2017 Chevrolet Volt complaints

-- My 2017 Chevrolet Volt experienced a failure of the Battery Energy Control Module (BECM) in the powertrain system. This failure prevented my vehicle from being driven. The BECM and related battery pack components were replaced under warranty by a Chevrolet dealership. Those parts, to my knowledge, are not available for inspection. -- From a safety perspective, my vehicle was luckily parked when the failure occurred. Many Volt owners have reported -- via online Volt forums and on Reddit at r/volt -- that the failure has occurred while the vehicle is in motion, resulting in a safety issue when the vehicle loses power and stops in the middle of a street or highway. -- A Chevrolet dealership confirmed my vehicle's BECM failure through diagnosis and code reading (see attached documentation). In my case, the BECM initially failed and I lost the ability to drive my vehicle when it was stopped in a parking lot (while I was on vacation, 225 miles from my home). I left the dead vehicle in the parking lot overnight. The next day I was able to start the vehicle and drive it to the nearest EV-certified Chevrolet dealership, where the BECM permanently failed in the dealership's service entrance. I watched the dealership service staff push the dead vehicle into the service bay. It should be noted that I was lucky -- the replacement BECM part was available from GM to the dealership in two days. NHTSA will receive complaints from other Volt owners who waited weeks and MONTHS for a replacem

Cart fails to start nearly every time I try to start it. BECM failure seems to be the issue. Car instructs to shift to park then fails to start until eventually it clicks over and will start in gas mode. Sometimes will randomly flag into low propulsion mode while driving, which majorly affects acceleration speed. Car will no longer charge and must be used in gas mode due to known electrical defects. Sometimes have to wait 10+ minutes for the car to start.

BECM failure resulted in a situation where the vehicle drove with erratic surging power delivery throwing engine codes P1E00, U2603,U2604, U2605,U2606 Regen braking in this vehicle has a dedicated control on the steering wheel which applies only regen braking no friction brakes. When battery state of charge is high this can result in a situation where the regen braking button abruptly (i.e. during one extended activation of the button) delivers less brake force than the user is demanding.

The EGR Valve has failed and they have not provided a replacement yet. Been 4 months. Decline to give an ETA.

In the last couple months, have received multiple warnings regarding reduced propulsion that, as I understand is a potential failure related to the BECM. Besides the warning, I haven’t noticed any major change in performance, but I am concerned there may be a defect. I haven’t yet contacted dealer about this issue, but I noticed there was a formal report made about this and wanted to be sure my vehicle was included in the count.

The check engine light came on in my car with the message "service charging system." I took the car to the deal and they determined it was the battery control module that was failing. They told me the car would eventually stop turning on and I could either take it and drive it until it wouldn't turn on or I could leave it with them until they got a replacement part that is currently on backorder with no estimated time they can get it. I asked if the car was safe to drive and if it would stop working while I was driving, they assured me it would not stop while I was driving. I opted to take the car home and on my home, while driving, the car died on me. Luckily I was already in a turn lane and was able to get off in a neighborhood. The car gave me a message "propulsion system unavailable" while I was driving and would not power the car forward or backwards. This happened about six weeks ago and I am still waiting for the replacement part.

Chevy Volt's Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) system valve and cooler The EGR system on these cars are faulty. I have had to take this car in multiple times related to the EGR. In Septemer 2023 car suddenly stopped on middle of highway putting my life in danger. At dealership Pohanka Chevy in Northern Virginia, I was told it was the EGR valve, I had the EGR cooler replaced by the same dealership in 2023 so I took the car to Koons Chevy in Northern Virginia for a second opinion. The dealership indicated that this is very common problem with Chevy Volts and they said the parts are not available for it. Apparently the last customer waited 3 months. Currently the car will not run on the gas engine but only on the electric which is about 40 to 50 miles which makes it non useable for me. In addition, the car will not part emissions test rendering it against the law for me to use even if the engine was running. I reported this to Chevy corporate (case number XXX) and now it has been multiple months and nothing has happened except Chevy sending me a email every ten days indicating they do not have a part. They will not also give me a rental (I have to pay out of pocket and they will reimburse me which is something I cannot afford). Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? Yes, I took it to two chevy dealerships in Northern Virginia and one in Georgetown Delaware. They cannot correct the issue since there are no EGR valves. The car will no

The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Volt. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the "Propulsion Power Reduced" message would appear on the instrument panel. In addition, several other unknown messages appeared on the instrument panel during the failure. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where the mechanic was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The contact stated that it took hours for the vehicle to start up after multiple failed attempts. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline. Upon investigation, the contact linked the failure to Manufacturer Communication Number: 18-NA-261.The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 99,000.

