Electrical System Problems of Chevrolet Volt - part 2

Vehicle slows at times and provides message "propulsion power reduced. " at times vehicle will not start and cannot move transmission shifter out of park.

See all problems of the 2017 Chevrolet Volt 🔎.

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.

See all problems of the 2018 Chevrolet Volt 🔎.

Car lost power in 02/2024, was taken to dealer. Issue was not addressed properly. 12/2024 the car would not move, towed to dealer, estimate $2000 to replace becm, know issue for these vehicles.

See all problems of the 2016 Chevrolet Volt 🔎.

My car stopped all of a sudden and lost power while my wife was driving. She could've been in a major accident since the car lost power. This has happened a few times in the past. Luckily she wasn't on the freeway or she could've been rear ended at highway speeds. There were warning lamps that said check engine and "lost propulsion". This should be looked at closely as my safety as well as the safety of others was at risk. Very dangerous situation! I had my car towed to the nearest auto repair shop where it is being looked at.

Loss of propulsion. Vehicle will not start/move. If vehicle does turn on , it will not turn off. Vehicle has been having reduced propulsion issues for multiple years (taken to dealer many times) that dealership has refused to do a hv battery capacity test while under warranty, even after leaving with them for multiple months they claimed they could not replicate error. On day of pickup error presented itself and I showed service advisor and left vehicle for additional testing. Dealer provided explanation of reduced propulsion when in mountain mode as cause even though vehicle was not in mountain mode when error occurred. Dealer performed customer satisfaction gm program # n172130462 update 11/2021 on hv system that stopped propulsion issues (mainly battery capacity concerns) until vehicle was out of warranty. Now vehicle will not turn on/move even though hv battery completely charged. Vehicle is essentially bricked at this point. Will be taking back to dealer 12/30/2024.

See all problems of the 2014 Chevrolet Volt 🔎.

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.

I was driving at about 50mph all of a sudden I got a propulsion error and my car stopped working it had no power! people had to swerve around me and I was almost hit. My car would not drive I shut it off and back on multiple times. Finally it started but would not go above 25 it was so scary. I went to the dealership they said it’s known issue since 2016 and that my miles were too high so it would not be covered to fix the total amount it almost 3,000 this seems unfair that chevy would continue to sell a vehicle knowing it had issues with a energy control module and not fix it for free. Especially when you could be killed while driving it!!.

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.

Becm failure car suddenly stopped driving and or starting had to have it towed home.

Dear NHTSA officer, I am writing to report a serious safety incident involving my 2017 Chevrolet Volt. On November 9, 2024, while driving with my family, our vehicle unexpectedly lost power without any warning. The details of the incident are as follows: incident: the car powered off suddenly. Passengers: myself, my wife, and our two children were in the vehicle. Aftermath: we were unable to restart the car despite multiple attempts. Resolution: it took two hours and assistance from neighbors to push the car back to our driveway. Upon researching this issue, I discovered that other 2017 Chevrolet Volt owners have reported similar symptoms, which appear to be related to battery energy control module (becm) failures. Furthermore, I found that gm issued technical service bulletin (TSB) 18-na-261 addressing "an internal issue within the battery energy control module" for Volt models. This incident has raised serious concerns about the safety and reliability of our vehicle. I am requesting immediate attention to this matter, including: a thorough inspection and repair of our vehicle information on any recalls or extended warranties related to this issue assurance of the vehicle's safety for future use given the potential danger posed by sudden power loss while driving, I believe this issue warrants urgent attention and possibly a wider recall. Thank you for your prompt attention to this critical safety matter. I look forward to your timely response and resolution. Sincerely,.

