2017 Chevrolet Volt complaints

Loss of Motive Power due to EGR Valve. I was driving down the highway when I experienced a loss of motive power and the Volt entered a reduced power state while in moving traffic. After the EV battery ran out and the ICE turned on, the following message showed up on the instrument panel "Propulsion Power Is Reduced" and the check engine light turned on. The Volt slowed down and would not accelerate to the speed of the moving traffic. I was able to get off the highway and drive home under reduced power which was still not safe. The engine ran very rough on the way home and was not able to maintain speed high enough for the flow of traffic on the roads. The dealer diagnosed the issues as a failed EGR Valve. The part was on backorder for about a month. In that time, a GM trained technician deemed the car operable (according to GM standards) and said that I could take it back and drive it on electricity only. Unfortunately, that meant that the EV range is about 40 miles in winter after a full charge and running out of electricity would again result in a hazardous loss of power. The behavior of the car under this reduced propulsion is Identical to the one in investigation PE23022 - Loss of Motive Power due to the Battery Energy Control Module. The Chevy Volt EGR Valve issue is a common problem reported in other NHTSA complaints and Volt forum posts and I am surprised that there has not been a recall. I hope that this issue is investigated same as the BECM issue. Some examples: NHT

Failure of the BECM and “Shift to park” message. The vehicle will spontaneously produce a shift to park message when starting up the vehicle and turning it off. The vehicle will also show a 0 mile EV range and use the engine where a message saying “propulsion power reduced”. This will also cause the car to shut off randomly. The vehicle has not been inspected by a shop or the dealership. There is no warning or message when this happen. Check engine will appear once the vehicle has these issues.

The latest episode with my 2017 Chevy Volt is a culmination of years of issues with the low clearance on the vehicle causing continual damage and unsafe driving conditions that require expensive repairs due to the design flaw (note - I had a 2014 Chevy Volt that had NONE of these problems). My son was driving the car a week ago and the Engine Control Module (GM part # 12700116) fell OUT of the car. This led to the car to stop driving instantly - if he had been anywhere other than a quiet residential street it could have been catastrophic. Upon having towed the vehicle to the dealership, I was informed that the wiring harness failed which led to the ECM falling onto the street. I drive this car strictly in city limits and on major highways, and despite this the bottom undercarriage is constantly damaged because it is simply to low to the ground. In addition to the repair bill of $3K+ (my 4th repair required due to this defect), the harness isn't even available and GM cannot provide an ETA for when it will be. I experienced a similar issue 6 months ago when a part was backordered for 3+ months and this is compounded by the fact that their dealerships no longer have loan car inventory. Note that there was no warning before this happened. I have tried escalating to GM but their response is essentially that I am SOL. Again - this is a design flaw of the vehicle that should have been addressed but never was. Note that this doesn't include the other continual issues (well documented

So we inspected your vehicle and it needs a battery module, that part is on back order and we have no ETA when it will come in. That is what the dealership sent me. There are people on Chevy Volt forums saying it's the EGR valve and they've been waiting months with non-working cars. Is anyone doing their job around here?

Vehicle periodically throws P0964 and P0AC4 related to TSB PIC6330. Recently, this has led to poor running of internal combustion engine and low/undrivable power, almost leaving me stranded. Took multiple restarts before I could drive the vehicle. The TSB indicates to replace part# 24285319 (internal transmission solenoid control harness) however GM indicates they have discontinued manufacture of this part. How am I supposed to get my 6 year old car fixed if GM doesn't supply the part?

EGR valve failed. Dealer supplied part has been on back order for more than five months.

I was driving and then the car turned off and was unable to restart. There was no warning. The car was fine and then it wasn't. The power steering also stops working. Fortunately I was at a red light and not in the intersection yet. The check engine light wasn't on. The BECM (battery control module) failed. I had to get the car towed to the dealership for the repair. The dealership repaired the issue for free since I was still under warranty.

