This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
The vehicle suddenly, and unexpectedly lost propulsion while driving. The vehicle is no longer able to turn on or drive. I contacted several Chevy official dealers and took the car in for repair. They said it is a problem with the hybrid battery system. But the car is no longer manufactured and parts are no longer available. So I am now stuck with a car that is non-operational and not repairable.
When I first purchased the car (used around 30,000 miles), I began to have electrical and propulsion issues where the engine would turn off. After Chevy refused to warranty or lemon the car, eventually the electrical/hybrid issue repeated and caused cooling issues with the car and then water pump went bad. while chevy still refused to fix the hybrid and battery issues, that continued issue and then the water pump failing from it then caused overheating that then broke the head gasket
After the battery runs out, the engine loses propulsion and fails to run on gas. The car completely stalls in the middle of traffic. The speed drops from 70+ mph to 0. Extremely dangerous to myself and others. The issue suddenly appeared at the end of December 2022 during a long drive. The engine check light remains on and a warning re: reduced propulsion power is displayed every time the car is turned on. Dealer is unable to fix the issue because they already have multiple cars with the same issue waiting for weeks to be repaired. Recently filed class action law suit suggests that this problem is caused by defective BCEM unit.
The Battery Energy Control Module (BECM) has failed. On two occasions this put me at risk of collision because when the BECM lost communication my car stalled as I was accelerating away from a stop sign. On one occasion, cross traffic had to come to a stop so I could push my car out of the intersection. The car is currently at the dealer for repair. The problem has been confirmed to be the BECM. There was no advance warning when this occurred. A message came up during the incident that said, "Propulsion Power Is Reduced" and following the incident, the check engine light illuminated. The warnings appeared at the time of the incident. There was no advance warning.
BECM failure. Initially, it caused the vehicle to operate in a low propulsion state. However, it now prevents the vehicle from starting. Likewise, I have heard it has stopped the engines from working/shut down the engines while people are driving on the highway.
- Tahlequah, OK, USA
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About 3 minutes after I started driving the 2017 Chevy Volt, an error message showed saying "propulsion power is reduced" and I was unable to drive the vehicle as typical. While driving on base at fairly low speed (~15-20mph) in the battery area of the display, the EV range was reading 12mi, and it started going up. When it read 20mi, the "Propulsion power reduced" showed on the display and the check engine light came on. I pulled over to a different building, went inside for a few minutes, came back out and restarted the car, and I got a message the Volt wouldn't initialize. After multiple on/off button pushes to start the car, the car finally initialized to where I was able to drive home in the "Propulsion Power Reduced mode", and I was not able to accelerate as expected - the vehicle was very sluggish. I drove home at about 45-50mph. My drive home is about 38 mi one way.
On Sunday night, I was driving around 65 mph on the 405 freeway to take my friend to the airport. I noticed that the car started to give a weird feedback sensation on the pedals and had started to jerk us forward. As I merged onto the two-lane on ramp to the 10 freeway, the car started to rapidly lose power and then completely died and went dark. I was unable to use the hazard lights as the car had just gone dark but then it turned back on but would not let me shift it into drive. As I was on a two-lane on-ramp with no shoulder in the dark, we just had to pray that no one would hit us. In doing research, I suspect that this was yet another BECM failure that has been repeatedly happening with this year of Chevrolet Volts. There was most recently a class-action lawsuit filed for this very issue. The car is currently at the dealership awaiting inspection but I am terrified to drive that car again if it even becomes drivable. Especially since there were no warning lights or signs on the vehicle to indicate that this could be an issue and to have it die on the freeway in the way that it did, putting my life and many other lives at risk, I am shocked that there hasn't been a recall for this issue.
Battery Energy Control Module failed. Car stopped unexpectedly while driving which was a huge safety issue. Car has been broken for 3 months waiting for parts which seem to be unavailable.
I have owned my 2017 Volt since November of 2016. I drive about 200 miles a week and currently my mileage is at 109,000 (9,000 miles PAST the warranty period). My car did not start one morning and had to have it towed to my local GM dealership. They diagnosed it with a bad BECM and a repair bill of $1,400. They have no estimated time on when the part will be shipped. It is unacceptable to not have an ETA for a critical part or the vehicle. I have read on many forums that the BECM is a known failure for the 2017 Volt.
