[bro1999]

Growing pains are to be expected with new models, especially if it is the automaker’s first full electric vehicle and the Chevy Bolt is no different. In this case, some Bolts may experience a sudden drop in drive range.

We didn’t know it was a widespread problem back in April when forum member johndamour’s Bolt had to be towed to a dealership after failing to shift outside of Neutral or Park, and the indicator gauge displayed a full charge even though the estimated range was at 10 miles. At that time, GM’s solution was to replace the battery.

A few months later Brad Berman, an editor at PlugInCars, experienced a similar problem with his leased Bolt. Looking at the dash Berman initially saw approximately 100 miles of range, but once he started driving home the steering wheel shuddered before the Bolt came to a complete stop on the road. After checking the dash again, he saw a range of just 9 miles.

Speaking about this problem with Kevin Kelly, senior manager at GM Advanced Technology Communications, he was told that less than 1% of the Bolts already on the road are affected. According to AutoBlog, around 10,000 Bolts are currently roaming the streets, meaning approximately 100 vehicles will need to have its battery pack inspected and either replaced or repaired if possible.

Using OnStar diagnostics to find potentially affected car, Chevy will be contacting owners of said cars to schedule a service appointment.

---------------------------------

FWIW, my Nov '16 build Bolt has had a flawless battery. Only "problem" is that it constantly exeeds the EPA range!

 

[Pete Blair]

I haven't seen any weird behavior yet but I should check my production date. I got my car in February so it should have been built in the December(ish) time.

 

[Bazinga]

At least they're actively reaching out to those who may be affected, though the wait for a new battery pack may take a while. Small hiccup for a new model, could be worse.

 

[Pete Blair]

My car is slightly newer that I thought, production date of 1/17.

 

[GJETSON]

Not what I wanted to read this morning. :-(

Sounds just like this one.

http://www.chevybolt.org/forum/103610-post1.html

He was on both Bolt forums.

http://www.mychevybolt.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=6053

He stopped posting. Anybody know what happened? jdamour: If you are still around, please update us on your problem.

 

[Cleaner]

Actually there may be more cause for concern. The editor from plugincars.com has a Bolt he leased in June. It is unknown at this time if this was an early production model or not. The previous post indicated this problem happening in April. GM is investigating but they may not even know themselves what the cause of the problem is. If it only affects a couple of hundred Bolts then did they already change proceedures knowing of an issue or did the significant number of battery failures coming under warranty cause them to go into damage control and prematurely say what they have said. I do have a warning message that says I am going into battery saver mode and their isn't any reason for it due to my operation of the vehicle after reading the manual. I am anticipating this will only get worse and I am waiting to see if this shows up in the forum as a thread.

 

[bro1999]

Actually there may be more cause for concern. The editor from plugincars.com has a Bolt he leased in June. It is unknown at this time if this was an early production model or not. The previous post indicated this problem happening in April. GM is investigating but they may not even know themselves what the cause of the problem is. If it only affects a couple of hundred Bolts then did they already change proceedures knowing of an issue or did the significant number of battery failures coming under warranty cause them to go into damage control and prematurely say what they have said. I do have a warning message that says I am going into battery saver mode and their isn't any reason for it due to my operation of the vehicle after reading the manual. I am anticipating this will only get worse and I am waiting to see if this shows up in the forum as a thread.

It could have been he leased a unit that was sitting on the lot for a while. Would have been good for him to include his Bolt's production date in his article (which is printed on one of the labels in the driver's door frame).

I'm curious if this issue has anything to do with the fact there are 2 versions of the Bolt's HV battery pack listed on some GM parts websites. If you go to https://www.gmpartsonline.net/auto-parts/2017/chevrolet/bolt-ev/lt-trim/electric-engine/electric-propulsion-system-cat/battery-scat, you'll see there are 2 versions of the Bolt EV battery pack listed ("first design" and "2nd design").

 

[GJETSON]

I don't know why, but the site isn't letting me edit my comment. I meant to post this as my second link.

http://www.mychevybolt.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=6053

 

[GJETSON]

Yeah. I am hoping that jdamour, and Brad Berman will both post the production date of their cars. Lots of these cars have been sitting around for months. Ours was seven months old when we bought it.

 

[GJETSON]

Truly weird. I will try again to post the Chevy Bolt dot com link.

http://www.chevybolt.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=6053

What is up with this!!??

