general problems of the 2018 Chevrolet Volt - part 1

The vehicle (2018 Chevrolet Volt) is experiencing an intermittent failure of the battery energy control module (becm). Diagnostic trouble code p1e5b was stored in the system. This is a well-documented defect in this vehicle population that frequently results in a sudden, unexpected loss of propulsion power while driving ("propulsion power reduced" mode), posing a significant safety risk in high-speed traffic. ?although a Chevrolet dealership confirmed the presence of the stored fault code, they refused to perform the repair under the extended warranty (special coverage n23243268) because the check engine light was not actively illuminated at the exact time of inspection. The manufacturer requires the vehicle to be operated until the fault recurs, exposing the driver and others to the danger of stalling on highways or at busy intersections. The failed component remains in the vehicle and is available for inspection.

The contact owns a 2018 Chevrolet Volt. The contact stated that the battery module became inoperable. While attempting to start the vehicle, the message "engine unavailable - service soon” was displayed. The contact was unable to use the vehicle. The contact stated that the tpms warning light was illuminated. The contact associated the failure with technical service bulletin: 18-na-261. The contact called the local dealer and was referred to the manufacturer for assistance. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and confirmed that the VIN was not under recall. The failure mileage was approximately 111,000.

The contact owns a 2018 Chevrolet Volt. The contact stated that while attempting to start the vehicle, the engine failed to turn over as intended. Additionally, the vehicle would not charge when connected to a charger. The check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer, where the becm was reset. The vehicle was repaired; however, the check engine warning light remained illuminated. In addition, the contact stated that the message "reduced power" was displayed on the instrument panel. The vehicle was taken back to the same local dealer where it was diagnosed, and determined that the becm needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired due to the cost. The contact related the failure to an unknown Chevrolet recall; however, the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 129,000.

The car can't decide if it wants to use the battery or the engine. It shows zero charge even though it is full. It lurches at stop lights as it tries to decide whether to use battery or engine. It says "propulsion power reduced". "not able to charge". "shift to park". Check engine light is on.

Dashboard displays “shift to park” message even when the shifter is in the park position for the past month. I am unable to turn off the vehicle completely until I shift to drive then back to park multiple times.

When shift lever is moved to park, the car often does not recognize it is in park and can't be shut down. It takes a lot of time of moving the selector in and out of park to finally get the car to recognize it is in park. During an occasion when the car would not go into park, the car ran for hours while the driver was at work. This seems to be a known issue (micro switch) with this model. This is available for inspection upon request. Safety is at risk because this condition leads to not being able to shut the car down, which leads to the potential for a dead battery and getting stranded. While I have not yet had my car's problem reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center, there is a lot of evidence in online forums of the prevalence of this problem. The vehicle/component has not yet been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others. There weren't any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure as long as we've owned the vehicle. We purchased this vehicle less than a week ago, on August 2, 2025. The issue presented itself once on our test drive and again intermittently in the six days we've owned the vehicle.

On [xxx], our 2018 chevy Volt experienced a critical becm (battery energy control module) failure while being driven by our [xxx] daughter. The failure caused the vehicle to enter limp mode, resulting in a severe loss of power and the inability to shift properly. Most alarmingly, the brakes failed to function correctly—despite being fully engaged, the car continued to move forward at a red light, placing our daughter in immediate danger. She was only able to safely stop the vehicle by maneuvering it off the road into a parking lot. This becm defect is a well-documented issue for chevy Volts from 2016 to 2018. However, Chevrolet has refused to cover our VIN under the existing special service bulletin, despite our vehicle using the same faulty part number as those included in the recall, and has provided no explanation for this exclusion. As a result, we are being forced to pay $2,100 out of pocket to replace a part that gm knows is defective. This is an unacceptable financial burden for a safety-critical issue. Gm should immediately issue a recall for all vehicles equipped with this faulty part number to ensure the safety of all drivers and prevent further undue costs. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