Vehicle started to lose power. Showed error messages "reduced power" after a series of "shift to park" messages when first starting. Had no propulsion power until several attempts to start vehicle. Once started engine would run but all electric propulsion was inoperable. Vehicle has become totally unreliable at approx 22,000 miles, sometimes starting and sometimes not. Power loss occurs while driving which is definitely a safety hazard if on the Interstate and minimum speed can't be maintained. Have taken vehicle to dealer where it was diagnosed as a defective "BECM" (I believe a master control module attached to the main propulsion battery). The dealer has ordered a replacement module but it's been four months with no sign of a replacement. Essentially I now have an unreliable and potentially unsafe vehicle with no sign of the manufacturer trying to facilitate repairs.
Emergency warning messages appeared on 24 Aug 2022 and a day later vehicle was taken to Chevrolet dealer who first replaced a "section of the battery" and eventually verified a problem with the BECM (Battery Energy Control Module). Now (end Nov 2022) 3 months later no repair part has become available. Because we immediately took the vehicle to a dealer, we had no safety issues.
Vehicle went to low propulsion mode and would not move at a stop light during rush hour traffic. After many trial and errors restarting the car it finally moved under low propulsion mode. We were almost hit from behind many times because of people at the last minute turning around a stalled car... GM diagnosed the issue as a bad BECM (battery energy control module). Our service rep said it is a very common issue with this car and that they have a few others waiting for a replacement part. I am at month 2 waiting for my vehicle to get fixed.
A problem occurred on approx Sept 25 where the vehicle dash suddenly displays "shift to park" and no longer has any propulsion. This is dangerous, as in this case the car was stuck in the middle of traffic unable to move to the shoulder. Luckily someone helped push my wife out of the road. This is the 2nd time this summer (2022) that this has occurred. It has also occurred in the more distant past. The car goes into a mode where it cannot fully shut down or started. Shifting out of Park simply bring back the message of "Shift to Partk". I have found the only way to get the car moving was to disconnect and reconnect the battery to reset the computer. Vehicle was brought to dealership for service. Tech could find no issue associated with this problem. Shifter was replaced just to rule that out.
Vehicle Make and Model 2017 Chevrolet Volt LT -€¢Miles Currently 28,000 -€¢(Car is recalled) Energy Hybrid -€¢ The vehicle will not turn off, Motor Light Constantly on -€¢ I never received a recall letter, email not mail notification -€¢The whole car smells like smoke and gasoline when AAA gives me jumps -€¢ I-€™ve had two not at fault accidents since I-€™ve had the vehicle -€¢ CarMax sold me the vehicle in February of 2021 -€¢ I spoke with GM yesterday who stated and confirmed that my vehicle is defective and recalled -€¢ The recall states that any 2017 & other Models can-€™t be sold due to a multitude of reasons -€¢ The recall was put in place before it was sold to me -€¢ At this point, I want another vehicle (Brand New, That is recalled and damaged) I-€™m having panic attacks when trying and attempting to drive this car -€¢ I was badly injured and I still
Traveling from Mexico, we just got into yuma Arizona heading towards the 8 freeway when my volt displayed reduced propulsion and the engine light came on and the car lost power while driving on the road we had to let the car drift into a parking lot. We let the cat sit for a several minutes and the engine started up but was running hard. After that it ran a little so we decided to rent a uhaul and car hauler to get the car home. Before this happened We were about to head back to California and we were stranded there until we got an Uber to the uhaul place and rented a truck and car hauler, the car would stay on long enough for us to drive it up on the ramp so we had to push the car to get it up there. We finally did and 24 hours later we made it home hauling the cars a 3 hour ride home was turned into a nightmare. Apparently this is serious problem if the car would have stopped a while we were driving through Joshua Tree we would have been stranded on the side of the narrow road in the dark, Or on a major free way, This problem is a safety hazard to all Volt owners and it has been known and reported to happen countless of times so why is there no recall of these vehicles for this problem, people's lives are in danger, this could have turned out way worst, thank God He saved us from what could have happened. My dealer says that they are not sure what caused it and that we may have to pay for repairs. This is unacceptable because there is an obvious problem with this vehicle
At approximately 61,500 miles my Chevy Volt would not start. I had it towed to a repair facility who determined the problem was a faulty BECM (Battery Energy Control Module), but that it would still be covered by the manufacturer's warranty. So I had the vehicle towed to a dealership. The vehicle has been at the dealership for six weeks as of the time I write this, but report they have yet to diagnose the problem or offer a solution. Doing research online I have found that BECM failure is a common problem among the Chevy Volt, of all model years. And due to "supply chain disruptions" people are having to wait weeks to months for their vehicle to be repaired. Fortunately my vehicle did not fail in a dangerous location, however the BECM failure could happen randomly at any time at any mileage and appears to be a design flaw. Fortunately my vehicle is still covered by the manufacturer's warranty, but in my opinion, repair should be extended to all Chevy Volts.