 

[Zoomit]

I'm curious if this issue has anything to do with the fact there are 2 versions of the Bolt's HV battery pack listed on some GM parts websites. If you go to https://www.gmpartsonline.net/auto-parts/2017/chevrolet/bolt-ev/lt-trim/electric-engine/electric-propulsion-system-cat/battery-scat, you'll see there are 2 versions of the Bolt EV battery pack listed ("first design" and "2nd design").

I'm not sure how many variants there are of Bolt EV battery packs. At least 4 different part numbers have been referenced:

24286782
24286671
24286670
24285978

I'd like to know the part number of the battery packs that have required replacement. The battery tag is visible looking underneath from behind the left rear tire. It helps to take a picture with your phone to record the actual number. Here's mine, a 4/17 build: http://i.imgur.com/gAH6nan.jpg

Another thread on same topic: http://www.chevybolt.org/forum/10-technical-discussion/12498-different-battery-designs.html

 

[redpoint5]

That's a problem with electric vehicles; your battery pack is only as good as its weakest cell. Since the battery is made up of hundred(s?) of cells, it increases the chance of having a bad cell.

 

[Sean Nelson]

I'm curious if this issue has anything to do with the fact there are 2 versions of the Bolt's HV battery pack listed on some GM parts websites. If you go to https://www.gmpartsonline.net/auto-parts/2017/chevrolet/bolt-ev/lt-trim/electric-engine/electric-propulsion-system-cat/battery-scat, you'll see there are 2 versions of the Bolt EV battery pack listed ("first design" and "2nd design").

Hasn't this been debunked as being mislabeled Gen1 vs. Gen2 Volt battery packs?

 

[bro1999]

Hasn't this been debunked as being mislabeled Gen1 vs. Gen2 Volt battery packs?

The photos are wrong, but the prices listed definitely indicate they are Bolt packs.

Turns out there are a total of 4 different part numbers for the Bolt HV battery pack. WTF?

 

[NY-Rob]

Well at least the Bolt haters (mostly Toyota fanboys) can't point the finger of blame at GM for this as LG builds the Bolt's battery pack.

 

[bro1999]

GM provided an additional update on the battery issue:

"Of the more than 10,000 Bolt EVs sold to date, less than 1 percent have experienced this issue so far. Early production vehicles are more likely to have this issue, as we are always finding ways to improve quality throughout our supply chain.Through OnStar advanced diagnostics, we have identified the vehicles that could develop this condition over time and are contacting the affected customers to arrange for service. "

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1112295_2017-chevy-bolt-ev-battery-may-fail-due-to-faulty-cell-new-pack-needed-for-a-few-of-gms-electric-car

 

[Pete Blair]

Well at least they are watching the data OnStar gathers and actually doing something, I mean while this issue would really suck to have, it is nice to know that they are trying to act quickly.

Too bad OnStar doesn't collect seat data, heh.

 

[Chevy Bolt News]

Growing pains are to be expected with new models, especially if it is the automaker’s first full electric vehicle and the Chevy Bolt is no different. In this case, some Bolts may experience a sudden drop in drive range.

We didn’t know it was a widespread problem back in April when forum member johndamour’s Bolt had to be towed to a dealership after failing to shift outside of Neutral or Park, and the indicator gauge displayed a full charge even though the estimated range was at 10 miles. At that time, GM’s solution was to replace the battery.

A few months later Brad Berman, an editor at PlugInCars, experienced a similar problem with his leased Bolt. Looking at the dash Berman initially saw approximately 100 miles of range, but once he started driving home the steering wheel shuddered before the Bolt came to a complete stop on the road. After checking the dash again, he saw a range of just 9 miles.

Speaking about this problem with Kevin Kelly, senior manager at GM Advanced Technology Communications, he was told that less than 1% of the Bolts already on the road are affected. According to AutoBlog, around 10,000 Bolts are currently roaming the streets, meaning approximately 100 vehicles will need to have its battery pack inspected and either replaced or repaired if possible.

Using OnStar diagnostics to find potentially affected car, Chevy will be contacting owners of said cars to schedule a service appointment.

 

[NY-Rob]

Would be nice if we knew the pack part number (so far there seem to be four different revisions of the Bolt battery pack) and the production date range of vehicles with potentially defective packs.....

 

[surgeonFWW]

Even though they were "early models" (which presumably have more miles), it would be nice to know at how many vehicle miles this seemed to happen (if a pattern is to be found).