On June 27, 2025, while driving, the vehicle displayed a "propulsion power reduced" warning message and a check engine light illuminated. I immediately experienced a loss of power. I brought the vehicle to an authorized Chevrolet dealer the same day. On July 1, 2025, the dealer diagnosed the failure as a faulty battery energy control module (becm) and high-voltage system fault (code p1e00), requiring a full replacement of the high-voltage battery pack (part #24296900). The manufacturer (gm) was contacted, and the replacement battery was ordered on July 2, 2025. As of December 2025, the vehicle remains in dealer possession (over 5 months) with no repair completed. The manufacturer has stated the part is on indefinite backorder with no eta. The failure of this component renders the vehicle inoperable and presents a safety risk due to sudden loss of propulsion power while in motion. The manufacturer has confirmed the failure but is unable to provide a remedy within a reasonable timeframe.

When the vehicle is running, and the gear is moved to park, and I attempt to turn off the car by pressing the ignition button, an error shows on the dash display and the message is "shift to park". Even though the car is in park, the vehicle doesn't know it. I then cannot turn off my car.

On may 26, the car was running in electric mode and switched to gas because the power batteries were depleted. Shortly after switching to gas mode, lights came on the dash board saying engine not available get service immediately. I was on a highway at the time and fortunately had just enough left to get off and the car would not move any further. Turning the car on and off did not resolve the problem. It had to be towed to a chevy dealer. Even after an hour, the messages would come on when trying to start the car. The next day, the dealer called and said they could find no problems with the car and it works fine. This happened once before, but that time there was enough charge in the battery to get home and then later it would start without the message.

The contact owns a 2018 Chevrolet Volt. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked and shifted to park(p), the message "shift to park" was displayed on the instrument panel and the vehicle was inoperative. The contact stated that the vehicle was operative while in low power mode; however, the vehicle intermittently failed to charge in low power mode. No warning light was illuminated. However, the vehicle displayed the full battery icon on the display, but 1 ev mile. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the battery energy control module needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 11,000.

Issue summary: the chevy Volt has experienced recurring electrical problems, including the "shift to park" message, loss of power, and dead 12v battery. The vehicle had to be towed to the dealership three times due to these issues. One incident involved a power loss while driving at 65 mph, which caused a near-miss with a semi-truck, posing a significant safety risk. Warranty status: the additional warranty was purchased, but only one of the three incidents occurred while the vehicle was under warranty. Safety concerns: the repeated electrical failures, especially while driving at high speeds, raise serious safety concerns.

When putting my car in park and shutting it off the dash board tells me to shift to park, and car does not fully shut off.

Driving on gas on the highway, the adaptive cruise control suddenly disabled with a "reduced propulsion" message on the dash and a check engine light. The car started struggling in its propulsion. We found an autozone and scanned the codes, and multiple were returned. A google search pointed us to the "walk home" fuse, which indeed had been blown. Replacing that fuse and disconnecting/reconnecting the battery eliminated the errors. Less than a week later during highway driving (the next time the battery charge was used up and it switched to the ice) I got another check engine light, but this time without the "reduced propulsion" message. Scanning at autozone again revealed a p0404 message referencing the egr valve. Due to the limited availability of the part I have called into covert bastrop (bastrop, TX) and am waiting to hear back on their ability to fix the car.

Took my 2018 chey Volt to the dealer after trying to start the car and shifting into reverse a action required and shift to park massage appears. Towed the car to the chevy dealership of on 11-19-2024 and on 12-17-2024 after the dealership has been talking with gm they tell me the car needs a new battery pack and there are none to be found. Car is still under gm warranty! service adviser recommends calling gm to buy back or get a lemon law attorney.

