11/10/2018 while driving about 45mph heading school the car totally shut down for not reason, and would not restart. The EV mode shut down and the gas engine did not start. Police recommend to get it towed to safe location. Onstar records, multiple shut down of computer modules. 11
2012 Chevrolet Volt electrical complaints
Page 3 of 4: complaints 41 to 70 of 86, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Instrument panel went totally black while driving, engine still runs and vehicle was drivable. Can not check the speed, other than follow the speed of the other vehicle.
Went out to start my car to go to work and the touchscreen or main data screen is black. I can't tell if I have any electrical power or if the heat or AC or stereo is on. If this were to happen on a trip out of town it could put me in severe danger.
The federal safety agency id number:10872363 the instrument panel display screen went blank and will not come back on. The backlight is functioning and it will intermittently reboot and display but only temporarily. It started gradually and would occasionally go blank while driving on highways and city streets; both in motion and stationary, and eventually failed entirely. After researching the issue, it seems this is a common issue which no dealer seems to know how to fix. This means no speedometer, no fuel/battery range information, and no indicator lights of any kind. The odometer is also now not visible. Originally this issue only occured when the outside temperature was over ~75f (a common noted factor with other volts having this problem). The issue has since progressed to being fully disfunctional.
Drivers display dashboard is black when started. Has not returned after many restarts, charges, locks and battery disconnects.
Driver's instrument cluster screen flickers and then goes blank while driving/in motion on a city road and on the highway. Driver loses all indication of speed, turn signals, lighting, speedometer, cruise control, fuel level, charge level, and all other critical information that is displayed on the driver screen.
Drivers display dashboard is black when started. Hasn't returned after many restarts, charges, locks and battery disconnects.
The instrument cluster has gone completely blank in the car. It went in and off for two days and then died completely.this is a major hazard as I dont know how fast I am going or the gas amount I have in the car. This was a major problem as I was driving the car when this happen not knowing if the entire car was going to black out very scary moment.
About 2 minutes after starting and while driving about 20mph, the driver's lcd panel suddenly went completely black. This contains the speedometer, battery gauge, fuel gauge, turn signal indicator, and shift position indicator. I turned off the car and restarted, and it came on but went black again. Now when starting the car, it doesn't come on at all.
The instrument panel goes completely blank when starting the car, and stays blank for the duration of the trip. Speed, warning lights, and all other indicators are completely absent. The event appears to be random, with sometimes the panel working fine, other times it is completely blank. The car appears to otherwise work perfectly fine, and can be driven in this state, although I think this is a very unsafe situation. It has happened in cold conditions, warm conditions, and everything in between.
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 chevrolet volt. While driving various speeds, the instrument panel malfunctioned. The contact stated that the screen became black and none of the instrument cluster icons were visible. The contact stated that the failure recurred intermittently. Regal chevrolet in lakeland, florida was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 61,000.
Evse charging cable stopped working. Gm flip flopped over the last year on warranty coverage. I have technical service bulletins with the warranty coverage status changed from v (voltec), to bumper-to-bumper, in the middle of the warranty period as of dec 1st, 2017 (not what I agreed to when I purchased the car). Unable to charge vehicle at home without it. Gm replaced a significant number of these units under a recall campaign between 2012-2013, only for a portion of the VIN #'s from the 2011-2012 model year. Mine was not included. They are many others with this problem, and gm has refused to replace the rest of the 2012 model year units. I have exhausted all avenues of trying to have gm stand behind their product, including involving the ceo of gm, mary barra, via the attached emails. This needs to be escalated to recall status for the other 10,000 some 2012 volt units on the road today that gm will not stand behind. This relates to the car being stationary. Charging the vehicle via the evse is absolutely needed to drive the vehicle in electric (EV) mode.
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 chevrolet volt. While driving 65 MPH, the instrument cluster went completely dark. The vehicle was taken to george moore chevrolet (10979 atlantic blvd, jacksonville, fl 32225) where it was diagnosed that the instrument cluster failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and stated that they could not assist because the vehicle was out of warranty. The approximate failure mileage was 70,000. ..updated 10/23/17
The main driver display does not come on usually when it is cold outside. This happens mostly in the winter, but has been happening more when temps are in the 70's. Never in the summer. There is no speed, fuel or mileage display.
Lcd screen that shows speed and fuel level and information shorted out while driving
Service airbag warning appeared. All other functions checked ok, no codes. One day later the multifunction screen display is blank and all buttons but the climate control are non functioning. Only capacitive touch buttons that work are front dehumidifier, and fan control buttons (including auto). Air conditioning is stuck on an no other buttons function. May be related to prior submission: the federal safety agency id number: 10872363
The charger over heats and melts wires coating shorting the wiring cause charger to blow fuse leaving a fire hazard in your garage
I have had various electrical issues-november of 2012. First back up camera went blank, july 2014 check engine light high voltage; november 14 electrical issue; june 2015 unintentional running light on; july 2015 same issue; august 2015 check engine/aribag light on dealer checked and reset codes . August 2016 check airbag light on. Went in several times steve moore ordered part that would be $1,200 to fix. Light went off. When check airbag came back on took the car to a different dealer. City chevrolet said I needed a new 12 volt battery replaced battery within 48 hours of being at the dealer issue came back. Now the lcd screen is blank. The problems seems to be electrical in nature
The lcd screen showing speed, charge level, amount of fuel goes dark as I drive down the road. It comes back on after restart but shuts back down. Very dangerous, don't know how fast I'm driving or fuel level.
