60 problems related to electrical system have been reported for the 2012 Chevrolet Volt. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2012 Chevrolet Volt based on all problems reported for the 2012 Volt.
The main driver display does not come on usually when it is cold outside. This happens mostly in the winter, but has been happening more when temps are in the 70's. Never in the summer. There is no speed, fuel or mileage display.
Lcd screen that shows speed and fuel level and information shorted out while driving.
Service airbag warning appeared. All other functions checked ok, no codes. One day later the multifunction screen display is blank and all buttons but the climate control are non functioning. Only capacitive touch buttons that work are front dehumidifier, and fan control buttons (including auto). Air conditioning is stuck on an no other buttons function. May be related to prior submission: NHTSA id number: 10872363.
Instrument panel went totally black while driving, engine still runs and vehicle was drivable. Can not check the speed, other than follow the speed of the other vehicle.
I have had various electrical issues-November of 2012. First back up camera went blank, July 2014 check engine light high Voltage; November 14 electrical issue; June 2015 unintentional running light on; July 2015 same issue; August 2015 check engine/aribag light on dealer checked and reset codes . August 2016 check airbag light on. Went in several times steve moore ordered part that would be $1,200 to fix. Light went off. When check airbag came back on took the car to a different dealer. City Chevrolet said I needed a new 12 Volt battery replaced battery within 48 hours of being at the dealer issue came back. Now the lcd screen is blank. The problems seems to be electrical in nature.
The lcd screen showing speed, charge level, amount of fuel goes dark as I drive down the road. It comes back on after restart but shuts back down. Very dangerous, don't know how fast I'm driving or fuel level.
The screen on the drivers dash for the instrument panel , speed, gas volume and electric charge,has gone black or blank and stays black in park or in driving mode. The result of the inspection from a chevy technician found the cluster is inop. It needs to be replaced and reprogramed for $923. 52 as quoted. This is an on going problem with other Volt owners and a complaint : NHTSA id number 10872363 has been filed.
The contact owns a 2012 Chevrolet Volt. While driving 70 mph, the vehicle stalled without warning and completely lost power. The vehicle was towed. In addition, the check engine indicator illuminated without warning. The vehicle was diagnosed, but the dealer could not duplicate the failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 48,014.
Without warning the illuminated instrument panel goes black. Usually it happens during start up after the car has set for a few hours. The problem resolves itself after driving for several miles,or, if the car is shut off and restarted. Numerous complaints about the issue are stated in the chevy Volt forum online. The problem appears to be occurring in first generation Volts.
The display that shows gas gauge, mph, etc. Has gone blank. It is a hazard. There needs to be a recall on this.
The Volt was purchased in November of 2012: in / around June of 2013 a warning light came on and it was taken into the local dealer (where it was purchased) it was found to have a leaking coolant system for the primary electric battery (lithium ion battery). They could not find the leak so they refiled the system and included a fluorescent dye and returned it to me (the amount of coolant was ~7 liters). 12 months later (plus or minus a few weeks) in 2014, the same light came on, it was again serviced (they claimed to have fixed the leak) and it was returned to me (~7 liters coolant). 12 months later (plus or minus a few weeks) in 2015 again the light came on, this time a substantial part of the coolant system was replaced around the lithium ion batteries (claimed to have found a few leaky connections). The vehicle was again returned to me (~all knew coolant). 12 months later (plus or minus a few weeks) in now 2016 the same light has come on yet again and it will be returned to the dealer for repair yet again. Leading to the warning light the car's fan runs longer and longer while charging (its trying to cool during charging) and the ac stops working / blowing cold. The light usually come on shortly after starting. Attempts are currently being made to contact a Chevrolet Volt / electric car advisor to work with the Chevrolet zone manager on fixing / repair this vehicle. This is not only an obvious manufacturing defect, which the dealer clearly can not repair. But also, a major safety concern, if they warning light failed and the battery of this car overheated it would likely cause an intense fire (its a large lithium ion battery). Furthermore, they coolant being released by this vehicle is a substance monitored by the epa. This is again a genuine manufacturing safety defect and needs to be resolved or the vehicle declared a lemon.
The car shut off completely while I was driving 65 mph on the freeway and had to be towed into the dealer for repair. It was determined by the dealer that an underhood fuse shorted out and burned into the vehicle battery charging system causing the car to shut down while driving. A major safety hazard as this could have caused an fire.
The vehicle continuously stalls out at any speed the only way to get power back is by putting the car in low gear and then back into drive.
When the vehicle would come to a stop, the parking brake would engage by itself. The only way to disengage it was to turn the vehicle off and on again. The second time I did this, the vehicle failed to shift out of park, and the vehicle was disabled in the middle of a roadway. The cause was a faulty charging port sending out a false proximity signal to the car's computer, making it think it was charging.
The vehicle information center (drivers display) goes out. Speed, warnings, fuel level, turn signal indication are not available and potential safety problem.
The florida department of health (doh), bureau of epidemiology received a report of carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning associated with a 2012 Chevrolet Volt. As a part of routine surveillance for reportable conditions, doh followed up on this report to investigate. On March 2, 2015, three people went to an emergency department (ed) for CO poisoning. A 40 year old male parked his 2012 Chevrolet Volt in the garage to charge (plugged into the outlet) and accidentally left the car running overnight. In the morning, he noticed the car was running and had switched to gasoline use. He and his two children complained of headache, weakness, chest pain, palpitation, and dizziness. Carboxyhemoglobin (cohb) levels were >15% for all three individuals. On March 12, 2015, several news media outlets reported that gm is recalling all 2011-2013 Chevrolet Volts (about 64,000) to install updates to prevent CO poisoning when the driver forgets to shut off the vehicle.
