2019 Chevrolet Bolt EV fuel system problems

Filed May 10, 2023 · Electrical, Fuel system · WA

While driving on the freeway at 65 mph during morning rush-hour, the vehicle unexpectedly decelerated without warning and came to a stop. The vehicle was barely able to make it to the shoulder before losing all momentum. There is a high-risk of a fatal collision when a vehicle unexpectedly stops or drastically slows on a freeway with 65 - 70 mph traffic, which is compounded during peak travel times. This is a risk to not only the vehicle occupants, but other drivers and vehicles as well. Several error messages were displayed on the dashboard as the car was decelerating: Drivetrain malfunction: Stop and turn off engine; Service high voltage battery system; Service Vehicle Soon; Unable to shift. The battery range dropped from just under 50% (~115 mi) to 0 while attempting to pull over on the shoulder. After the vehicle was stopped, it was unable to be powered off for about an hour. It was not successful in shifting or moving and the battery range showed 0. An hour and a half (1.5 hours) after the incident, the vehicle would power on and show a battery range between 121 - 110, which would drop to 0 within 15 seconds with a message that it is unable to charge. At the time of the incident, OnStar sent an email stating that "A critical issue with the engine and transmission system in your 2019 Chevy Bolt has been detected. Please service your vehicle immediately." The battery had been replaced the week of February 5th, 2023 per several product safety recall notices . There was one issue on February 18th, 2023 that the battery range was not updating, but it corrected itself after being parked for 3 hours. There were no other previous issues or indications of a problem prior to vehicle malfunction. The vehicle is currently being diagnosed by a dealer. It is currently available for inspection. The electrical, propulsion, and powertrain (and possibly speed control) systems did not function properly.

Filed Apr 21, 2023 · Fuel system · TX

After driving the car for roughly 60-75 minutes while at highway speeds and within the posted speed limits: 65mph-75mph, the car will chime and the driver information panel will flash "Propulsion Reduced." At that point, the vehicle's electrical propulsion will gradually reduce to a maximum output power of roughly 20KW. The propulsion will stay capped at 20KW for a bit of time (15-20 minutes) and then gradually the cap will increase. Unfortunately, on I-25 in southern Colorado where this usually occurs, the speed limit is 75mph and and 20KW of propulsion results in the vehicle traveling on the interstate at roughly 45-55mph which results in very unsafe situations. That road has a minimum speed of 55mph. This happened on the first day that I purchased the car, I can reproduce it with my family in the car, but the dealer has been unable to reproduce it. I have had the Chevrolet dealership inspect it multiple times, but they can not find a fault. It has happened when ambient temperatures are as low as 28F and as high as 98F there does not appear to be a correlation there. I have had it happen when the battery has a SOC of 70% and as low as 25%, that also does not show a correlation. I have seen a correlation with passengers/weight in the vehicle as that requires more KW of output to propel the car. Likewise, consistent average speed has a correlation. If traveling at 75mph (posted speed limit) the propulsion reduction will occur sooner rather than traveling at 73mph.

Filed Feb 23, 2023 · Electrical, Fuel system · CA

Vehicle without warning stopped moving while making a left turn in an intersection at night. Power to dashboard was on but no propulsion, brakes or steering. Was unable to put car into gear to move forward or in reverse. Message was displayed, "Unable to Initalize Propulsion System" Extremely dangerous situation, I turned on flashers and left car in intersection. Called tow truck. When tow truck arrived, we pushed car to curb and he hauled it away. Cheverolet dealer diagnosed the problem as a defective wiring harness. He said there was a GM alert regarding this as a known issue that led him to the defective wiring harness. They charged $1567 to replace it which included $1200 in labor and recommended I contact GM to see if they would compensate me since it was a known issue and the car was only 2 months off warrantee. GM refused to compensate me for the faulty harness. The Bolt has 19K miles on it, is kept in a garage and has never been in an accident.

Filed Dec 2, 2022 · Electrical, Fuel system · CA

I'm experiencing the loss of propulsion covered in this bulletin. It's happened around 5 times. The malfunction indicator lamp comes on after each incident and then clears. The problem has been confirmed by a dealer and they are refusing to repair it under either the power train or emission control systems warranty. Losing propulsion is a safety issue, particularly in high speed traffic, and it needs to be fixed.

Filed Jul 6, 2022 · Fuel system · MD

The battery recall on this vehicle has NOT been fixed by GM, your database is incorrect. The vehicle is still a fire/explosion hazard. GM's is not in compliance with the federal safety agency Recall 21V560 on the Chevy Bolt EV for myslef, a US service member ordered to duty in Germany. I am active duty Navy, and was ordered to duty in Stuttgart Germany, with a transfer date in July 2021. At that time Chevy had cleared the recall, so I shipped the vehicle to Germany. However once it arrived here the recall was reinstated. I contacted GM who said to contact Opel in Germany (their local subsidiary). Opel stated that GM in the US would ship them the parts and they would make the repairs. This was nearly a year ago, and so far NO repairs have been done, and the vehicle remains a hazard to me and my family, and cannot be sold or shipped back. Every time we contact GM (or Opel) we are told they are 'preparing to ship parts', and that it should take 8 to 12 weeks. We wait 12 weeks and nothing happens, so we ask them again, and they say wait another 8 to 12 weeks.. At this point I do not believe they have any intention of shipping parts or repairing the vehicle, and are therefore in violation of the federal safety agency recall. Note: We are no longer located in Maryland, we are in Germany, but your form does not allow for overseas addresses, or US Forces (APO AE). I suggest you correct your online form, as Americans overseas serving our counry should not be disenfranchised.