While operating my chevy Volt on a los angeles freeway, warning lights came on informing me to park immediately, and that the power propulsion was reduced. The check engine light also came on. At that point the “shift to park” message came on. My car is experiencing the “shift to park” issue. I already had this happen previously in 2023. The repair cost $1,200. There are many, many references to this issue on the internet. The “shift to park” defect is well known in the chevy Volt community. When this happened the second time, ([xxx]), I was stranded on the side of an la freeway. The car will not start. It will cycle through the “shift to park” message on the dashboard and it will not go anywhere. The car initializes, so there is power in the vehicle, but no propulsion. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

Shift to park message & audible alarm. Display while in motion pulling into home driveway. Vehicle stalled midway while in motion. Halfway in the street & half driveway. Displaying propulsion power reduced & engine not available service soon. After 30 minutes of starting & restarting was able to move out of the street. However vehicle will not move. Transmission will shift, however will not move. Shift to park keeps popping up.

The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Volt. The contact stated that while driving at 60 mph she lost forward momentum. The contact depressed the accelerator pedal but the vehicle would not drive above 30 mph. The contact stated that the "propulsion power is reduced," warning message had appeared on the instrument cluster. The contact had taken the vehicle to the dealer and it was diagnosed and determined that the 12v battery needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired, however the failure reoccurred. Additionally, the contact stated that the vehicle hybrid battery was no longer charging and would not turn on. The contact had the vehicle towed to the same dealer and the vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle had yet to be diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 60,000.

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).

My 2016 Chevrolet Volt loses power while driving and the "propulsion power reduced" warning message appears. This has happened multiple times in the past few weeks and it is very dangerous losing power while traveling. After taking it to a chevy dealer for service, they advised that it was an internal failure of the becm (battery energy control module) and that it would need replaced. After searching online it appears that this is a common issue with the chevy Volt models from 2016 - 2019. So much so that gm extended a special warranty to cover this failure up to 15yrs and 150,000 miles. Unfortunately for reasons I still don't understand, I was informed that my vehicle is not covered under this special warranty despite it specifically being the year and model that is affected. My vehicle currently has 93k miles and was purchased in 2016. So I am just outside the original 8 year 100k mile warranty but thought I was covered under this new special coverage given that this is an issue that gm is clearly aware of. I was also shocked to find out that there apparently was never a recall for this issue. My wife and child normally take this vehicle across town at highway speeds and I'm lucky the issue only happened to me. I fear for those who brought their vehicles and are not aware of the issue and will be told that theirs isn't covered as well.

Automation-on 10. 1. 24 my car stopped working. It would turn on, but would not shift. It was also showing my ev was fully charged but the ev miles read 0. My husband came and plugged my car in and saw that when I turned the car on it read "shift to park" also the codes from my onstar app read "lithium ion battery"- issue found in high Voltage battery. "12 Volt battery needs attention" 10. 2. 24 we called gm to report issues and referenced n232432680 (bcem). We were informed that even though we can read diagnostic reports on onstar it needed to be confirmed from a certified gm dealership that they could not confirm this is the warranty issue if they did not 1st had the certified dealership share their diagnostic report. Bergstrom shared it sounded like becm that is under warranty. They continued to share it didnt look good and the VIN was not in the system to be covered. Shared the minimum amount we would pay was $440 for the 2 issues for labor/diagnostics. 10. 4. 24 we called gm to file a report we were given a case manager to work our case. 10. 8. 24 received call from case manager shared no warranties seen on file. I asked for this to be documented and emailed to me, I was told she could not share this information other than this phone call. Bergstrom called saying the car was ready to pick up, cleared codes/no issues, drove 26 miles with no codes. Shared gm never seen/heard anything like this and had no advise/help to offer. Shared only charged for 1 hour of labor. Asked for trade in for car. Was given price $1,200 under trade in value. Cause due to car not safe, potential issues. No documentation shared, nothing to show issues, car is clean/cleared to drive they had no answer than my car was fine but was not able to give lowest amount for trade in due to issues.