All of a sudden while braking on a freeway offramp, the check engine light came on and a reduced propulsion warning came on my screen. The car ran weird for about a day, then it wouldn't start. I had it towed to a dealer, they diagnosed the BECM went bad, now my car has been there 2.5 weeks and there's no estimated ship date for the part, much less repair date. If they said they had enough parts for BECM failures, they're either lying to you or they're lying to me.

The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Volt. The contact stated that while driving approximately 65 MPH, the vehicle suddenly lost power and decelerated to 35 MPH. During the failure, the message "Reduced Power" was displayed. After turning off and restarting the vehicle, the failure remained, and the vehicle was driven to the residence at a reduced speed. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The manufacturer and local dealer were contacted. The failure mileage was 26,000.

The BECM located in the battery compartment failed The vehicle was completely immobilized and would turn on but would not "start" leaving me stranded. Away from home. The local Chevrolet dealership confirmed the BECM was at fault The vehicle gave no clear indication of a pending BECM failure before the failure

The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Volt. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, the Hybrid battery drained; however, the engine failed to activate as needed. Due to the failure, the vehicle stalled, and the contact coasted the vehicle to the shoulder of the highway. Due to the failure, the vehicle was initially towed to the residence then to the dealer. The vehicle was kept in dealer possession where repairs were made to the ECM (Electrical Control Module). Since the repair, the contact stated that the vehicle intermittently failed to start up while depressing the START/STOP button. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 20,000.

Consistent BCEM failure with volt. Power Reduced even if battery has full charge and gas is in tank. Forward Collision made unavailable without reason whilst driving. I rely on the forward collision system while driving at night in my area because of drivers cutting each other off constantly, so losing this feature without knowing why it failed feels unsafe to me. Forward collision would also activate when no vehicle is infront of me causing the car to suddenly stop and jerk on the road. Propulsion power is reduced is an extremely common occurrence in my volt. It happens randomly while driving and even while charging. When I'm on the highway the car would slow down when the warning came on; even with cars right behind me. I'm scared one day the car's system will cause an accident because of it's unpredictability. Regular maintenance has been performed and no issues have been found. The problem continues to persist.

EGR failure can cause the car to become immediately inoperable w/ no propulsion due to fuse pop. EGR required to pass emissions regulations but none are available.

On 3/11/2023, I was heading home when my vehicle lost power in the middle of the freeway. Luckily, I was able to safely pull over to the side of the freeway. Since this is a plug-in hybrid, there are two gauges showing how much electric and gas is in the car. When I checked, both showed were empty; however, although I knew that I did not have much electricity in the battery, I had nearly a full tank of gas. The vehicle should have had automatically switched over to the gas but did not. After a few minutes of leaving the car off, I was able to restart the vehicle in gas mode and drive home safely. I brought in the vehicle to my local Chevy dealership to have it diagnosed. It was determine that the computer had registerd multiple faults p0030, 31, 54, 135, 403, 405, 443, 458 and 537. They also found TSB 21-NA-116. They had found that the 15 AMP fuse was blown. They had to replace the EGR valve assembly. Total time was 2 weeks to repair as they had to wait for the parts from Chevy. Per WO, parts 12346290 (Coolant) and 12691147 (Valve) were replaced. After replacement, vehicle have been running fine for the past 9 months. Prior to the engine shutting off, there was a message on the screen while driving which says "Propulsion Power is Reduced". The electric gauge was empty but the gas tank show nearly a full tank.

Vehicle malfunctioned and was unable to be driven. Had to tow to dealership where they diagnosed the problem to be a BECM board, and new HV battery. It has been at dealership for 6 weeks at this point, with no ETA on new battery to arrive.

BECM starting to fail. Will work and then won’t work. Having issues intermittently.