The contact owns a 2018 Chevrolet bolt. The contact stated while driving at a moderate speed, the check engine warning light illuminated, and the “propulsion power” message was displayed. The contact pulled over and upon an attempting to restart the vehicle, the vehicle failed to restart. Due to the failure, the vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it was discovered that the becm (battery engine control module) was defective. The mechanic discovered that the vehicle was under warranty and contacted that the local dealer for assistance. The mechanic drove the vehicle to the dealer who acknowledged the failure; however, the dealer stated that the failure was not covered under warranty. The manufacturer was also notified of the failure and the contact was provided a case number. The vehicle was not repaired and remained in the possession of the dealer. The failure mileage was approximately 100,000.

On [xxx], while driving on [xxx] in virginia, the check engine light came on in my chevy Volt. A message on dash said that there was reduced propulsion, and the gas engine quit running. The car switched to battery power, which would not have lasted long enough to get us home. At this point, we were stranded on a very busy highway which seemed quite dangerous. Using battery power, we were able to get off the highway. We then made arrangements to have the car towed, approximately 150 miles to a car dealer/repair business in frederick MD. The vehicle was checked out by the car dealer who identified the egr valve as the problem. However, they did not know when the part would be available , and still, 4 weeks later, do not have any date for availability of the broken part. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

The issue started with a forward push while lowering my speed while coming to a stop. It then progressed to a trembling engine. Then it progressed to the car struggling to effectively switch from electric to gas and back. It then would only be usable on electric range and the engine would not start and would be greyed out. Now, it only works on engine mode, it uses fuel like a pick up truck, it loses power while driving due to trying to switch to electric mode and back, and it struggles to accelerate. It will do it while idle as well as while driving 45mph and up. It barely has any propulsion power and I have to turn my hazards on any time I am going to accelerate. If I brake hard the engine will shake violently and then shut off. I then have to switch gears from drive to park or neutral to park to drive to reengage the engine. Recently it has turned on all the accessories but the ev and the gas is greyed out and there is zero propulsion power. I replaced the 12v battery thinking it might have been dying and it still has the same issue. I read about the class action lawsuit for the bcem and have made an appointment the dealership but when I told them what was wrong with it the said we need to wait for the diagnostics.

Car has shift to park error where the shifter is in park but the car not does not recognize and refuses to shut off. Chevrolet has issued multiple service bulletins in regards to fix but dealership is not adhering to bulletin. Chevrolet then provides no support to the consumer in regards to correcting and places warranty information within service bulletin which is not standard procedure as told by multiple reps.

While driving our 2018 chevy Volt, dashboard warning message “propulsion power reduced” displayed. Vehicle performance was not otherwise affected. Subsequent diagnosis from our chevy dealer was, among other things, a faulty exhaust gas recirculation (egr) valve. We were informed that our vehicle was “no longer safe to drive in this condition” and the vehicle has been sitting on the dealer’s lot awaiting a replacement part for 2 months and counting, with no expectation of near-term resolution of our problem. We are aware that this is a widespread problem on 2017-18 Volt models, with many dissatisfied owners.

Egr valve clogged and failed on a long trip, bricked the car and had to tow many miles back to home shop. Now have been waiting 9 months and still no idea when the part will be available from Chevrolet. My shop and I have claims to Chevrolet for the part for service but still nothing and is getting so we are inconvenienced in travel.