BECM failure caused vehicle to lose propulsion. Could have stopped working in a dangerous situation such as an intersection, steep hill, or railroad tracks.
This is related to a long-standing issue with the failure of the Battery Energy Control Module (BECM) (part #242969-00) for the 2017 Chevrolet Volt, as well as a lack of availability of the replacement part. This is a documented problem in the NTSA database since 2016. The vehicle error messages on the dashboard include -€œunable to charge-€, -€œshift to park to start-€, -€œreduced propulsion acceleration may be limited-€. The internal combustion engine engages even with a full battery charge on an intermittent basis. Only after turning the car off and on several times or later the next day, would the problems resolve. In several instances, there was a lack of power transfer to the wheels when in drive mode and traveling on roadways, and the car had to be turned off and on to resolve this problem. The car has been inspected by a Chevrolet dealer to confirm the BECM is failing and needs to be replaced. The replacement BECM was ordered by the dealer 7 June, 2022, and neither GM or the dealer will provide a delivery date for the part. A number of postings on www.gm-volt.com reported 2017 Volts would no longer turn on or would lose power when being driven, could not be driven, and had to be towed. The NTSA database indicates approximately 250 complaints have been filed for 2017 Volts that include vehicle error messages on the dashboard for -€œunable to charge-€, -€œshift to park to start-€, -€œreduced propulsion acceleration may be limited-€ and loss of power while driving. Although no accidents or deaths were reported, this is clearly a serious safety issue that NTSA should address immediately with a mandatory safety recall.
When attempting to engage the vehicles drive system, it would occasionally fail to recognize the propulsion system battery. This could potentially leave someone stranded in dangerously high or low temperature environments without food or water. Powering off the vehicle and then powering the vehicle back on would sometimes fix the issue. The issue occurred very randomly and was unable to be reproduced once working again. It would continue to happen more frequently and require more tinkering to get it working until almost complete failure. This appears to be a common issue and found to be the result of a failed BECM (battery energy control module). It triggers the check engine light and a series of trouble codes. It is estimated that the replacement of this module takes roughly five hours. Unfortunately, supply chain issues have recently resulted in owners being without their vehicle for multiple months with no loaner vehicles available and no additional compensation. See discussion https://www.gm-volt.com/threads/becm.343297/
from all my reading and my own knowledge and what I have read on forums from others who have had the same issue, this problem is due to the cars BECM (battery energy control module) going bad unexpectedly. apparently this has happened to many other people driving the generation 2 Chevy volt at varying mileages. On the highway on her way home from work, my wife experienced a large loss of power and the car started shuddering and switching between the electric and gas powertrain as well as slowing down quite a bit. the dash showed a notification of "propulsion power reduced". the car also lost power to many of its accessories. she ended up having to pull over on the side of a busy highway and turn the car on and off again till it would finally work and managed to limp it home along back roads. if she had not had a shoulder to pull on to she would have been stuck in the middle of the highway. the car had absolutely zero issues before this, but since the incident has had a check engine light illuminated and is unable to charge unless the codes are reset. it is drivable again after getting some codes cleared but as it poses a serious hazard we are trying to find a temporary car till we can get this fixed. our car has about 100900 miles on it, but these failures happen as soon as 25k-50k on a lot of vehicles. it has not been inspected by anyone yet as it happened yesterday.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Los Angeles, CA, USA