2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV acceleration problems

Filed Dec 22, 2025 · Acceleration, Fuel system · MD

Vehicle started to surge while driving (both small acceleration forward and large deceleration) without any change in brake or accelerator position. Eventually a "Propulsion Power Reduced" message was presented on the console followed immediately by no forward propulsion (accelerator completely unresponsive) and forced to coast to a stop on the side of the highway. Car refused to shift out of park or neutral following breakdown. Car taken to dealer to troubleshoot and was told that a P0A3F code was present and that the engine harness needed to be replaced in accordance with the federal safety agency bulletin 19-NA-220. This bulletin calls out that the harness was likely damaged during initial install at factory and the dealer representative confirmed that the pins were damaged as described. Car was given back to drive home after harness was checked (owner decided to explore options before scheduling repair), but broke down due to surging and complete loss of power within 2 miles of dealer. Troubleshooting to confirm harness damage is suspected to have worsen the condition and made un-commanded accel/deceleration followed by complete loss of power likely. Uncertain why this condition would be exempt from recall if OEM is aware of installation issues at factory. Driving with this condition was as bad or worse than other type model loss of power conditions that have been recalled. Recommend at least clarifying that cars confirmed to fall under this bulletin and associated inspection should not be deemed roadworthy until a repair is made.

Filed Aug 19, 2025 · Acceleration, Brakes · MN · crash · 1 injury

On August 17th, 2025, my wife was driving our 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV at low speed, pulling into a parking spot. The vehicle suddenly accelerated forward with enough force to cause significant damage to a fixed barrier. She does not recall pressing the accelerator at that moment. The degree of acceleration was disproportionate for a brief accidental press. Immediately after impact, smoke or dust was visible rising through the center console area. No airbags deployed, but it appeared similar to smoke from pyrotechnic devices. My wife sustained seatbelt-related bruising across the chest and thighs. The vehicle remains drivable. I have included photos detailing damage to the car and the fixed barrier. We are aware of the GM accessory all-weather floor liner recall (21E-089), but are not certain if our vehicle’s liner was part of that campaign. We are reporting this incident to ensure there is a record in case this reflects unintended acceleration or another defect.

Filed Aug 12, 2025 · Acceleration, Brakes · MO

This tends to only happen below 74 degrees Fahrenheit and happens excessively between 72 and 74 degrees Fahrenheit. While driving with one pedal engaged (labeled as low on the shifter since they re-used another model's shifter for the first several years of the Bolt EV), the cruise control will randomly disengage and force the vehicle to immediately slam on the brakes. Usually its not a big deal, but when it happens at highway speed as you're just passing a semi or large vehicle and merging back into the lane in front of it, it becomes dangerous very quickly, which has happened a couple of times now. I would venture a guess that its not related to the cruise control directly, but some system that its relying on is forcing it to deactivate the cruise control. The only other issue this vehicle is having that might be related is that the blind spot detection system is not working correctly on the left side. I know there's a TSB for the aluminum Butyl tape becoming damaged or missing, but if that's causing my car to slam on its brakes in front of fully loaded semis, Chevy should probably be persuaded into re-coding how their cruise control gets disengaged. Especially since this blind spot detection system issue seems somewhat common. Either way, something is causing my car to randomly slam on its brakes in the middle of the highway and Chevy says there's nothing they can do about it because its not setting a code. This is definitely a dangerous safety issue that they should be forced into actually diagnosing more than just plugging a computer in and saying: "whelp, nothing to see here." and returning it to the customer with a "we can't do anything, sorry."

Filed Dec 20, 2024 · Acceleration · 84,000 miles · OH

The contact owns a 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV. The contact stated while driving 30 MPH, the vehicle started to lose motive power, prompting the contact to attempt to pull over to the shoulder of the roadway. The contact stated that the vehicle suddenly accelerated independently. The contact was able to bring the vehicle to a complete stop and the vehicle returned to normal functionality. The traction control and ABS warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the front wheel driveshaft speed sensor. The vehicle was repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to Technical Service Bulletin No: 22-NA-089. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 84,000.

