Battery Propulsion System Problems of Chevrolet Volt

While driving, a warning chime sounded and a message appeared saying "propulsion power reduced. " the check engine light also appeared. The car lost power, would accelerate only very slowly, and eventually died along a busy road. After a period, I was able to restart car and drive very slowly to dealer. I was told that the problem was a faulty egr valve, which was blowing a fuse and would do so again. Dealer was unable to find a replacement valve anywhere in the nation. Gm apparently is not manufacturing replacements for this components, and from reports found onliine, plenty of others have had the same problem. The temporary fix is to disconnect the egr valve, which results in increased vehicle emissions. I will be unable to pass my next emissions test next year. The safety issue is that the vehicle can quit running without warning in any situation.

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We were driving in traffic. The battery had plenty of charge. Suddenly, there was a warning notice about propulsion power problem and the car converted to gasoline mode. We continued to destination and parked. When we went to start the car, it would not start at all. Had car towed to our local Chevrolet dealership (all service done there) and that is where it is still sitting. The part needed (battery) is on back order. This occurred on July 21, 2023. Today is March 13, 2024! as of today. . . . Approaching 250 days sitting in the dealership open lot,.

2012 Chevrolet Volt, the vehicle has been losing power for propulsion on the highway/roads at all speeds. Shutting off. Electric charge is supposed to switch to the gasoline motor when it is low, but it does not, and vice versa. It shows hybrid battery management has a loss of propulsion with a message of low propulsion power. The original problem was not fixed with a recall a few years back because the same problem is showing up. Now, chevy does not have this VIN being recalled. But worse, the conditions in the software are causing a powertrain failure while driving. Please help. I am pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

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Ntsb should require a recall of certain Chevrolet Volts. As an owner I received a letter from Chevrolet stating that my Volt �may have a condition where it could gradually lose the ability to maintain Voltage. If battery concerns are not addressed, over time the vehicle could enter a reduced propulsion mode while driving, or lose propulsion, or it may not start. � losing propulsion while driving is a serious safety issue, and warrants a recall. Gary bailey.

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Temperature sensors responsible for monitoring the battery pack fail unexpectedly. Sometimes displaying a "battery too cold plug into warm" message or a check engine light. Personally, this is the second time I've had a sensor fail. The entire module containing the failed sensor must be replaced. The battery is made up of three different sections called modules. When a sensor fails, the car will simply refuse to start despite being within a normal operating temperature range. I've had the message display when in motion. This time however, the message was accompanied by a check engine light, and a burning odor that resembles burning plastic while the engine is running. I have yet to experience reduced propulsion of any kind while driving.

Prior to starting my 1,100 mi trip with my 2017 Volt premier, I inflated the tires, checked fluids, & charged the car. The monthly diagnostic report I received the day before my departure indicated no problems with the car, which had approx 40,500 mi. I was driving on interstates & highways using hold (gas) mode, occasionally mountain mode. Approximately 275 mi. Into the trip I received power propulsion reduced alert. After an additional 50-75 mi I received an action required: engine overheating reduce speed alert. I exited the interstate and proceeded to the nearest dealership to determine if it was safe to continue on my trip. I was told that the propulsion alert was not an immediate concern & that the overheating was likely not related. I also received a gm diagnostic e-mail stating there was an emissions problem that should be serviced within 7 days, but did not become aware of this e-mail until a day later. Approx 200 mi later, I was on a remote, unlighted highway when I received an engine unavailable alert and lost power. My car quickly decelerated, but I was able to get to a narrow shoulder. I tired to put the car in park, apply emergency brakes, and shut the car down but it was difficult to tell if these features were working. I put the hazard lights on and waited for a chp officer due to lack of cell service & highway safety concerns at night. After 3 hours, all systems failed, including lights. Only manual locks worked. After two 30 mi tows to get to a dealership with a Volt tech, it was determined that a bad egr valve was causing a fuse to blow,. The valve was ordered (tech remarked that the part is "popular") & installed. The issue seems to be fixed. But, it is unclear if this is a design flaw, manufacturing flaw, or a one time occurrence.

Propulsion power is reduced while driving. Power is lost and battery cells are drained chevy dealership claims they can not find error or address problem. After photo showing error on dashboard. ## #vpic# 1 - check digit (9th position) does not calculate properly #vpic#.