The car regularly reports it is healthy and functioning correctly. It is regularly serviced and there was no advance warning of this problem. While driving the car displayed a message to the driver, something such as "reduced propulsion" and the speed of the car was reduced while the internal combustion engine intermittently raced in an uncharacteristic manner. The amber Check Engine light was displayed. A review of error codes later found a communication fault developed with the Battery Energy Control Module (BECM). As soon as it was possible, we got the car to the side of the road and shut it off. We then attempted to start the car and it displayed a warning that no key fob was present (but there was a key fob in the car). A few minutes later the car started and we were able to drive it to a service center where error codes were captured. Afterwards, the car drove as normal, and later even the amber Check Engine light was extinguished. The service center explained this could be an intermittent problem where the car will suddenly throw the error message ("low propulsion") and the car will have to be pulled to the side of the road. It will be a few weeks before the service center can do any work on the car. Since the car may start and drive, but suddenly find its speed reduced to far below the speed limit, the car can no longer be safely operated.

While driving to work, the vehicle shook a bit and entered into "reduced propulsion mode". The vehicle had a significant reduction in engine power on the road (the propulsion became very jerky), which became dangerous on the highway. There were no previous indicators of any type of issue. After brining the vehicle to the dealership, I was told it would be okay to drive until my appointment (which was scheduled for the subsequent week). Two days later, the vehicle would not start. When attempting to start the car, the "Shift to Park" message displayed. I had to get the vehicle towed to the dealership at that point. The dealership mentioned it is likely an issue with the Battery Energy Control Module (BECM). However, I'm still waiting for a resolution.

The battery energy control module failed mid drive causing my car to come to a stop in the middle of traffic. The car was towed to a dealership mechanic shop where the BECM had indeed failed. There was no signal that is was going to fail it just simply stopped and as it stopped the check engine light came on

Around the tenth of November my car, a 2017 Premier Volt bought used, began to display an information message that the propulsion power is reduces. It displayed 0 mi EV range, even though I knew I had some left. When I started to drive the engine seemed louder than usual and the check engine light was on. I pulled into a parking lot, and checked under the hood just to make sure nothing was obviously smoking or sparking. I turned the car on and off, and drove around the parking lot a few times until it resumed normal functionality, however the check engine light remained. This was after dark, when I got off work, and I drive home on Highway 49. I did not want to drive it home on the highway in the dark until the issue seemed resolved. Since the manual claimed that if I see both reduced propulsion and check engine light I should immediately take the car to my dealer, I made an appointment with them for the sixteenth of November. For the next couple days I continued to have the same issues, propulsion reduced, incorrectly displaying 0 EV miles, and the check engine light coming on. Starting and stopping the car, or driving around the parking lot a couple times seemed to temporarily solve the issues. At the dealer, I was told there is no ETA on the part, and that it is back ordered or wait listed. The issue is with the BCEM or battery energy control module. They provided me with a rental car for the time being. A few weeks have passed, so I called them today, the 11th of December

Battery Energy Control Module failed resulting in significantly reduced and unreliable propulsion power available reducing maneuverability and increasing risk of collision at speeds over 45 mph. Check Engine Light illuminated as well as a “propulsion power reduced” message on the dashboard. The problem was confirmed by a dealer and repaired under 8 year / 100000 mile voltec warranty.

On 2 separate time periods, "propulsion power reduced" message appears on dash: - 1st incident in November 2022, car would not move after powering off the vehicle. After sitting idle for a week, decided to retry, and car seemed to work normally. Took it in to Chevy service, they replaced the BECM. Car worked fine after this - 2nd incident in November 2023, again 'propulsion power reduced' message appeared. This time, however, car would suddenly cut off gas engine (even at highway speed), switching to 100% battery mode, and displaying 'Engine not available' on dashboard. Fuel level indicator would immediately display 'LOW' (even though gas tank was full). Reduced acceleration on battery mode. Car is now in same service center awaiting fix for the past month. Was quite an unsafe situation, especially at highway speeds, and especially given the fact that the battery also may have been at a low state of charge, risking complete vehicle breakdown. Coupled with both of these incidents, the cruise control intermittently shuts off, displaying 'Cruise control unavailable'. Car is lightly utilized, with just over 30k miles on the odometer to date. Additionally, the car is kept in a mild climate (coastal southern california) and parked in a covered spot shielded from sun and temperature extremes.