Filed May 21, 2022 · Electrical, Fuel system · OR

Part of the charging element - the metal clip- locks up and will not allow the car to be plugged in to charge. According to Chevrolet dealer this is a known issue but customers have not been notified by GM. They do not have a fix other than taking the car to the dealer and doing a factory reset. This is dangerous for people who may not discover the problem until their car is too low on miles/charge and may not be able to get it reset. It is happening multiple times, even after dealer reset.

Filed Apr 15, 2022 · Fuel system, Steering · TN

On 4/13/2022, my wife was driving her 2019 Chevy Bolt EV when a dash light came on. When she told me about the light, I checked GM's mobile app and the Diagnostic Information stated, "Immediate Attention, Lithium-Ion Battery: Issue found with On-Board Charging System. Please schedule a service appointment." This was odd since I knew that the vehicle had a full battery replacement due to the safety recalls for this particular vehicle. The replacement occurred at Reeder Chevrolet in Knoxville, TN in November of 2021. I also noticed a considerable range drop while driving the vehicle prior to this warning. I notified Reeder Chevrolet and they were unable to service the vehicle in a timely manner so I reached out to Beaty Chevrolet in Knoxville, TN. The next day we decided to drop off the vehicle, knowing it could take a while. As we were heading to the dealership, my wife stated she nearly wrecked her car because the steering became very difficult to turn, and could not turn in traffic properly. She said she had to force the steering wheel with all her strength just to get it to turn. When we got to the dealership, I reported the incident to them and they said they would look into it. I got a callback today, 4/15/2022, that the battery is fine and that Reeder Chevrolet did not perform the battery replacement correctly. They did not perform the proper vacuum replacement of the coolant and the computer sent a code. They stated they performed the proper coolant fix and that my range should go back to normal. As for the steering, the steering has been confirmed by their technicians at Beaty Chevrolet that there is in fact a major problem with the steering assembly. A new replacement is needed and should take 12 hours to complete with the cost of $2100.00. I believe this is not the only incident due to other Bolt owners stating they have the same issues (chevybolt.org). This needs to be recalled for the safety of the driver and others.

Filed Mar 11, 2022 · Electrical, Fuel system · MD

Last week, we had our 2019 Bolt serviced at a dealership - they had "replaced drive motor battery high voltage manual disconnect" and did some sort of check on the "high voltage battery." We had also showed them a message we got from On Star that an "issue had been detected with the electric drive unit" and get it serviced within seven days. We bought the Bolt in the Fall of 2019 and it has less than 5,000 miles on it. We are on the waitlist for the LIB recall. 6 days after getting the car back from service, my wife was driving the car when suddenly the car went completely dead. Fortunately, she was not on the highway where she could have been killed, but on a quiet suburban street. I came over to assist and we arranged to have it towed to the Chevy dealership. After the Bolt stopped running, my wife again received the message saying "issue had been detected with the electric drive unit." They are now working on the Bolt. They are telling us that the problems are (1) the 12 volt battery has low state charge power and needed to be replaced and (2) there is a "faulty accessory power module" which they have ordered a part for. They do not think it is LIB related. They are not sure what "electric drive unit" means and will need to check with Chevrolet.

Filed Jan 31, 2022 · Electrical, Fuel system · PR

The car's AC, which cools the battery stopped working. The vehicle says to be serviced immidiately but Chevrolet has not found a local dealer or mechanic in Puerto Rico (where my car is currently situated) that can service it. I am afraid the car will light on fire because the car already has a battery recall, which they have yet to resolve as well.

Filed Dec 18, 2021 · Electrical, Fuel system · CA

FIRE RISK. Chevy Bolts are known and have an active recall on a fire risk. They did one fix, which reduced my vehicle range. It has shown that fix did not work, and they further reduced our range, plus told us not to park inside or charge overnight, which decreases the practicality of the vehicle. As per the recall notice and your website, I am instructed to contact you if the manufacturer has failed or is unable to remedy this safety recall for your vehicle in a timely manner. They have NOT remedied this in a timely manner as it has been since August 2021 that I have been in contact with them to have it resolved, and we agreed to their offer back in October but they have taken no action to fulfill the offer and now it is Dec 2021. Each day is a risk to my family. We have to park both our vehicles in our driveway, and there is an overhanging tree, so if there is a fire it would still be catastrophic.