Intermittent starting Had car towed to auto shop Auto shop stated that the B.E.C.M Board is going out Battery Energy Control Module G.M Has a class action lawsuit over this matter

As reported by the dealer the Battery Energy Control Module (BECM) has failed. Car initially did not start but then did start with a check engine light and a "Propulsion Power is Reduced" warning. Vehicle has approximately 56,500 miles. Car could have abruptly stopped or slowed considerably while driving. Chevrolet dealer is blaming the current UAW strike for complete lack of replacement parts. They also state there is no way to forecast a delivery date of the part. I am out a vehicle for an unknown amount of time with no promise that GM will reimburse me for out of pocket expenses for a rental vehicle.

While driving after the electric battery is used and switches over to gas, I have been getting the check engine, ABS, steering, parking, and brake lights. I have lost power steering, lost the speedometer, lost fuel range, lost stabilitrak, it has randomly turned on the emergency brake while all these other things are happening, It also has said “shift to park”, propulsion power reduced. I have taken it to the dealer and they read some of the codes but say they can’t find anything wrong and they need to be able to reproduce the problem to find it. I lost all propulsion and pulled over and turned it off and it stopped with a “clunk.” Then I turn it back on and just the check engine light is on. I’m very afraid to drive it but with the lack of vehicles available to buy and the dealer not knowing how to fix it I don’t know what to do.

Random no starts, engine turns on at random, won’t charge, car jerks, hesitation while driving, hard to climb mountain roads, Battery Energy Control Module Lost Communication With Hybrid/EV Battery Interface Control Module 1-12

In 2020 my 2017 Chevrolet Volt had an intermittent problem turning off. My Chevrolet dealer worked to fix the problem. This March I had an accident which involved me thinking the car was shut down. I was half way out of the car when I realized it was moving. Before I could get completely in to apply the brakes, I had hit and pushed an object into a building which caused damage to the building and my car. The was a police report which states that I was at fault. My car was towed to my. Chevrolet dealer for repair. The repair took about two months mostly due to obtaining shifting parts. I can now drive the car but the parts to replace the shifting mechanism is still on back order. It is now early October. The “shift into park” as I think the problem has been named, is still an intermittent problem for me. Sometimes the car shuts down promptly as it should. Sometimes however, I go though the process of shutting down a few times before I am confident that the car has really turned off. I would like to know if this defect has caused other accidents. If so, it my mitigate my responsibility for my my accident which has caused me grief and a large increase in my insurance premium. Another reason I am writing is because There has been a report of a fatal accident in Vienna Township, near Flint, Michigan involving a women being pinned under her car after exiting to check her mail box. The article in “M-Live” paper by Joey Oliver [XXX]. The supposition was that she thought her car was i

The service airbag indicator and airbag light illuminated on my dash. I took the vehicle to the dealership and was told the passenger presence module needs replaced. Without this repair, all airbags in the vehicle are disabled when the light is on. Yes, its been reproduced by the Chevrolet dealer.

The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Volt. The contact stated that while driving approximately 65 MPH the message "low brake fluid" suddenly displayed before multiple warning lights began to illuminate and the vehicle stalled. While the vehicle was coasting on the shoulder the contact discovered that the braking system had malfunctioned and the vehicle did not stop when pressing the brake pedal. After coasting to a stop the contact noticed smoke coming from the front end of the vehicle. Eventually, the flames engulfed the front end of the vehicle and the fire department was called to the scene and extinguished the flames. The vehicle was destroyed and towed away. A fire report was taken at the scene. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The manufacturer and local dealer were notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 40,000.

The shifter of the car will NOT go into park! It takes forever. Have to shut it off, start it back up, and keep trying to get it to work. It's insane! This has to be recalled. Literally thousands of people are having this exact same problem. It's all over the internet. And I wouldn't mind if it were a simple $50 repair, but this is a $500 to $600 thing to fix and it's just not right. The gear shift cable is not long enough. Chevy knows this because they've manufactured a cable extension that needs to be installed. What does that tell you? Manufacturers defect! Please recall these vehicles for this problem and get them to repair their factory mistake. Thank you. Sincerely & Respectfully, [XXX] . INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

After looking up an issue with my Volt, I learned that this is a big safety issue and very common. When I put the car in park there is now an intermittent issue that says "shift to park" on the display and the car will not shut off, and I cant confirm that the car is actually in Park.

My Chevrolet Volt at 66,XXX miles had a battery energy control module (BECM). We bought the vehicle used three months ago from a dealer, but are just now seeing that the BECM is a very common complaint for Chevrolet Volts. This issue leaves the driver stranded and the vehicle bricked without the unit being able to be moved as it cannot be moved into neutral in order to be moved to safety.