The battery control module failed and it was replaced at the dealership. The low propulsion mode went into effect twice before it failed and I could not drive it in my driveway. The warning lamp was on but it was on for a while before the failure due to low battery on the key fob. Chevy is aware of the problem and there is a class action lawsuit just for the battery control module issue. [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

This vehicle has a very dangerous malfunction. There was no power when I tried to move out of the way of an out-of-control semi truck while driving on the highway by pressing the pedal. I made every effort to maneuver because I was terrified. But because of the power outage, I could have died. This is really worrying, and I hope you can address the issue raised by Chevy so that someone else might be spared and so that future generations of electric cars are constructed to a standard that includes safety. Thank you.

The gm repair started the "vehicle power control module" - gm (24296765) is bad. Cause the car to stop, and not restart, 12v won't charge. dealership states the part on back order over 60 days, not expecting it any time soon.

The car started stating "put in park" every time I would try to put the car in drive. I would shift back and forth from park to drive over and over and I could get it to clear. One time it lost all power and had zero control. Sat on the side of the road for an hour. Shifting back and forth until it stopped and let me engage the drive. The last time it happened in a parking lot and it would just say"shift to park" I couldn't get it out of park. Had to have the car towed. Tow driver had to drag the car on the flat bed with a wench because it was stuck in park. Had the vehicle repaired. Replaced an electronic control module that had previous service bulletins on but GM would not cover the repairs. I was lucky I was not injured our involved in a wreck when I experienced these issues. I was not aware I could file a report about this until I read there was an open investigation on the same issue I had.

I was driving on the freeway and the engine turned off. I was able to continue driving as the hybrid system still had some charge to continue powering the car. I had to get the EGR valve replaced. No warning lights prior to this occuring but had check engine light after. Car would not shift into drive nor would it accept a charge for the main drive battery. Had to be towed to a shop and resulted in getting the Battery Energy Control Module (BECM) replaced.

The EGR valve failed, causing the loss of propulsion message on July 11 2022. This was fixed, however the message was received again in December 2022.

1. 2 BECM failures: The original BECM failed and the replacement BECM failed as well. 2. Sudden loss of electric propulsion on the freeway while my wife (pregnant at the time), my son (1 year and a half) and I were driving. The car was still driving but was unstable when steering and with weak braking. The dealership identified the issue as BECM failure and the part was changed. 3. A couple of months later the car would not start at all leaving me stranded at work. The car was towed to the repair shop. The dealership diagnosed BECM failure again. 4. There was no warning indication or message prior to these issues. 5. The vehicle was only inspected by the dealership to the best of my knowledge.

The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Volt. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the message "Propulsion System Failure" was displayed. The contact stated that the vehicle shuddered and drove rough. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated, and the “Propulsion System Failure” message was displayed before the vehicle lost motive power and stalled. The vehicle was towed to the local mechanic. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The local dealer and manufacturer were not yet notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 120,000.

The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Volt. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to start up after multiple attempts. Due to the failure, the vehicle was towed to a local dealer where the mechanic informed the contact that the 12-volt battery needed to be replaced. After the battery was replaced, the contact stated while driving 65 MPH, the Propulsion Power reduced message was displayed. The vehicle was towed to AutoNation Chevrolet West Colonial (3707 W Colonial Dr, Orlando, FL 32808) where the contact was informed that the battery had failed for a second time within two weeks and needed to be replaced. After the second 12-volt battery replacement, the vehicle started making an abnormal cranking sound while the vehicle independently surged and then lost power. The contact stated that an unknown power failure message was displayed on the instrument panel. The contact drove the vehicle to another dealer, AutoNation Chevrolet Airport (5600 Lee Vista Blvd, Orlando, FL 32812) but the vehicle was later towed back to the original local dealer. The contact was then informed that the vehicle had a defective EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) valve. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 60,000.

Sometimes when the vehicle powers on, it will not engage to drive in gas or electric mode when fully charged or with a full gas tank. Also sometimes while driving, it will say "gas mode not available propulsion limited". It frequently says "charging not available" as well. This is an on going, intermittent, problem.