On April 26, 2024 while driving with my son in in on rt. 80/90 to my niece's wedding in PA, a reduced power warning sounded on the driver's console. Was able to stop and get gas at the eastbound travel plaza near mile marker 126. Getting back on the road and accelerating toward 70 mph, suddenly lost all drive power. The fuel gauge side of the console was lit in yellow and said something like "no fuel detected. " pulled over to the shoulder and found the engine would start, run, and then die. An in state police officer was kind enough to offer us an escort to the next exit near mile marker 144. Noticed that the engine would remain running for longer periods and finally stayed on continuously. While being escorted, was able to run the speed up to 55 mph and made it safely to the interstate exit. During this time my son was checking online and found that the problem might be due a blown fuse. At the 144 exit we found a pilot station that carried fuse sets. One of the sets had the fuse we needed. We bought two sets. We replaced the fuse--it had blown--and the car ran well again. This fuse is called "no walk home. " we were able to continue on at 70 mph until stopping at a friends home in western PA for a few hours rest. While at our friend's home we partially charged the Volt's battery giving us about 20 miles of electric range. While in electric mode we stopped for gas. We drove through the mountains without incident then stopped for gas again in central PA at the cumberland valley service plaza. Filled the tank and while accelerating from the plaza again lost power and had to pull over. Replacing the fuse solved the problem once more. It appeared that turning off the engine while in gas mode and then turning the engine back on leads to the fuse blowing. That Sunday on the return trip to IL, I never turned the car off when refueling. This got me back home without incident.

Chevy Volts from 2016 - 2019 all have a manufacturing defect which can prevent the driver from powering - the error message is "shift to park". Gm released a Volt service bulletin in may 2021 but offered no assistance to replace the defective part. On 2/24/24 I was driving home on hwy 17 headed nb from santa cruz in fair weather in the afternoon. This highway can be dangerous with limited shoulders and poor visibility, making it an unsafe place to pull over. While traveling at about 55 mph, the car made an alert sound and illuminated the check engine light and presented a message "shift to park". I was running out of room on the shoulder to pull off safely so I had to make the quick decision to pull off to the left-hand shoulder. I followed the instructions on the display which said to shift into park, followed by shifting back into drive. During this time I had my foot on the brake, but after removing my foot from the break, the vehicle began to roll towards traffic, so I put my foot back on the break. I tried powering the car off/on multiple times and tried to get the car to go back into drive but was unsuccessful. Eventually, I put the car back into park, called a tow truck driver, and waited for over an hour to have my car safely towed off hwy 17. Prior to this, I had not experienced any of these or similar symptoms. An obd code scan was done (screenshot attached). Once at the chevy dealership, they confirmed that the car could, at that time, shift into park and were not able to reproduce the "shift into park" issue. However, they reported that the car was revving high and the transmission would not shift into the proper gear ratio. The dealership was not able to fully diagnose the problem and instead suggested to replace the entire transmission as assembly and then continue investigating. We reached out to the manufacturer, Chevrolet/gm, about the issue(s) and were ed case # 9-12088007445 while they work with the dealership to investigate further.

My 2018 chevy Volt has experienced the gm knows becm issue. There are several Volt owners that have experienced this issue. I would like to bring this to the attention for gm to post a recall/mandatory service repair as my car stopped working, would not start, was displaying false information on the electrical module, etc. Issue: 1. Car would not start 2. Battery stated fully charged with solid green light but display showed only 1 electric mile available 3. Tried to shift car to reverse press gas nothing happened 4. Tried to shift car to drive press gas nothing happened. 5. Car engine light is on 6. Utter confusion as stress as I’m stranded with no way to get my car working 7. Chevy dealership has had my car for one week now with the only update of ordered becm module. No eta on when this will be fixed 8. No indication of what caused the issue.

After recent repair of hybrid transmission, experienced a loss of power, mil, and several trouble codes related to the battery control module (becm). This affects safety as the loss of propulsion unexpectedly causes deviations in speed from typical traffic flow. The problem was confirmed by onstar and a manufacturer representative was advised with a dealer appointment scheduled when they next open. There were no lamps or other symptoms prior to this mil and loss of power. Restarts after shut down have not been attempted until able to take the vehicle to the dealership.

Lost propulsion power went from doing 75mph to 35mph on the fast lane with no warning vehicles swerving to avoid hitting me. . Very scary and dangerous 3rd time this happens I now try to avoid fast traffic. . Please look into this someone going to get hurt if no action taken. .

My becm failed pulling in to my grandpas house. I was able to park the car, but unable to start it afterwords. Prior to failure, the engine would switch between electric, then back to gas, then back to electric this is a very common issue on these vehicles. I am fortunate this did not occur on the highway, as I had just exited I 94.