As I was driving I received a message on the driver info center to shift in park and I lost acceleration while driving. Pulled off to the shoulder contacted onstar to get vehicle towed to nearby dealer. Was pushed by two police officers to get off the side of the road on the two lane highway. Once towed to dealership the tow driver said I have drive and reverse capability again which I didn't have while put on tower. As I was stopped on side of road my driver info center stated propulsion power is reduced so I couldn't drive or reverse. Check engine was on that night and that morning. At the dealership, no codes could be read because check engine light went away.

The issue is caused by a previous software update to the vehicle interface control module (vicm) which was installed to improve the car, but which may have disabled the cell balancing function, causing the Volt to enter a low-voltage condition. This puts the affected Volts into a situation where it would enter what is called a low-power "limp-home" mode, before shutting down completely cause the Volt to shut down in traffic. Dealer states that needs to replace battery which it cost about 6000. Chevrolet is not responding for the defective problem that caused the recall. Low-voltage battery cell issue or propulsion reduce.

Back in June 2020 took my 2013 chevy Volt to ferman Chevrolet for service high Voltage system fault, drive battery not fully charging, reduced propulsion fault and burnt odor from under hood. The dealer fix was preform gm service bulleting. Next week still not fully charging. Was told to drive car so the battery can learn my driving habits. Still not charging. On 16 oct same problem and would not drive. Now the battery 8 year warranty has ran out. New fix is $5300 battery rebuild and I say they never fixed the original problem. Car has 85 thousand miles and will not drive.

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Tl the contact owns a 2012 Chevrolet Volt. The contact stated that while driving at 60 mph, the reduced propulsion error message was displayed on the instrument panel. The engine revved up and the vehicle stalled without warning. The contact pulled over and restarted the vehicle however, the vehicle failed to accelerate. The vehicle was towed to beaty Chevrolet (9615 parkside dr, knoxville, TN 37922) where he was informed that the Voltage on the battery was low and needed to be replaced. The contact spoke to serra Chevrolet Cadillac Buick GMC kia (189 stonebridge blvd, jackson, TN 38305) where the dealer discussed trading in the vehicle, but offered no assistance for the repair. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 162,000.

For the propulsion many times while driving it occasionally slows down or speeds up kind of like a bucking horse. For the electrical the bluetooth connectivity to my cell phone and also my fob often disconnect and then I can't lock or unlock my car. For the other issue I have a shift to park problem that locks my car and I can't switch gears or turn the car on or off for a few minutes then it all of a sudden turns back on but the issue is that when it says shift to park it is actually in the park position.

My car had the exact issues that are documented in NHTSA campaign number 18v397000 while driving on the freeway, I got a low propulsion warning when the lithium battery was depleted and switched to engine. Engine was revving very high and almost no acceleration was available. I made it home and car wouldn't restart. 12v battery was dead so I replaced it but still could not start the car.

Volt loses power when switching from electric to gas motor. Has no occurred two times, both resulting in a tow bill. Te Volt depletes the onboard battery charge and is then supposed to switch ove to the niternal combustion engine. Instead, at the time of transition the vehicle loses all propulsion power, power steering, etc. The car comes to a complete stop and will not move. This has happened on a multiple-lane freeway and is very dangerous trying to maneuver a vehicle that has no power to drivetrain or steering.

Tl- the contact owns a 2014 Chevrolet Volt. The contact stated that while driving in the electric mode when the vehicle's batter Voltage suddenly fails. The vehicle's propulsion system warning light illuminates. The vehicle goes into it's backup mode, which is the use of the gas generator, causing the vehicle to lose power. The contact took the vehicle to the dealership (dyer Chevrolet fort pierce located at 4200 s us hwy 1, fort pierce, FL 34982s) who reporgrammed the hpcm2 system which relates to the hybrid propulsion system. The failure occurred. The contact stated the failure is similar to recall NHTSA campaign number: 18v397000 (hybrid propulsion system). The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure was 105,000. Gl.

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I was driving my 2013 Chevrolet Volt and I received a loss of propulsion message on my dashboard and immediately followed by a check engine light. My car shut down and slowed down on the freeway as I was driving. It was very dangerous because it was also dark. I was able to glide to exit the freeway. My car came to a complete stop in the exit lane of the freeway. I pressed the power button to turn off the car and then I waited about 30 seconds and I turned the power button back on and the car came on as only power mode. I was able to move the car very slowly somewhere more safe. I called tow truck and I towed it to dealership. The Volt was still able to move slowly up the tow truck and when I arrived at the dealership, it was still able to move slowly to the entrance of the service station. Check engine light was on, but loss of propulsion light was gone. Service advisors told me they would fix my car as it was covered under the recall even though my car was salvaged. The estimate was $145. Later on they called me that my car had 8 check engine lights on and that I needed a transmission because their was a whining sound and also loss of propulsion still on. I went to go look at my car a couple days later after I filled a complaint with gm headquarters because this should be covered under the recall. When I went to go check out my vehicle, it was in a worse condition then when I dropped it off. My car would not even turn on. When I pushed the power button, it would say engine not available and it would also say loss of propulsion and check engine light still on. I was not able to move my car and the battery still had 8 miles left. It was weird as to why my car is getting worse while being in the dealer. Dealer told me they are done with the update and in order to diagnose the vehicle, I have to pay $430 and more than likely thousands of dollar to fix it.