The screen on the drivers dash for the instrument panel , speed, gas volume and electric charge,has gone black or blank and stays black in park or in driving mode. The result of the inspection from a chevy technician found the cluster is inop. It needs to be replaced and reprogramed for $923.52 as quoted.this is an on going problem with other volt owners and a complaint : the federal safety agency id number 10872363 has been filed.
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 chevrolet volt. While driving 70 MPH, the vehicle stalled without warning and completely lost power. The vehicle was towed. In addition, the check engine indicator illuminated without warning. The vehicle was diagnosed, but the dealer could not duplicate the failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 48,014.
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 chevrolet volt. Upon starting the vehicle, the instrument panel failed without warning and prevented the contact from viewing the speed limit. In addition, the battery percentage, turn signals, and fuel level could not be seen. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 35,000.
Without warning the illuminated instrument panel goes black. Usually it happens during start up after the car has set for a few hours. The problem resolves itself after driving for several miles,or, if the car is shut off and restarted. Numerous complaints about the issue are stated in the chevy volt forum online. The problem appears to be occurring in first generation volts.
At random times and days, when starting the car, the center lcd display is blank. This display is crucial for the safety of the vehicle because it displays your speed, the battery life and gas tank amount, turn signal indicators as well as other important details needed when driving. It's not safe to drive this car when the vehicle's screen is blank. This has happened 4 times. 3 of the 4 just recently. After a day or 2, the screen will start working and then after a day or 2, it would stop. It's an on going issue and I'm finding out through forums that there's a bunch of complaints about this issue and not just with the 2012 volt but with other year volts as well. I'm concerned for my safety as it's dangerous to drive blindly without knowing your speed or how much gas or battery life you have left.
The display that shows gas gauge, MPH, etc. Has gone blank. It is a hazard. There needs to be a recall on this.
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 chevrolet volt. While driving at an unknown speed, the instrument panel became inoperable without warning. The vehicle was taken to the dealer to be diagnosed, but the results were unknown. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The VIN and failure mileage were not available.
I charge my 2012 chevy volt with the 120v charging unit supplied by the manufacturer. I use the charger in a dedicated circuit of 20 amps. However I have noticed that there may be a deficiency in the gauge of the wire used. The wire from the charging unit to the car becomes quite warm. However, the short cord from the charging unit to the wall plug becomes dangerously hot. So hot that part of the plug has melted and left burn marks on the wall socket. Even the wall is very warm indicating that the wiring in the wall is hot as well. I am concerned about a possible fire hazard at this point. Would you please investigate? I have attached a photo of the charging unit plugged into the wall showing the scorch marks from overheating. During this time, the car is stationary in the garage.
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 chevrolet volt. While driving at an unknown speed, the instrument panel became inoperable without warning. As a result, the contact was unable to determine the amount of fuel that was inside the vehicle and the speed. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 56,000.
The volt was purchased in november of 2012: in / around june of 2013 a warning light came on and it was taken into the local dealer (where it was purchased) it was found to have a leaking coolant system for the primary electric battery (lithium ion battery). They could not find the leak so they refiled the system and included a fluorescent dye and returned it to me (the amount of coolant was ~7 liters). 12 months later (plus or minus a few weeks) in 2014, the same light came on, it was again serviced (they claimed to have fixed the leak) and it was returned to me (~7 liters coolant). 12 months later (plus or minus a few weeks) in 2015 again the light came on, this time a substantial part of the coolant system was replaced around the lithium ion batteries (claimed to have found a few leaky connections). The vehicle was again returned to me (~all knew coolant). 12 months later (plus or minus a few weeks) in now 2016 the same light has come on yet again and it will be returned to the dealer for repair yet again. Leading to the warning light the car's fan runs longer and longer while charging (its trying to cool during charging) and the AC stops working / blowing cold. The light usually come on shortly after starting. Attempts are currently being made to contact a chevrolet volt / electric car advisor to work with the chevrolet zone manager on fixing / repair this vehicle. This is not only an obvious manufacturing defect, which the dealer clearly can not repair. But also, a major safety concern, if they warning light failed and the battery of this car overheated it would likely cause an intense fire (its a large lithium ion battery). Furthermore, they coolant being released by this vehicle is a substance monitored by the epa. This is again a genuine manufacturing safety defect and needs to be resolved or the vehicle declared a lemon.
The car shut off completely while I was driving 65 MPH on the freeway and had to be towed into the dealer for repair. It was determined by the dealer that an underhood fuse shorted out and burned into the vehicle battery charging system causing the car to shut down while driving. A major safety hazard as this could have caused an fire.
VIN decoder
See the problems and recalls for an exact car
Buying a used 2012 Chevrolet Volt?
Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.
Check its history