2017 CHEVROLET BOLT EV Complaints

The steering binds after making a turn. It will not return the wheel to center without deliberate effort on my part. I had the alignment checked and it is all within spec. It appears to be an issue with the steering rack itself. This is an ongoing issue.

This car worked reliably until the battery recall battery was exchanged then this started happening about a month later. First the vehicle died upon slowing down, driver was exiting a highway ramp stopped the car and turned off the car and turned on again and drove home without further trouble. Happened again, same thing this was at night. Then myself as driver, Took car to dealership, stayed in right lane on highway then car failed to accelerate but maintained about 40mph then died as slowing down on exit. After much time turning off and on again, the car finally allowed it to be put in drive and I made it to the dealership. After a week the dealership couldn’t find anything wrong with the car and said no charge but they can’t diagnose. Driving the car again, it drove fine until it didn’t. This time died and wouldn’t allow it to be put into drive again. Said conditions not right to shift. Towed it to a different dealership, the one that changed the recalled battery and they got 77 code errors and cannot figure out anything after a month. Still keeping to drive to recreate the problem. The biggest safety issue was that the emergency blink lights turned off when I turned off the car to try and restart it.

Since the car was new, the windshield wipers have had a software error that can disable the wipers in snowy weather. It is not unusual for one or the other wiper to stop working for no apparent reason in snowy conditions. If the passenger's side stops working, it isn't too bad, but if the driver's side wiper stops working, then it traps the other wiper below it, preventing both from working. Sometimes after several minutes, the passenger wiper will push the driver wiper up about 1/3 of the way up the windshield, at which point it will kick in once, then stop working again. Stopping and restarting the car generally will not help, but leaving it off overnight will usually reset the software and the wipers start working normally again. It seems like it is a software bug with detecting if the wipers are frozen/stuck, that incorrectly thinks that a wiper is stuck, even when it is not, and decides to disable the wiper. This has happened many, many times, I should have reported it years ago. I attached a couple of pictures from a dashcam video one of the times it happened, it's harder to see from pictures than the video, but in the first picture the bottom, passenger side wiper is down, and the second picture it is trying to move up, but is blocked by the top/driver side wiper. It may appear that the wiper is frozen and stuck, but it is not, and after several minutes the bottom wiper was able to move the disabled top wiper significantly up the windshield. Chevy needs a software update to ensure the wipers actually work properly, especially in bad weather conditions.

The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV. The contact stated while the vehicle was parked, the vehicle suddenly lunged forward. The contact pumped the brake pedal several times, but the vehicle continued to drive forward. The contact was able to avoid crashing into an apartment building. The vehicle went airborne for 30 feet and landed on the street causing the tires to blowout, and two of the rims to be cracked. The contact’s wife suffered a head injury and sought medical attention. No police report was filed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer; however, no failure was found. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and stated that the case would be escalated. The failure mileage was 72,000.

2017 Chevy Bolt steering wheel not returning to center issue and remaining in position. While driving on I35, steering wheel remained in position and had a difficult time to manually return to center. Local dealer (certified EV tech) checked but they were clueless, claimed to have escalated to GM engineering. However, never heard back. As Bolt EV owner , there is a Facebook group ( Chevy Bolt EV and EUV Owners), we noticed that multiple owners reported this issue and turn out is the steering gear/rack has problem. And many owners experienced difficulty to return steering back to center while driving. Some of them claimed as stiffness. I described as tightening. Mine happened when it reached 50,000 miles. This issue is definitely put myself and other people’s lives in risk. I hope US Department of Transportation will investigate this issue.

When moving thru curved roads or turns the steering has begun to stick in position AND not return to center upon completing the turn. This is NOT normal and has caused risk of a crash. NO warning from the cars information center on any malfunction or service light illuminated. Car has had alignment from Chevrolet dealer after tire replacement at 40k miles. No issues were reported. Condition has continued and has not been taken for inspection or repair. Owner has now gotten used to it and just compensates. Suspected steering rack binding as others have reported.

The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV. The contact stated that the vehicle was designed with One Pedal Driving mode that allowed the brakes to apply independently when releasing the accelerator pedal; however, while driving at various speeds with One Pedal Driving mode engaged, the accelerator pedal was released but the vehicle continued to move forward. The contact depressed the brake pedal and the vehicle responded. Additionally, the contact stated that the electronic parking brake failed to respond when engaged. The contact stated that the failure had been reoccurring intermittently. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an unknown dealer where the failure could not be duplicated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but provided no assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 38,000.

While turning the steering wheel, it is stiff and feels like something is grinding when I try to turn it!!! Someone please fix this It is making me uneasy I can send video but this form doesn’t have that option

The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the steering wheel would not properly return to center. Additionally, the steering wheel was difficult to turn in either direction. The was taken to the local dealer who indicated that the steering failure was caused by faulty gears within the steering rack. The contact was informed that the steering rack needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not yet notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 50,000.

The contact owns a 2017 Chevy Bolt. The contact stated that the vehicle's steering wheel fails to automatically straighten itself out when he releases his grip. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer who diagnosed that the steering rack assembly failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 49,000