The car will shut itself off with very little time to get to the side of the road if that is even a possibility. When switching from battery power to the gas motor. Randomly. The car will die at any speed. First message is low propulsion power. Next message engine not available, service soon. Less than 4 minutes from 1st message to total shut down. Least amount of time between messages and shut down is 15 seconds. Car will decelerate (on highway where vehicles behind have no warning. . . No brake lights that car is rapidly losing speed). Never know when it will happen. Usually car will restart and run terrible. . After 20 minutes or so. After restart car runs bad low power. Check engine light is on. After 10 more minutes of driving. It straightens out. Usually. Dealership unable to find problem. Assorted codes in computer. Very dangerous when driving. Especially when it happens and it is 15 seconds to complete shut down. I have opened a case with Chevrolet. No response as of yet. They were supposed to call within 2 days. I will upload an attempt at restart as it is the only one I have where I was safely in a parking lot when it happened. Usually I am not. And many roads in my area do not have a shoulder.

Drivers side dash display went black while driving, ( just driving down a congested freeway in houston ) all information lost speedometer, fuel gauge, turning indicators, propulsion mode,, rather a nightmare having this happen.

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I was driving in 50 mph traffic it lost all propulsion. The problem I have sounds exactly like the problem gm has issued a recall for with 2013-2015 Volts. I believe gm did or should have anticipated the problem and did nothing. Gm program n172130462 has owners of 2013-2015 Volts bringing their cars in to dealerships for a software update. Gm has recognized that these cars "may have a condition where it could gradually lose the ability to maintain Voltage. If battery concerns are not addressed, over time the vehicle could enter a reduced propulsion mode while driving, or lose propulsion, or it may not start. " I brought my Volt in to the dealership on January 31, 2019, because it was not consistently holding the charge that it normally did and the car would often start in "low propulsion mode" when starting it after turning it off with the battery low or depleted. Despite being under warranty the dealership, bob steele Chevrolet in cocoa, FL, claimed the could not figure out what was causing the problem, refused to try further, and sent me on my way with a bill for their failed efforts. On July 19, 2019, I was driving in on my way to work in my 2012 Volt with 101,400 miles. The car switched from battery to gas as it had many times before. About one mile later it switched back to battery, gave a message that it was going into "low propulsion mode", and stopped providing any propulsion. This occurred while I was on us1 and it was dangerous for me to rapidly change lanes while losing speed to get off the road. I got to a parking lot without enough speed to get up the mild incline at the entrance and was stuck blocking the entrance while I awaited a tow truck. This loss of propulsion could have happened at any speed and things would have been worse had I been on the interstate.

I had my 2015 Volt (at ~95000 miles) serviced at american Chevrolet(modesto, CA) on June 19th for regular maintenance. I had 2 miles ev charge left leaving dealership parking. 2 min out of dealership, just before stopping at a red traffic light, I saw an error: "propulsion power is reduced" on display. Then I realized the car had no power at all. Turned off engine, and turned it back on, the screen says "initializing. . . . . " and it lasted more than 20 seconds, still no power. All cars were moving again, and I was stuck on the second to the right lane with no power! I power cycled again, still no power. Emergency lights didn't light up during initialization. This meant cars behind me wouldn't see my lights. I have a camera facing the rear, and it should have caught the horrific experience. Now came the scary part, I saw a big SUV driving at probably 60mph came right behind me!! luckily the SUV was able to brake really hard and swerved to my right lane before rear ending me. I got out the vehicle, and started signaling to cars behind me, and all the cars now could see me and changed lanes. I called dealer, and two advisors arrived in just a few mins. They could not figure out why and gave me a ride back to dealership and told me the car would be towed back and diagnosed. My Volt has been still at the dealership being test since June 19th. Today, June 24th, my chevy advisor, juan moreno called said they've done all tests, and everything has been fine, and they would do some more testing, after which I should be able to pick it up today. On June 19th, I received a letter from gm about a software update, hpcm2. I requested dealer perform the update. I don't know if the software defect caused my Volt losing power. But now I really had concern over the safety of the Volt as it was a family car to haul family.