"propulsion power reduced" message along with check engine light, loss of propulsion power from battery, loss of ability to charge battery. Obd2 scanner reveals p1e00, and 12 u26xx fault codes relating to battery energy control module failure.

After getting some repeated "propulsion power is reduced" display warnings, my 2018 Chevrolet Volt literally died without warning while I was driving it on new year's eve and could not be restarted.

In June of 2023 the car experienced propulsion power reduction. The car was at the dealer awaiting repair for 3 weeks. On Dec. 14,2023 the same thing happened again. The car was also unable to accelerate once mobile. The car has about 90k miles on it.

Vehicle is 2018 Chevrolet Volt with approx 91000 miles, purchased new in California with both pzev and Voltec warranties in place. Vehicle produced mil in December, in colorado, with exterior temperatures ~30 degrees, after attempting to remote start. The resulting onstar codes p1aee, p1aef, and p0ac4 indicating "the electric propulsion system is not performing as expected. Please service immediately. " drove the vehicle to the nearest dealership assuming there could be an unexpected loss of power. Identified pic6285b as trouble shooting aid for the dealership. The dealership stated they contacted their gm tac representative and the service foreman and tac agreed the vehicle needed a transmission flush. No indication that the work would be covered by the bulletin found. Customer contacted Chevrolet ev advisor and confirmed vehicle did not qualify for any warranty as the diagnostics indicated a category 4 issue associated with the bulletin but the repairs required were a transmission flush. This was contrary to the published bulletin, other customer reports, as well as the specific dtcs expected. Customer believes diagnostics would be covered by bulletin or warranty given a repair was identified based on the trouble codes that were pulled. Dealership and gm did not agree with customers belief. Customer forced to pay in order to recover vehicle after 1 week.

The vehicle failed to restart after being parked in a garage all day while at work. On board diagnostics returned multiple codes concerning the ev battery and vehicle integrated control module. Specific descriptions include: the lithium-ion battery is not performing as expected. An issue has been detected in the onboard charging system which manages your vehicles battery pack charge level; vehicle network communication code. The network provides a communications link between systems inside the vehicle and when the network is disrupted a code can be set. If vehicle functionality is impacted please seek service soon. Dealership indicates the battery module needs replacing and part is back-ordered with unknown delivery time. There had been no warning or other diagnostic codes visible prior to the failure.

My 2018 cheverolet Volt stopped charging via the phev port, the check engine light came on, and "propulsion power is reduced" read on the driver display. Car acceleration began to lag and I called the dealership service department immediately. I took it to the service dept and they said the repair is under warranty but the part is back-ordered with no eta on when I will get my car back, but I should keep it there to prevent from getting stranded. They will provide no loaner car. It is currently at the dealership and I have no transportation. This appears to be a becm issue.

The battery energy control module needs to be replaced (becm). The car is available to be inspected at key Chevrolet in south burlington, vt. The car was parked when it failed. The car wouldn't start (lights on the dashboard came on) and it wouldn't turn off. I got a "shift to park" error message, regardless of which gear I was in. The car wouldn't go into drive to go forward with either the drive battery or the gas generator. I had the car was towed to the dealership. It was inspected and diagnosed by them. When they did the diagnosis, they said the becm had failed and there were cells in the drive battery that needed to be replaced. The becm failure is a common problem with Chevrolet Volts and is covered by the Voltec warranty. There were no warning lights or other warnings (e. G. , reduced propulsion) whatsoever. The car had shut off like normal but would not start or turn completely off. I was fortunate to have had the becm fail while the car was parked. My understanding is that becms can fail while the car is moving and the power will stop and you won't have any control.

Car died while driving down road. Has engine codes to service high Voltage system although it showed a full battery it only had 1 mile range and the gas motor wouldn't run.