Filed Nov 3, 2020 · Acceleration, Brakes · 46,000 miles · CA

Installed chevrolet premium all-weather floor liners p/n: 42686568. While passing on the highway, the accelerator pedal became stuck at full throttle under the liner. Unable to shift to neutral and with minimal slowing from pressing the brakes, I had to reach down and tug on the mat until it dislodged from the pedal. I got off the highway and examined the liner finding that one of the securing clips had come unattached (likely from tugging on it). I reattached and verified correct mat installation. Later while passing another vehicle on the highway the accelerator became stuck again causing uncontrolled acceleration. Examining the mat afterwards, the securing clips were still attached correctly. Additional information: the clips that secure the floor mat/liner are only attached to the vehicle carpet and not rigidly affixed. When correctly installed the lip of the liner rises up and ends with almost no clearance to the gas pedal, then with only a slight movement of the liner it can entrap the accelerator pedal. Over time with forward foot pressure on the liner, there is just enough movement in the liner and clips to allow it to shift slightly forward and to the right causing an interference fit with the accelerator pedal. It appears that when both the accelerator and brake pedals are pressed at the same time, the power to the electric motor continues to be applied. Testing this afterward showed that with a foot on both pedals, the electric power meter still showed power being applied and the vehicle braking performance was severely diminished. During an emergency, a quick flick of the shifter from drive to neutral does not work. The shifter must be held for a longer duration, which is not intuitive when the vehicle is accelerating uncontrollably and both hands are on the wheel.

Filed Jul 8, 2020 · Acceleration, Driver assistance · 40,779 miles · CO

While driving the speed limit of 45 miles per hour, the car jolted and lights in the car went on. Transmission light, brake light, stability track light, service park assist light, service steering light, etc. This caused me a challenge in driving the car on a two lane road because the steering became more difficult and there was not a big enough shoulder to pull onto the side of the road. Bring car into dealer and find that the front wheel bearing and hub need to be replaced, the first time this occurred was when the brand new car was about a year old (we did have 18311 miles on the vehicle). About a year later (15 months later), the same incident occurred and the same parts needed to be replaced again. However, we were outside of the warranty due to mileage and they no longer wanted to replace the broken parts under warranty. The same parts should not go out year after year on a brand new car! We asked if there was a recall on parts and were told no. The part numbers on both invoices - sl-n-washer (04710-c); sl-n- nut (06056-bc); sl-n-washer (06056-c); sl-*-n- bearing (060311-c)

Filed Nov 27, 2019 · Acceleration, Engine · CA · crash · 1 injury

While slowing to make a stop at an intersection, the vehicle experienced sudden acceleration and would not stop. The car struck the vehicle in front of it a couple of times and continued to accelerate.

Filed Jun 11, 2019 · Acceleration, Fuel system · 40,292 miles · CA

While in motion the car began to erratically speed up & slow down without the driver depressing either the acceleration pedal or the brake. The result was the jumping & bucking of the car & passengers within. Upon taking the car to chevy repair, it was discovered that the wheel speed sensor was damaged because of a faulty washer in the axle that broke. The broken washer parts entered the wheel hub, damaging both the wheel hub & the speed sensor.

Filed Apr 2, 2018 · Acceleration · 550 miles · IL · crash

While turning into an angled parking spot in a parking lot, the car accelerated unexpectedly. Before I could engage the brake, the car went over the concrete berm separating rows of parking spaces and hit two parked cars. All three vehicles were damaged (the vehicle I was driving, and the two parked vehicles). Weather was not a factor. The parking lot was dry and free of snow and ice. The temperature was ~40f. The car was new (3 months old) with ~550 miles on the odometer. The same behavior (unexpected acceleration) happened ~1 month earlier under similar conditions, I.e., dry, snow/ice free while turning into an angled parking place. Fortunately, that time I was able to engage the brake before damage was done. In both cases, the cause of the behavior is not known.

Filed Jan 2, 2018 · Acceleration · 1,113 miles · NY

Driving home in my 2017 chevrolet bolt EV, when I was about 3 miles from home and the charge/range display showed a "minimum" 15 mile range remaining (see dashboard photo), the message "charge vehicle soon" displayed and the bolt abruptly came to a complete stop. This occurred while driving up a steep, snow-covered stretch of road, and left my vehicle stationary in the middle of its lane, an incredibly unsafe situation. After some experimenting, I discovered that simply dismissing the "charge vehicle soon" message using the "checkmark" button on the steering wheel restored vehicle power and allowed me to drive the rest of the way home. So apparently what happened is that when the car reached about 8% battery power (15 miles remaining divided by 185 at a full charge), it automatically dropped into some sort of low power mode that left it unable to climb a hill. Thankfully in this case, the roads were almost deserted and no one was hurt, but obviously the potential for an accident is very high when a vehicle suddenly stops in the middle of a road. This vehicle behavior is not described in the owner's manual. On page 231, it is stated that at some point when the battery's charge is very low, a "propulsion power is reduced" message will display and the "accelerator pedal response is reduced". However, the following sentence reads, "in addition, the remaining range value will change to low indicating the vehicle should be charged immediately." that never happened in my case. The "propulsion power is reduced" message never displayed (though propulsion power clearly was reduced), and as can be clearly seen in the posted photo, the minimum range displayed as 15 miles. There was no conceivable reason for the car to shut down with that mileage remaining. I assume this was the result of defective vehicle software or electronics, and it is a clear safety issue.