Jay Leno says, ‘the electric car is here to stay,’ despite Chevy Bolt recalls

Jay Leno gave CNBC’s “The News with Shepard Smith” an optimistic outlook when it comes to the future of electric cars, despite the latest warning from General Motors to owners of some Chevy Bolts, advising them not to park within 50 feet of other cars.

“The last days of old technology are always better than the first days of new technology, but we’re beyond the first days of new technology,” said Leno, the host of CNBC’s “Jay Leno’s Garage.” “I mean, the electric car is here to stay. I predict a child born today will probably drive in a gasoline powered car about as often as you would drive in a car with a stick shift now.”

GM’s latest warning follows the Detroit automaker recalling more than 140,000 of the EVs produced since 2016 due to the risk of batteries spontaneously catching fire from “two rare manufacturing defects.”

Leno told host Shepard Smith that, in comparison, electric car fires are less severe than fires in gas-powered cars. 

“I mean the advantage, if there is one, to an EV fire is, it doesn’t blow up,” Leno explained. “You’re in it, you smell something, there’s smoke, and then it doesn’t go up in a ball the way a gasoline car would. That’s not to say it’s not dangerous and, hopefully, they’ll fix the problem.”

“Jay Leno’s Garage” season 6 premieres Wednesday, September 22 at 10 pm ET/PT on CNBC.