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2013 chevy Volt stopped accelerating and received a low propulsion while driving on a state route in ohio. Our son was driving the vehicle and could have been killed if this was on a highway. The Volt would not move and he had to try to glide off the road since it had no power. He pushed the car off the road so it would not be hit. If this situation would have occurred while driving on the highway, our son could have been killed. This problem has occurred to other Volt owners if you look this issue up on the internet. Why hasn't gm fixed this issue so people are safe when driving this vehicle? we brought our Volt into the service department, this car is now going on 3 weeks and we still do not have our car back. They first said it was a short in the electrical module, and replaced parts. Now they are stating that it did not work and it is the transmission. I am not sure they know what is really wrong with this Volt. They are now asking us to pay $3661 to have this transmission replace and gm will pay 2000 or it would be 5661. This car is not even worth that much at this point has 83000 miles on it and the transmission should have never went out. Gm tried to say it was the short, now they are saying it was not a short. I do not care what it is I just want a safe car for my son to drive. It seems like they are back pedaling to try to not pay for something that they (gm) should pay for. Especially since this issue is not a new issue for the chevy Volt. Gm needs to stand by their products and fix this vehicle.

My Volt had a sudden loss of propulsion and warning "action required - shift to park" and was in service at my local chevy dealership for 41 days to solve this dangerous issue. When the vehicle was returned to me it would no longer charge to 53 miles electric. On my level 1 charger it has charged to 52 or 53 miles since the first day of ownership on 1/24/17. The vehicle will change to 36 - 40 miles now which is greater than a 30% loss of electric charge. I am not referring to driving range which varies with conditions. The problem has been serviced by the dealership 3 times for a total of 53 days. The problem seems to have been resolved on the last service visit where the shifter assembly and the transmission control were replaced. I am now in arbitration with gm under the California lemon law and the bbb. I am requesting a buyback of the vehicle for impairment of use, value, and safety.

My 2013 Volt has started giving me only a maximum of 35 miles charge, but really only giving me 27-32 even through I drive in low (which always gave me more miles than the car thought I'd get). Maybe this is connected to the new problem? yesterday when I turned on the car (driving in gas because I had run out of electric) it gave gave me a "propulsion power reduced" error message. I tried turning it off and on several times, but the error stayed. I had to drive from downtown la in a car that could barely move. About 8 miles in, the error disappeared and the car ran normally. The dealership tells me they couldn't find any error messages (?!), but maybe, maybe that problem and the charging problem could be corrected by a $300 software update. Maybe. Meantime, I found that some 2013 Volts were recalled for exactly this error problem, but apparently not mine. The dealership doesn't seem to be interested in finding out what's wrong, and gm says to go to the dealership (gm, in fact, hung up on my today). So let me get this straight, gm, you know you built cars with software problems, but we need to pay to correct them? and you're not even sure it will correct it??????.

Gas generator failed to start when battery was depleted while on city street slowing to a stop at an intersection. Warning message about reduced propulsion and yellow engine indicator illuminated. Came to a complete stop and turned vehicle off. Tried turning back on, received waiting to initialize message, but power to engine was never restored. Towed car to dealership.

Gas generator failed to start when battery was depleted while on freeway. Warning message about reduced propulsion and yellow engine indicator illuminated and then fews moments after vehicle could no longer accelerate and was slowing down so pulled over onto shoulder and got towed vehicle will not charge either when plugged in.

While driving sudden loss of power having to basically depress gas pedal to maintain speed while simultaneously receiving "reduced propulsion error". Dealer cleared error and did a reprogram. After picking up vehicle range was reduced approximately 1/3rd but car ran. Shame on me for not being more forceful about range reduction because this battery was defective. This summer June 2020 complained about reduced range and dealer did more programing. Now in October 2020 reduced propulsion error came back and hybrid battery is bad. Warranty ran out in may 2020 and gm refusing to acknowledge 2018 date of defective battery.

While driving in my son to school my check engine light turned on. Fearing my car would die with no warning (like had previously occurred) I went back to my house. I used onstar to pull the engine code of u18a2 which after researching online could result in 'loss of propulsion' like previously occurred. I called the dealer and had the car towed for service. After 15 days I received my car back and was told it was a loose electrical connector somewhere.

