaign sounds far more serious and, in isolation, is: a sense line assembly inside the high-voltage battery may not have been fully secured, and a loose internal component can move, damage the surrounding modules, and increase the risk of a battery fire. The remedy is a complete high-voltage battery pack replacement, about 9.5 hours of labor. But the population is ten vehicles nationwide — four Silverado EVs, one Sierra EV, and five Cadillac Escalade IQ and IQL SUVs, all built in a two-week window in May 2026. GM found it internally, reported no field incidents, and issued no do-not-drive advisory. Check your VIN; then set it aside.

The problems that actually make these trucks lemons

Recalls are the defects a manufacturer has already admitted and agreed to fix. Lemon law claims come from the defects it cannot fix. On GM's Ultium-platform electric trucks, the complaints that most often drive claims are charging failures — refusing a DC fast charge, sessions that throttle or drop out, home charging that stops working, or a charge port door that will not release; loss of drive power and reduced-propulsion warnings that appear without notice; high-voltage battery and thermal-management faults, including "service high voltage charging system" messages; and a 12-volt battery that goes flat and leaves a fully charged truck completely dead.

Then there is software. These trucks run a heavily integrated Google-based infotainment system that controls climate, drive modes, charging schedules, and the camera views, so a screen that reboots, freezes, or goes black is not a minor annoyance — it can take out functions you need to drive the truck safely. Owners also report failed or partial over-the-air updates, Super Cruise faults, trailering and tow-mode errors, MultiPro or MultiFlex tailgate and midgate problems, air suspension and ride-height faults, and range that falls well short of the rating under load. For a truck bought to tow or haul, a range or trailering defect goes to the heart of what the vehicle is for.

When it becomes a claim

Under California's Song-Beverly Act, a vehicle qualifies when a substantial defect covered by the warranty cannot be repaired after a reasonable number of attempts. The commonly discussed presumption is four or more attempts at the same defect within the first 18 months or 18,000 miles, and fewer — typically two — where the defect could cause death or serious bodily injury. Sudden loss of drive power on a highway is squarely in that second category.

The separate and often faster route is time. If the truck has been out of service for repair of warranty defects for 30 or more cumulative days, that alone can support a buyback. The days need not be consecutive, and days spent waiting on a backordered part count in full. Electric truck components — battery packs, drive units, charge modules, and now steel wheels traced to specific supplier lots — are exactly the kind of parts that sit on backorder. Many EV owners reach 30 days long before they reach four repair attempts, and never realize it because nobody was counting.

Work trucks and fleet registration

These are trucks, so many are registered to a business. California's Lemon Law still covers business-registered vehicles if the business has no more than five vehicles registered in California and the vehicle's curb weight is under 10,000 pounds. That weight test uses curb weight, not GVWR — a distinction that matters a great deal on heavy electric trucks, where the battery pack pushes curb weight far above what an equivalent gas truck would carry. It is worth checking your specific configuration rather than assuming either way. If the truck is used for personal, family, or household purposes, there is no weight cap at all.

What to do now

• Run your 17-digit VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls for both campaigns — and if you bought a steel wheel over the counter after October 21, 2025, contact the selling dealer separately.
• Get a repair order for every visit, including ones where the dealer cannot reproduce the fault.
• Insist the repair order records your symptom, not just the fix attempted. "Customer states truck entered reduced propulsion on I-5 at 65 mph" is evidence; "reprogrammed module" is not.
• Log every day the truck is unavailable to you, including days waiting on parts. Keep loaner and rental paperwork.
• Screenshot charging errors and dash warnings in the moment — intermittent EV faults frequently clear before a technician sees them.
• If you tow, document range and capability shortfalls with specifics: load, distance, conditions, and what the truck actually did.

A wheel inspection is a clean recall and usually the end of the story. A truck that will not reliably charge, drops into reduced power, or has spent a month at the dealership is a different matter. If that is your Sierra EV or Silverado EV, having the repair orders reviewed costs nothing — on a successful claim the manufacturer pays the attorney fees.