2012 chevy Volt airbag passenger side. Light car has been tampered with by the dealerships. Have been dealing with this since I bought the car. Refusal to fix. Issue allows for third party access to my vehicle. Using sub language menus. For spanish and french. This is a major problem and no one is doing anything about it. This calls for a major investigation into chevy dealerships, fraud. My car had this right after my first in warranty service at roseville chevy dealership. Please help. My vehicle is being illiegaly monitored . And exstorted for money to fix a problem that is related to tailight switching bulbs and antilockout issues with the car.
The contact owns a 2012 Chevrolet Volt hybrid. The contact stated the engine started independently without warning. The contact was alerted of the problem and found that the garage had become filled with exhaust. The vehicle was towed to the dealer. The vehicle had not been diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was 14,750.
The contact owns a 2012 Chevrolet Volt. The contact stated that while driving approximately 30 mph, the check engine and service high Volt system warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the battery needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure and current mileage was 109,000.
We have been having multiple onging issues with the high Voltage charging system in my Volt. It has been in 7 times for this issue since 10/1/13. When I call chevy they claim they are unaware of any issues with my car as the problem has not been paid under a warranty claim. Yet the dealer has never charged me as they claim that chevy is paying for the repairs as part of an ongoing warranty extension. What is happening is this allows chevy to claim that they have zero knowledge of charging system issues and creates no paperwork trail to follow. My neighbor who also owns a Volt is going through the same problems with the same paperwork issue. I think chevy is covering up the issue of problems with the high Voltage charging system by doing this. For example 10/1/13 is listed as miscellaneous ses lamp on, body electrical 10/22/13 ses lamp on 9/2/14 I/p warning lamp 9/8/14 body electrical 2/21/15 is listed as a drivability problem. Car was dead high Voltage charging system issue 5/18/15 ses lamp on 7/22/15 ses lamp on 8/19/15 body electrical each one was paid for under warranty claims by chevy/the dealer yet they claim to have zero record of most of these service visits. I have spoken with three people from chevy who say these excessive problems with my high Voltage charging system is not a problem as they see it.
The charging cord melted the electrical outlet in my garage while charging the car with the 110 Volt charging kit that was sold with the car. The incident nearly started a house fire if we had not discovered the problem - a melted electrical outlet was smoldering and there was the smell of burning plastic/electrical components when we entered the garage. I have contacted the dealer (woodward motors in andover, MA), and general motors. The dealer said they could not do anything and referred me to general motors. General motors said they could not do anything unless I produced the license of the electrician who wired my house that was built in 1982 (I bought the house in 2007 and have no idea who built or wired my house). I understand that gm knows this is a problem and has replaced some of the 110 Volt charging cords shipped with the Volt. Not clear how to resolve this issue - I have an electric car that I now have to fuel with gasoline. . .
Driving in mountains and hit rumble strip on highway and electric power steering went out. After stopping, power steering returned to normal. Fortunately, I was on a straight stretch of road and could control the car. Took it to dealer and they could find no reason for the failure. The problem has not recurred in the six months since.
Owned car for 8 months. Using 110v outlet to charge electric battery. Charges fine every night. Unplugged charger today. Charging connector is black, semi melted. Outlet is black and charred. Appear to be days away from a fire. I live in a new home (less than a year old) valued at over 500k. Huge electric car fan, but both wife and I are now concerned about fire in house with young kids.
Driver had returned home, stopped car, depressed gear shifter button to put gear in park, and was electrocuted from the point of gear shifter. The vehicle was already slated to be "repurchased" by gm due to other ongoing mechanical malfunction issues. The vehicle was returned to the driver for use while the new vehicle was being built by gm for delivery to the driver. When the vehicle was at the dealership for additional malfunctioning repairs, the last time before incident (including a malfunction with the main battery component the dealer determined) the dealer's mechanic reported finding a "stiffness" or malfunction with the gear shifter. The dealer ordered and replaced a part to the gear shifter. The driver drove the vehicle without incident for about three weeks before the electrocution occurred. Gm was informed of the incident immediately afterwards. Gm instructed driver to call 911 to have "first responders" disconnect the power in vehicle. Fire dept refused to cut power cables in vehicle, for lack of knowledge of the systems, and fear of their safety, since the driver was no longer in danger inside of vehicle. Luckily, when incident occurred, driver was able to quickly remove their point of contact from gear shifter before the hand and arm muscles had involuntarily contracted in place permanently closing the contact and resulting in further electrocution. Driver sustained significant electrical shock injury to hand/arm including pain, shock, soreness, numbness, and tingling sensation. Since incident, gm is only willing to transfer driver to their product allocation department which acts in a legal capacity and accepts claim reports for further investigation. Driver's immediate concern is not to sue gm but to insure all reasonable efforts are made to inform other Volt dealers of incident and hopefully prevent other drivers from being electrocuted.
Was driving Volt at low speed in traffic. Attempted to switch modes (normal to sport). This is accomplished by pressing a button on the dashboard twice in quick succession. The button is located right next to the start/stop button. I accidentally pressed the start/stop button twice in quick succession, which shuts the car off. The car shut off and I was unable to restart it until I came to a full stop, shifted the car to park, and pressed the brake. The resulted in a small traffic backup behind me. However, this the design and placement of these buttons is very poor. I believe the start/stop button has been designed to shutoff the car relatively easily in light of the recent and public "sudden acceleration" problems by other manufacturers. However, accidentally switching off the car is also an undesirable consequence. Had this event happened at higher speeds (on the highway) it could be quite dangerous.