2017 CHEVROLET VOLT Complaints

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.

On December 2023 the vehicle lost power and lost control while driving speed limit 55 Mph followed by check engine light associated codes due to known issue with BCEM controller failing. June 2024 Vehicle experienced the same issue with duplicate check engine codes associated with prior issue. Dealer states the vehicle has a bad battery pack and has been there for over 8 months. Vehicle has a BECM warranty due to a law suite filed and also has a battery pack warranty from GM that was extended for 150,000 miles or 10 years.

Yes this vehicle can be made ready for inspection upon request. According to the registered Chevrolet dealership who inspected my vehicle and gave me the diagnosis - The cars EGR valve control board is shorting out Fuse #3 which leads the car to enter “reduced propulsion mode” and keeps you from using the generator engine due to being in this mode. This happened as I was driving home from work one day and the car notified me of this issue and entering into this mode. This could leave people stranded if low on battery charge, or in danger due to reduced propulsion. Chevy no longer manufactures this unique EGR valve and thus the repair requires obtaining back ordered parts from a manufacturer outside of the US for thousands of dollars. Alternatively you can drive without the EGR power cord connected, which means greater emissions and environmental risk/damage. This is not covered under warranty. This is a known faulty part that many Volt owners complain about, which makes it a good candidate for recall. Thank you for your time, [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Volt. The contact stated while driving at approximately 35 MPH, the “Propulsion Power Reduced” message in the driver information center was illuminated. The contact stated that the vehicle was losing motive power. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent but had occurred at various speeds, and the vehicle lost motive power. The contact had taken the vehicle to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the Battery Energy Control Module (BECM) needed to be replaced and reprogrammed. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that the vehicle was no longer operable. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The contact researched and related the failure to a Customer Satisfaction Program for the BECM; however, the contact was advised by the manufacturer and the dealer that the vehicle was not covered under the CSP. The failure mileage was approximately 110,000.

The EGR Valve and EGR Cooler went out on the vehicle while driving on the highway, causing my propolsion power to decrease or rendered unusable. This also caused inconsistent engine pressure and caused my engine to overheat, having to pull over multiple times while driving. The problem has been diagnosed by a Chevorlet certified repair center. There were no warning lamps or messages until the problem began abrubtly while driving.

The EGR valve failed. This caused the vehicle to have insufficient propulsion while driving. The dealer has confirmed the EGR valve is the problem. The vehicle is at the dealership. The check engine light came on. The dealer is now stating the replacement EGR valve is a $4000 part because GM stopped making the part when they discontinued the Volt. An EGR valve should cost $250-$400 not $4000. The current trade-in value of my vehicle is only $7000. I cannot get my vehicle fixed due to the cost and the vehicle is too dangerous to drive due to the power loss issues.

Vehicle slows at times and provides message "Propulsion Power Reduced." At times vehicle will not start and cannot move transmission shifter out of Park.

The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Volt. The contact stated that while attempting to start the vehicle, the vehicle failed to start. The contact stated that the message “Unable to Charge” was displayed with the check engine warning light illuminated. The local dealer was contacted; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 115,000.

The car has a Check Engine Light and "reduced propulsion" warning. Based on OBDII errors, the EGR on my chevy volt failed. I am not in a CARB state (i'm in Hawaii, though I bought my Volt in CA, which is a CARB state). The EGR issues plague all Gen2 Chevy Volts, and tends to break around 40-70k miles into the life of the car. EGR spare part availability is very limited. Given the frequency with which this car breaks for this issue, and the negative impact on emissions, this should be a recall issue nationwide, not just for states that keep CARB requirements.

I was driving effortlessly down [XXX] between san francisco and santa cruz when suddenly i seemed to be losing power. Pressing the accelerator/gas pedal was not obtaining the usual result and I was going slower and slower by what felt like the second. I also noticed that it switched to gas although it said there were around 12 miles on the EV battery which was a sign that something was wrong. Fortunately there was a break and traffic was going at a speed which allowed me to make it across three lanes of traffic in just enough time for an alert posted on my dash saying something about loss of propulsion (not sure what it said exactly, because, i was driving!) and i coasted onto the shoulder, but barely. By that time it indicated that there were zero miles on the EV battery. (2 weeks prior I had been unable to start the parked car. I had the 12V battery replaced as the local mechanic where it was towed thought that that might be the cause.) I turned the car off and back on and when I tried to shift to D or R the dash stated "Return to P" AAA made us a priority tow as we were on a major thoroughfare. We were at risk, but thankfully we were relatively safe. I called GM to say that it seemed that the EV battery had died suddenly. I was advised to bring it to the dealer. I called the dealer and they quoted me the cost of replacing the EV battery. They mentioned nothing of National Highway Traffic Safety Administration investigation into the model year 2016 through 2019 Chevrolet Volt amid complaints about the hybrid’s battery energy control module, or BECM, some of the complaints indicating that drivers had little to no warning before the car lost operating power or entered reduced power mode, which was exactly what had happened to me. Nor did they mention a letter I discovered on line dated March 6,2024 re:Battery Energy Control Module Malfunction, and stating that they would be contacting customers. I was never contacted. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 55