2017 Chevrolet Volt extreme engine hazard: on 22-Mar-2016 I purchased a 2017 Chevrolet Volt premier, all safety options. Driving on freeway at 65 mph, straight driving, relatively light traffic, the engine light came on yellow and steady (emissions system service warning) but the car uncontrollably decelerated. The freeway had no shoulder due to construction. The car smelled of burning electrical insulation confirmed by the tow truck driver. The car, with less than 150 total miles, in clear weather, at twilight, 76 degrees, California at sea level, straightaway, had a sudden and near total loss of all propulsion. This caused a lack of control (obviously) in the forward direction, causing an extreme hazard on the freeway. I am an experienced driver: make no mistake, this was a serious manufacture's error. I checked, no parking brake, the car was in drive gear, I had both electric range and over 7/8 tank of gas showing a gas range of 360 miles - and I had just driven 60 miles. There was no brake smell, as I did not need to apply the brake because the engine gave no propulsion. My hand was off the regen switch. The car had a major malfunction causing an extreme hazard, and based on the smell, possible fire hazard.

I received the following message on the car dash display: propulsion reduced-engine not available. This message came on while I was driving in the carpool lane. I called gm thru on star and was told that I had a catastrophic error and needed to get my car into repair with 24 hours. With only 6 miles left on the battery, I told the gm rep that I better get the car to a chevy dealer. I immediately drove to the dealership in culver city. The minute I pulled into the driveway of the dealership, my car stopped and would not restart. This could have been a disaster if the car had stopped in the carpool lane. I have read of other complaints on google and yahoo. I was told by the dealership that they were going to replace the engine module, which they said would take 8 hours to repair, but when I picked up the car, they only replaced the transmission module. Since the incident, I only get a full charge of 32 to 34 miles, where before the incident I was getting a full charge of 42 to 44 miles per charge. This is definite safety issue as gm blames the driver for the problem. Gm needs to replace the engine module on my car.

I received the chevy Volt 2/20/14 at around 10:45 am. My partner and I had a very important meeting at 12:30 p. M. In jersey city, NJ so we left directly from the dealership in the brand new Volt, 7 miles on the odometer. At approximately 12:00 p. M. The car alarmed with two messages: 1. Engine not available and 2. Propulsion power reduced. The alarms/engine failure came at the most inopportune time---while on the new jersey turnpike in a construction zone and no available shoulder. With semi-trucks bearing down on us, we luckily made it to a construction pull off area and called on star. On star informed us the turnpike is a restricted zone so they could not send anyone, they were helpful and got in touch with the turnpike authority which sent a tow truck. While I was on the phone with on star my partner called the dealership where we got the car. They were helpful and contacted the dealership where the car would be towed—malouf Chevrolet. After waiting over 30 min for a tow truck to arrive, all the while fearing I was going to be mowed down by a semi-truck on the shoulder, the brand new Volt, my partner and I were off the turnpike. Upon arrival to malouf we were greeted by a member of their service team, he asked me how many miles were on the car. I said”66”, he asked “6600”, I responded “no! 66, the car only ran for a little over an hour after delivery!” we now have a loaner from malouf and have not heard anything about what caused this catastrophic failure of the brand new Chevrolet Volt.

The car has proceeded to have multiple issues, with the most predominant and life threatening issue being an airbag failure. . . Twice. Other issues: radio, door locks, and park assist engage/disengage on their own. Brakes not catching causing car to roll. Power failure and won't start. April 2013, the vehicle was t-boned at a rate of speed over 45mph. The airbags failed to deploy; caused personal injury. Gm sent out an inspector, and pulled the data. Response back was “no event recorded” and was dismissed. Obviously something happened, especially considering the car was in the body shop for 6 months being repaired. January 2014 while driving down the highway the car loses power, and won't accelerate over 19mph, the check engine light engaged and “reduced propulsion” message flashing. Onstar diagnosed the vehicle instantly, and said the vehicle may be unsafe to drive due to the transmission and engine fault. We reached out to classic Chevrolet grapevine, and they would not assist us, even though the vehicle is under warranty. January 2014, a second collision, a truck clipped the front of the car speed was over 35mph, the tire blew, and sudden deceleration, resulting in $14,000+ in damages airbags failed to deploy, and causing re-injury. Gm sent out it's third party company to inspect, and an event was recorded this time, however was a “non-event” event. Gm states a event was recorded, but could not explain why the air bags did not deploy. In February 2014 we reached out to gm directly, asking for clarification, and assistance regarding our flawed 2011 Chevrolet Volt, and were told they “researched and evaluated our concern, and fulfilled its obligation” to us. However, they did nothing. Answered no questions, offered no resolution or fix. Gm has a history of not investigating fatal flaws, and covering up its negligence.