The car will occasionally lose power when driving on battery. In my experience this most often occurs after turning, but can occur seemingly randomly at other times. It's a frightening experience because you just don't know when it will occur, what you'll be doing, and how it will impact other drivers. I spent $8k trying to fix the issue and took it to two dealership issues who said the transmission needs to be replaced. We got the transmission replaced, but the issue persists. The issue happens daily. I don't know what component failed, but yes, it is available for inspection. Safety is put at risk because the car randomly loses power while driving and switches to gas mode. Yes, the problem has been seen by a local dealer. No, the vehicle or component has not been inspected by the manufacturer, police, or insurance rep. No, there are no indicators of the failure before or after the loss of power.

My Volt will suddenly lose propulsion. The air conditioner will stop working and the car will not properly accelerate. There has also been multiple occasion where the car will not power on. Additionally, there has been multiple occasions where the car won’t charge. The failed component is most likely the battery engine control module. My safety and that of others is at risk because of the sudden loss of power and inability to maintain highway speeds. The issue was confirmed at the dealer. The check engine light goes on even after erasing codes, and there are 13 permanent codes related to this issue with no direct resolution. This is a recurring problem.

Started acceleration on the freeway, car couldn't turn on engine, message came on dash "reduced propulsion mode" and check engine light came on, could only drive on battery, car was very sluggish, luckily had battery to exit after a few miles to get off the freeway. Had to restart car. If I had depleted the battery as I usually do that day, I would have had a dead car on the freeway with ton of traffic buzzing me and my family.

On Nov5th 2023 the dash displayed "Shift to Park" and "Unable to Charge" and would not move. New 12v battery installed on the 7th, still had issue. OBD codes pointed to MAF and MAP sensors. Both replaced, but now "Reduced power" displayed on dash and erratic and limited to 30 mph driving function was experienced. PRND shifter replaced and car worked fine for 1 week. Then "shift to park" and difficulty to move car was happening again. Called dealer and under "reduced power" drove car to dealer on Nov 22nd. Car was erratic and I felt like it would stop moving at any time while in traffic.Now dealer has has car and they say they are not sure of solution and parts may take weeks to arrive. Saw article in Reuters about other Volt owners with same problem on Dec 1st, so I'm adding my car to the group. Thanks!

Becm module is failing currently we have an engine check light that illuminates every other drive. Started November 26th. We experienced reduced propulsion message . We have experience the car not going into gear to drive or go reverse. It seems these issues occur at random. Check light codes are u2619-u2624. A dealership will be taking a look at the car on Monday

Car intermittantly lost propultion while driving. this started happening more and more frequently. One time driving on the freeway propulsion cut out and I barely made it to the side of the road. Put the car in park and it would start again. Drive for a few hundred feet then it would cut out again. Finally took it into the dealer when I was driving down the highway and propulsion cut out and I was stuck in the middle of traffic. As I was driving the instrument cluster power remained on but the engine just cut out. I was using the electric motor at the time but this is happened on the ice as well. As I rolled to a stop in the middle of traffic I put it in park so that I could restart the car as I had been able to previously but it would not start. It would not let me shift the car out of park into neutral so I could push it to the side of the road. After several attempts of disconnecting the battery and the high voltage battery I was able to get the car out of park into neutral. Even when I shifted the car into drive the propulsion system would not work, a officer stopped traffic to allow me to push the car to the side of the road. After getting to the dealer they were able to determine that a ground strap to the engine chassis was at fault. It interrupted the communication on the can bus which wouldn't allow the ECU to communicate with the drivetrain Which just shut down the propulsion system. This was extremely scary I have attached a snapshot of fault codes and snapshots of

On the morning of April 27, 2022, our 2017 Chevy Volt, with what I believe to be a fully charged high voltage battery (was plugged in to charge the entire previous night) and at least a quarter tank of gas, would not start either the electrical or gasoline drive train. The 12 volt battery showed low voltage, so I purchased and replaced the 12 volt battery. The Volt continued to not start in either gas or electric propulsion mode. Checked the OBD 11 codes, and they matched up with what was reported on line to be Battery Energy Control Module (BECM) failure. On May 3, 2022, the Volt was put on a flatbed and taken to Holz Motors in Milwaukee. They verified the BECM failure, ordered new BECM, and was told none were available. Put on waiting list for BECM, and the Volt was repaired 8 weeks later on June 28, 2022. Cost of repair was $2439.63. Volt had 110,875 miles on it and was out of warranty. Not happy to bear the full cost of replacement of the BECM, but felt fortunate that it failed while parked in my garage. There were NO symptoms leading up to failure, and the car was totally unable to move. Overnight voltage drop of the 12 volt battery (the one I replaced also went dead) meant that operation of door locks, etc would also soon have occurred. Outcome would have been much worse if this failure had occurred while driving.