The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Volt. The contact stated while shifting the into park(P), the gear shift indicator failed to register park (P) and registered that the transmission was still in drive(D) and the vehicle failed to turn off as needed. The contact stated the “Shift to Park” warning light was illuminated. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer to be repaired. The vehicle was not yet diagnosed or repaired. Upon investigation, the contact associated with the failure with TSB: 19NA206; however, the manufacturer informed the contact that the vehicle was not included. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 79,600.

The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Volt. The contact stated that while parked, the transmission was shifted into reverse (R); however, the vehicle failed to reverse. Additionally, the contact stated that while the transmission was shifted into drive (D) the vehicle failed to move. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer, who informed the contact that the body control module (BCM) needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 115,000.

When the EV charge runs out and car turns on gas engine. Gas engine will run for a few minutes and then turn off with an error message on dashboard. Car will only drive safely for as long as you have EV power, which is a problem since the gas engine is used when the EV power runs out. Mine failed on an interstate, but I made it to a safe place to stop only because I had a tiny bit of EV charge left due to my practice of using hold mode to save some battery power on long interstate drives. Service reported back that it is a faulty EGR valve and I am waiting to find out if they can even get the part in stock. GM is not adequately stocking these EGR valves. The failure rate from known manufacturing/design defects is higher than the rate that they restock them. These cars are not street legal when the EGR valve fails due to their inability to pass emissions testing since the EGR failure causes the service engine soon light to be on. An owner cannot renew the registration to legally drive the vehicle once the EGR valve fails, the whole car is undriveable without the part being available.

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.

Vehicle displays warning "Shift to park" sometimes when vehicle in placed in park. Vehicle will not lock properly and drains battery if left in this state. Vehicle is unable to turn off while this message is present and the only way to get it to go away is to repeatedly shift the vehicle in and out of park and attempt to turn it off. This issue is commonly reported with several GM models. TSB 19-NA-206 was published for this issue in September 2019, but the repair is not covered under a recall at this time.

Door locks fail to lock or unlock on occasion. In certain scenarios this leaves the driver and passengers with a feeling of being unsafe.

“Shift to Park” error. When attempting to park the vehicle, an ‘action required’ alert pops up on the dash advising to “shift to park” when the vehicle is already in park. The vehicle will not lock once this message is prompted.

The car was been driving, shifting, and turning off normally for 10 months. Then last week, I started to get a "Shift to Park" message on the dashboard when I tried to turn off the car. On all occasions, I was stopped and the shift gear was in park, but the car kept running. I could not get the "Shift to Park" message to stop. I finally had to hit Power again, shift the car from park to drive, then return it to park. After a couple attempts, the electrical system changed to "Park." This has now happened over 10 times. I'm concerned at some point the trick will stop working and I won't be able to power off the car.

While driving the 2017 Chevy Volt, for about 20 minutes, the electrical system shut down. The warning said to put the car into park and look at the screen. The first instance the car was traveling at 45 mph, the second time it was on the freeway at 70 mph. At this point the check engine light came on. After turning the car off and on three times the car was able to be driven, but it happened again on the next leg of our journey.The Volt at first would not charge. It said "charge not available", then after about an hour the Volt was able to be charged. We believe it is the battery charging module being defective. GM was sued for this very problem, and lost, but has not issued a recall on this very dangerous occurrence. It has issued a bulletin to it's employees, but again, has not addressed the issue.

After putting the vehicle in park and turning off the engine, the car gives a warning that the car is not in park. The main problem with the inability to shift into the park gear is that I anm unable to shut off my vehicle, which could potentially drain the battery. Consumers have been unable to exit, lock, and turn off their vehicles due to the shifting malfunction. The true issue at hand here is not that the vehicle is unable to physically shift into the park gear, but the vehicle is incapable of detecting the shift. Typically, when this malfunction occurs, the driver will receive a “Shift to Park” message on the driver information center, even if the gear selector is moved to park and the ignition is switched to the off position. The driver then must either restart the vehicle and try to repeat the shutting down process or toggle the shifter enough that the vehicle’s electrical system finally detects the shift change. While this strategy sometimes does the trick—it doesn’t always work, and drivers are stuck with a vehicle that will not shift into park.

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

Several times since I purchased the car in Jan 2022, the left and/or right front brakes have dragged without brake pedal actuation while I was driving in surface street traffic, typically with speed limits of 25 to 35 mph. This has resulted in overheating of the brake caliper, rotor, and wheel. Typically the car can be driven again without issue after two hours of cool-off time. This phenomenon has occurred during both battery/electric and gasoline engine operation of the plug-in hybrid car. There are no instrument indications of a brake malfunction when it happens. It first becomes perceptible as a pulsation through the steering wheel and requires increased throttle pedal pressure to maintain speed. I brought the car to my local Chevrolet dealer after the first two of these incidents. Their first recommendation was a new set of tires to remove the influence of one mismatched tire. The new tires did not resolve the issue, and the dealer has not performed any other corrective action beyond a recommendation to replace calipers and rotors. Due to the intermittent nature of the failure and the fact that it affects both of the front brakes, I believe this is an ABS system issue and not a caliper/rotor issue, and I have not replaced those parts yet. The car's adaptive cruise control does not work properly. It almost always fails to set and shows "Adaptive Cruise Temporarily Unavailable" regardless of road conditions. This condition is intermittent and is not reproducible on demand.