Driving to work one morning, I noticed an engine light with a "propulsion power reduced" on my 2016 chevy Volt. Upon closer arrival to work, the car was behaving quite erratically with constant "propulsion power reduced" errors on the dash. The a/c stopped blowing cold and immediately fogged up the front window, making me unable to see the road. After arriving at work, I could smell what could be described as a burning electrical smell coming from the vehicle, although no fires were seen. Upon checking diagnostic codes, the car had a list of codes pointing to the failure of the battery energy control module (becm. ) I researched the issue and discovered "n232432680 - special coverage battery energy control module malfunction" listed by gm and the NHTSA. My chevy Volt is within the model years (2016-18) and mileage (<150,000) for the special coverage warranty from March 2024. Upon checking with the local gm dealer, they said that my VIN is not included in the special coverage and I must pay out of pocket, even though I have the exact problem described in the warranty and my Volt satisfies other conditions (model year and mileage). I am scheduling a service appointment this week with the local dealer to formally diagnose and repair the issue.

I am lodging a complaint about general motors in dealing with a warranty repair to my 2017 Chevrolet Volt. On 9/11/2024 had low propulsion warning and took the vehicle to a local dealer. I though it may have been the power module, but the dealer stated: “the module would not be replaced because it is not failing. Your high Voltage battery is made up of multiple sections that control the power of the vehicle, one of those sections of your battery has a failure so rather than replacing the whole high Voltage battery, gm will usually authorize replacement of the failed section. ” on 9/13 gm authorized replacement. Weeks passed and I was told the battery section would come q4 (2024]. The dealer has been very responsive about keeping me with loaner vehicles. I have issues only with gm. I asked gm to buy back the vehicle in January 2025. The request was verbally denied since for some undisclosed reason it does not fall within the California lemon law parameters. Later I was told by gm the part is expected “q2”. Gm has a representative call em every week or so just to check in. This was a safety issue as the car went to low power and might have caused significant problems in traffic. All the while I have been unable to drive the car, sell the car, or otherwise enjoy freedom of ownership. Now we are looking at at least 6 months in the shop, potentially 7-9 months or more. This is an unreasonable timeframe for repairs and hence this complaint. Please advise how I might proceed from this point to get the matter resolved soon.

Just purchased and not a week in it dies after I have charged it. I was in drive, at a red light when all of a sudden the car dies. No warning whatsoever. Was not able to turn it on afterwards. Had to get towed to my local Chevrolet dealership that has not been able to fix it for the last month with no eta on a fix.

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.

P1e00 error code resulted in the propulsion system being reduced and climate controls turned off. My wife, driving at the time in a thunderstorm, lost the ability to drive the speed of traffic and also her windshield completely fogging up where she could not see. She could have been killed in this scenario in a number of ways. Took it to the dealer where gm apparently has no spare parts available for months??? parts at fault are related to the egr valve and cooler. Cel light came on and off for a few days prior. Failed to be able to pull the error code because it would go off.

Without warning, my car stopped charging. Noticed it was at 0 miles despite charging it the night before. Believing I may have not properly connected the home cord (supplied by chevy) to the car, I chalked it up to being my mistake and plugged in again the next night. Same result. 0 miles. Then it immediately started acting like a 12v battery failure with engine warning lights and then it just refused to start and/or charge and was dead in the water. I called aaa for a battery jump and they came. It got the car started, but the check engine light remained lit for two days and I primarily ran the car on its gas generator to hopefully charge it. Just last night, the check engine light went away. Despite having a partial charge, this morning 8/29, it registered 3 miles down from being higher. I just plugged in to my home outlet using the chevy cord, and again, it would not charge (no green light on dash indicating active charge and a message on the dash should "unable to charge". I suspect a battery energy control mondule (becm) failure which seems to happen with this car. My 12v acdelco battery is relatively new (3 yrs) and not used heavily (given covid).