I was making a left turn at a light and the vehicle suddenly popped up “shift to park” warning on the dash and simultaneously lost power. The vehicle would only roll under what momentum was generated prior to the warning. Luckily I was able to get through the turn and coast safely off to the side of the road. Chevy volt is currently at the dealership being assessed. They are telling me I will need a new 12v battery and new gear shifter for $1100.00. These were replaced, but the dealership called and told me I will now need a new ECM, or something like that, for an additional $2400.00. Car is currently at Ricart Chevrolet in Dublin,OH waiting on my decision. And I’m being told the part needed is on backorder and may be a month to arrive. After researching this, it seems Chevy knows about this issue and seems very irresponsible to knowingly put volt owners in harms way. Needless to say I’m not happy and feel something should be done by Chevy to rectify the situation.

Egr valve failed causing walk home fuse to blow causing vehicle to shut down while driving. Check engine light did come on. The problem was reproducible as car would not start, egr valve needed replacement. I would like to add that the video on youtube on cleaning the egr valve for this car has 27000 views, with is more than 1/3 of the number of Chevy Volts of this generation that have been sold. This is a serious and consistent issue.

During a drive the car began warning of loss of propulsion. The vehicle is at a dealer waiting for repair since Oct 16, 2023. There is no ETA on back ordered EGR valve that the technician anticipates a fix.

BECM issues causing vehicle to lose power, not go in to park, will not remote start, battery failure, and not turning on or not turning off when prompted.

I was driving home from a client meeting on the highway and received a check engline light with the message "Propulsion Power is Reduced." After a trip to the dealership, I learned that the car's Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) valve malfunctioned and needs to be replaced. Some online research shows that this is a very common issue with Chevrolet Volts. What's worse, the part is back ordered indefinitely because they're not manufacturing enough of them. I know NHTSA is looking into the Battery Energy Control Module (BECM) issue as well. I'm very worried about when happens when/if this fails too and if it happens out of warranty. There should be recalls on both of these common failures and GM should make sure there they're a) all replaced and b) people don't have to wait months to get parts needed for their cars.

The vehicle stopped operating on the highway suddenly and without warning and would not restart. I had it towed to the Chevrolet dealer. They determined power train parts were required which were backordered. They are unclear on which parts. The car has been at the dealer for 2 months waiting for parts. They have no estimate on when they will have the parts. I am concerned about the reliability issue and also that they don't have the parts to fix it for months on end.

BECM Failed without warning. vehicle was inoperable until the part was replaced

Was driving on the highway at approximately 70mph for a couple of hours, when I suddenly received a check engine light and "Reduced Propulsion Power" message. Engine temperatures were much higher than normal (220F-240F). Was able to get the car to a Chevrolet dealership eventually where they diagnosed the Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) valve as faulty. There are no parts available for months. Any time that I drive on gas power at highway speeds, engine temperatures are high and cruise control has disengaged. This is a safety issue as I am not always able to maintain speed during extended highway driving when using the gas engine.

BECM failure, covered by warranty but required towing that I had to pay out of pocket. Have been waiting a week for the repair to be completed and the dealer is refusing to provide a loaner vehicle.

Any time the car switches from battery to gasoline the 12v battery comes on, I get the message to shift into park, and the car shuts off. This happens multiple times a day, making it difficult to drive long distance. It also makes it difficult to work more than a couple of hours at a time as an Uber driver. It has happened on the highway, very dangerous.

Car is having a few problems in relations to the BECM