There are a lot of elements that go into car design that aren’t exactly obvious, at least not initially. You can draw a lovely design for a car, sketch and render and model how the various doors and hatches will open, but until that car actually becomes something that interacts with reality and humans, you can’t be certain of everything. That’s what seems to have happened with the Chevy Bolt, which has a hatch design that incorporates what owners are calling “fangs of death” because of their ability to make heads bleed.
This isn’t just hearsay or something we picked up on some online forums – though, to be sure, there are plenty of people talking about how their Bolts’ hatch made their heads bleed online – we got an email from a reader named Jordan who survived a Bolt hatch attack himself:
“OK, the thing: I rented a pre-2022 refresh Chevy Bolt this weekend in San Jose. As I’m loading up in the rental car garage, I come back from doing something in the front seat and come back to load through the rear hatch, and BAM! I’m staggered.
I crouch in pain for a bit, and move on, groaning. Seems like I’m fine. A few seconds later, I feel something running down my face to my neck. Blood! Gushing! My wife gives me a handkerchief, which quickly gets red with blood. I finally find the bathroom and enough paper towels and time to stanch the flow.”
Yikes! What the hell happened here? Well, it appears that this happened:
See those? The two sharp, fang-like protuberances on the sides of that hatch? See how they look like, you know, fangs? How they’re sharp, pointed bits of sheet metal? That seems to be the issue here.
I mean, look at those things! They’re not exactly subtle. They’re sharp, hard, and right at head level. Here’s another angle, from the side:
In some ways, this is all a result of the Bolt’s confusing approach to taillight design; the turn indicators and brake lamps are in the bumper, while the basic taillight is above, and part of the hatch. It’s a confusing setup, and while Bolts aren’t the only ones to use it, as you can see here, it’s still not great:
In their attempt to incorporate the somewhat useless upper lights into the hatch itself, Chevy has designed a hatch with those fangs. So it’s not like the fangs are even there for a good reason because there really isn’t one. In fact, Chevy showed they could design a Bolt that doesn’t eat heads with the Bolt EUV, a different body design that features a fangless hatch:
Of course, that doesn’t help current Bolt owners who must still be wary of the twin Fangs of Damocles hanging over their heads. One person on a forum showed a way some owners have been dealing with this:
See that? They’ve cut reflective tape and put it on the black fangs, which at least will make them more eye-catching, especially at night. It’s not a bad idea, but it’s hardly a real solution.
Then again, it’s not like there is a real solution for a design issue like this. You can’t re-design the hatch without changing all of the other sheet metal that the hatch meshes with. Perhaps that triangle of metal could be replaced with a rubber panel or at least covered in rubber, which could help, but would introduce all sorts of aesthetic and fitment issues.
It’s just a bad design, really, and it’s one of those things that makes me baffled that no one seems to have noticed any issue in the car’s presumably extensive testing and focus-grouping. I mean, look at some of the comments on this one forum:
“I’ve bonked my head twice on the “head-knocker”, which is one time more than I like to admit.
I smacked it good. Saw stars, and all that. Drew blood, the second time. My wife thought I was dying. Even relatively minor scalp wounds bleed like crazy.”
Ouch. And then there’s this one:
“Only took one hit, smacked the crap out of myself.”
This one uses an alternate nickname:
“It took me less than a week of ownership to be assaulted by what someone on here called “the triangle of death”.”
I should note this other forum calls it a “head hatchet.” There’s more:
“Count me in too! I have hit my head 2 maybe 3 times. The last time being just about 3 days ago. I am 6′ 2″ tall and it gets me too.”
…and look, it’s not all tall people:
“5-8 officially, 5-7 by recent measurement, though it depends on shoes and such. And yes, I’ve made the acquaintance of that corner a couple of times. I now take a wide berth of the tailgate, back up and go around! I like that reflective tape hack, though – may try it.”
You get the idea. The point is – maybe literally – that GM designed a tailgate that seems to be a hazard to heads, and if you own a Bolt or are considering buying a Bolt, maybe take extra care under that hatch. It’s also a reminder that seemingly innocuous details of car design can have some pretty significant consequences, and you would think not drawing blood would be pretty high up on that list of consequences to avoid.
Be careful out there! There are fanged tailgates, hungry for head-blood out there!
The fangs haven’t gotten me yet but I saw videos and forum posts that warned me so I have been extra careful.
Autopian, could you please do some investigative reporting on why this whole put the turn signals down low fad ever became a thing? I’d love to know what problem was trying to be solved, and whether any consideration was given to other drivers being able to see them in traffic.
I’ld imagine it’s due to regulations, at least for cars that have the European market in mind somewhat. Down low in the bumper they don’t swing up with the tailgate and thus remain visible with the trunk open, ensuring compliance in every configuration.
Maybe give the point several coats of liquid (not spray) plast-dip.
Ha! This is too good! I cursed the designer up and down the first time this happened to me! Love our 2020 recall buyback bolt at the $14k price point. Wouldn’t dream of one at sticker price.
I’m short, so I always assumed that I was immune to such things. Guess the Bolt would have me feeling like a tall person then.
P. S. There’s some bug right now with comments making each character generate a full line up to that point in the phrase, and while it does slow down the browser, it looks very cool!
Two ’19 Bolts, one incident in five years. No blood. Sorry.