•vehicle lost power while driving on the highway at speed. The vehicle would not run with gas engine power or ev charge basically died on the road in traffic. After coming to a stop safely but not without some close calls vehicle would not start even with car having fuel of two types in it. •the battery charge would not register, and the car would not start for a little while. Display showed nothing and was only making a dinging sound. Around half hour later the vehicle started, and I drove it to my home and parked it. I have not been driving it as it seems like a safety concern with the battery system and not feeling reliable. I had tried to charge it after the initial event and it did not charge. I did only a little research on cost for battery issues and the cost made me very put off even looking at the car. The car has been sitting sense August of last year. I took the car into a gm repair shop a week ago and the shop told me that the becm module is weak. I looked this up and found that there is a lot of people having the same issue! also, there are 19000 cars just like mine who got a recall or special coverage. I am told I don’t meet the requirements for the coverage even though my car has the issues. They say my VIN is not on the list, clearly this special coverage did not go far enough. There appears to be some gaps in the coverage of this issue there are tons of people having this issue a full recall should be investigated and enacted there is clearly a problem that should be addressed. The fact that most cases do not happen when the car is running seem to put this on everyone’s back burner but people are being harmed financially while gm uses loop holes to not address an issue that could cost people there time, hard earned money, lost wages, even there life if this malfunction causes accidents. There was and is clearly enough to warrant action. Letting gm get away with a half hearted attempted at fixing this is a crime.

The car has experienced a ‘becm’ failure, which is very common on the chevy Volt. When it fails the car becomes undrivable and will slow down into reduced propulsion mode. It will not start and required us to have it towed to the dealer. The 2016-2019 chevy Volt becm issue has been investigated by the NHTSA and gm. It is a common enough issue that gm has voluntarily issued ‘special coverage n232432680’. This covers the becm failure on 2016-2019 Volts for free for up to 150k miles 10 years. We have a 2016 Volt with 144k miles so we assumed it would be covered. The dealer said it wasn’t covered based on my VIN but they didn’t know why our VIN was left out of the coverage. Obviously if they thought our car didn’t have a suspect becm, they were wrong because it failed during the special coverage time. The repair is $2600 and gm will not assist us with this repair. I have attached a copy of gm special coverage and the bill. This seems to be a clerical error that our VIN and maybe others were missed despite the fact our car falls right in the special coverage criteria. I believe this should be a full recall or 2016-2019 Volts, especially if the becm has failed.

Vehicle began exhibiting issues with becm, reduced propulsion/limp home mode with range-extender activation. Car unexpectedly stopped running in the middle of the road, came to a complete stop and unable to move off road under car's propulsion.

My becm failed and should be covered under the n23243268 special coverage. For some reason, gm is saying that the special coverage does not apply to my VIN despite the fact that I am experiencing the exact failure that this special coverage is supposed to cover and it is during the covered years of 2016-2018 where this issue is known to be common.

Car had not properly charged for the last 2 nights despite saying it was charging the entire time. When leaving my residence the car suddenly stopped working and I had to pull off to the side of the road with no power. The car was then stuck in park and would not turn off.

Reduced propulsion message appears on the dash and car lost propulsion on the highway. The egr blew a fuse and the car enters the walk home mode. This problem should be covered under warranty but my dealership says it is not covered. This issue causes the car not to be able to drive. Chevy is back ordered for the part and there is no estimate of when the part will be available. They apparently do not make the part anymore and there is no fix. Th egr seems to have bad soldering and blows the fuse #3.

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.

Purchased the '17 chevy Volt for my daughter on [xxx] with 58,867 miles. On [xxx], 60,600 miles; she was driving on the interstate when the engine temperature spiked, followed by a check engine light and a warning message: "engine unavailable. " the vehicle suddenly lost power when she reduced pressure on the accelerator, causing a rapid reduction in speed. Nearly causing her to lose control. The vehicle's obd codes were scanned at a nearby auto parts store resulting in 30 dtc appearing. I found hundreds of complaints and posts about the f3ua fuse blown and a faulty egr valve. A service bulletin for this issue was published by gm in Feb 2023. I notified the dealership of the issues and the vehicle was brought to deacon jones chevy of clinton, nc on July 16th. The service department informed me that the 12v battery was bad and needed replacement to "correct" the issue, at a cost nearly $550. I asked if the fuse mentioned was blown and was informed that it was not. The check engine light was cleared and my daughter drove home. Before getting home, the check engine light came back on, the temperature spiked, and "propulsion power is reduced. " message appeared. This was accompanied again by a rapid reduction in speed nearly causing a collision. I called the dealership back and informed them of the incident. They requested to have the vehicle brought back to the shop, however, towing was out of the question because the dealership is 70 miles from me & I did not want to drive the car in its condition. I took the vehicle to team chevy in swansboro, nc, who ran proper diagnostics. I was informed the f3ua fuse was blown, caused by a short in the egr valve. The original dealer offered to split the cost, but team chevy said they could get the part & match price. When ordered, it showed the egr valve was backorder with no eta. 6 weeks in and no safe transportation for my daughter and grandson. Significant safety issue with no replacement parts or accountability, ludicrous. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of infor.