While driving down the freeway, the steering starting chattering. After a few miles, the steering became erratic and would not stay centered. I exited the freeway, and halfway through the offramp turn, the power steering completely failed. This cause the car to become very hard to steer.

The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Volt. The contact stated while driving 30 MPH, the message “Loss Of Power Proportion" was displayed, and the vehicle stalled. The contact was able to veer to the side of the road. The vehicle was able to restart. The contact was able to drive to the residence; however, the vehicle failed to restart while in the garage. The contact stated that upon investigating the failure online, he became aware that the failure mostly occurred in cold weather. As the weather became warmer, the contact was able to restart the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the Battery Energy Control Module (BECM) had failed and needed to be replaced; however, the part was not available. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the part was not available. The failure mileage was approximately 36,436.

The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Volt. The contact stated that while driving approximately 40 mph, another unknown vehicle crashed into his vehicle which went airborne and over the median. There were no warning lights to illuminate. A police report was not filed. There was no reported fire or air bag deployment. The contact sustained injuries to his neck and back and medical attention was provided. The vehicle was towed to a body shop who informed him the battery was scratched. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer where the battery electronic module was damaged due to being dropped. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted but no additional assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 78,000.

Loss of power propulsion while driving Eventually vehicle completely stoped. After doing some research this is a common occurrence. Highly dangerous and it seems the manufacturer is aware but ignoring the problem. This problem can cause accidents and also leave people stranded in isolated areas.

When I got home at 11:50 am at March 4, 2023. The shift-to-park error message came up and prevented shutoff and driving. The car kept running in my garage which pause great danger to my house and my family. The weather is freezing cold with rain and snow. We are scare to stay in the house and afraid of explosion. I contacted Chevy and its dealers. All could not find tech to support. Then I searched on websites. There are tons of complaints that Chevy knows the problem in multiple car modes but resist to make a recall. Also Chevy lost a case due to damage by shift to park error.

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 evaporative emissions pipe has a hole in it. This same issue has been previously associated with a recall. The dealer (Andy Mohr Chevrolet - Plainfield) reported that it was fixed in 2020 and declined to do service without me paying for it.

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.

When attempting to turn off the vehicle, an error message "action required - shift to park" appears even though the shifter is in the park position.

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.

The two original equipment hydraulic struts that support either side of the rear trunk lid failed. It is available for inspection. The safety of my husband and I is/was put at risk because when you open the trunk, the lid is not staying up like it did, causing it to crash down on your head, back of neck, shoulder, arm, hand, etc., causing injury that is potentially fatal. The faulty parts are still in place and not inspected yet by a dealer, service center, police or insurance company. No warnings given for this faulty equipment, hence the danger of its unexpected suddenness. It started about 2 weeks ago. I spoke with General Motors, the Florida DMV and the Chevrolet dealership where the car was purchased and is taken for repairs.

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 pull into a parking space. Place the gear in Park and then attempt to turn the car off by pressing the Power button. I then receive a warning message informing me: Action Required Shift Car to Park The car gear is already in Park and the driver display console also shows the car is in “P” (Park). The car will not lock. I have to turn the car on and off and switch the gear back and forth placing back into P (Park) several times until the car realizes it’s in Park and allows me to turn it off. This started happening when the car hit about 36,000. The car has approximately 40,000 miles now.

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.

Our vehicle is a 2017 Chevrolet Volt VIN: [XXX], leased/purchased new delivered 12-31-2016. Vehicle experienced an unexpected loss of power when the check engine light came on and we had to immediately pull off the road. The vehicle is currently at the dealership waiting on the Battery Control Module (BCM) P/N: 24296900 and we have a Case open with [XXX]. We are told the part is not available, only 14 in stock nationwide, and are not being released as they are reserved already. No expected delivery date for the module. Noticed a class action lawsuit may be in the works. Wanted to ensure you had another record of vehicles affected. https://www.classaction.org/news/2016-2019-chevy-volts-suffer-from-battery-energy-control-module-defect-class-action-claims#embedded-document INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

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.

Our car would not start. Took to dealer for repair. They changed 12 volt baterie and a fuse. Next couple days later same problem. No start or baterie. Took back to the dealer they diagnosed a bad becm battery electric control module. They have had it for 2 weeks with no estimate on when the part will be available. I understand it is common failure on volt cars.