My becm (battery energy control module) failed. Chevy recalled this for “some” Volts of my year, but not mine. It cost $3k to fix. How can they say my becm was not defective if it failed? they knew it wasn’t working and recalled it for some, but not all. They need to recall all Volts becm. This feels very shady.

July 3, 2024, while driving on pennsylvania turnpike, check engine light came on with reduced propulsion warning. Continued driving to destination without incidence. Did not drive again until July 5th. July 5th while driving using "hold" method of propulsion using internal combustion engine, check engine light remained on, after the engine warmed up, all of the sudden, there was a noticeable reduction of power, followed shortly by the internal combustion engine shutting off while I was entering onto an interstate highway ramp. Fortunately I was able to pull off to the side of the road and back down the ramp without incidence and return home under grossly reduced battery propulsion. July 8, took vehicle to Chevrolet dealership (baierl Chevrolet, wexford PA) under battery power. Was told ecm module was bad. Ecm module was replaced, error codes cleared, vehicle ran as expected. After driving approximately 50 miles, check engine light with reduced propulsion warning returned. Turned vehicle around and returned to the same dealership. Was told egr valve was bad while blowing fuse f03 (non walk home circuit). The dealership did not have a replacement in stock and it would take 7-10 days to obtain a replacement. I had to rent a vehicle out of my own pocket to return home for employment purposes. July 11th, I emailed dealership's service advisor for status of replacement part. Never heard back from service advisor. July 15, 11:24 am, talked to dealership service advisor, was told part was in transit with no estimated delivery date. July 22 called service adviser and left a voice mail message for a return status call. Never received a return call. July 23, called dealership, talked to parts department for part status, was told part had not shipped from warehouse yet and there was no estimate on shipment. After having to return the rental vehicle, I am without a vehicle for my daily required activities. Not an acceptable situations.

The contact owns a 2012 Chevrolet Volt. While driving at the speed of 70mph the instrument panel became inoperable without warning. As a result, the contact was unable to determine the speed of the vehicle, along with the amount of fuel that was inside the vehicle or any warning lamps. The incident happened with the vehicle having 99,835 miles.

See all problems of the 2012 Chevrolet Volt 🔎.

The egr valve in the 2016 chevy Volt will fail blowing fuse 3 which will also take out the engine oil pressure control solenoid, the evap emission purge solenoid valve, the engine coolant thermostat heater, and the oxygen sensor 1 as they all share the same fuse. The car will tell you that the engine is unavailable and, if you are out of hybrid battery power, will leave you unable to move the vehicle. In my particular situation it left me stranded blocking one lane on a two lane s-bend road on a 5-9% grade mountainside with no cellphone reception. Thankfully the car stopped far enough away from the previous bend that people had time to see me and I didn't get rear-ended. If I had stopped 20 feet sooner that likely would not have been the case. The replacement part for the egr valve is impossible to find as it is back ordered everywhere and places that will let you back order it will try to charge $1927 just for the part (no installation service included). If you live in a state without emission checks then you can unplug the egr valve and replace the fuse but that means your producing more pollutants. Until gm gets their act together and offers affordable replacement parts I don't see another alternative.