While driving at 50mph on the highway, my 2017 Bolt suddenly lost power. I was going uphill at the time in the fast lane but had enough time to pull off the road and stop. It was a hot, humid day and I'd been driving for almost 3 hours (traveling around 100 miles with the first 30 miles stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic.)
Before the incident, it was at about 2/3 full charge. When it lost power, it immediately went to empty and displayed the message "Shift into Park". Now, when I start it, I get the "Initializing... Wait to shift" message. After it finishes rebooting. it shows a fully discharge battery and I can only shift it into neutral. Sometimes there's an error message about the hybrid power train.
Since it's still under warranty, Roadside Assistance towed it to a dealer. Unfortunately, that dealer's "EV guy" had quit recently and they weren't working on any Bolts that they hadn't sold. I paid to tow it to another dealer but their "EV guy" doesn't work on weekends.
Roadside Assistance said it would take 2 to 3 DAYS before they could approve towing it to another dealer. That seems ridiculous to me but I spoke with two supervisors who refused to provide immediate service. I finally paid AAA $120 to tow it to the dealer I bought it from. Their "EV guy" does work on weekends but didn't have time to even look at the car.
The Bolt has been flawless until now. It has around 18,000 miles on it and already had the battery notification recall done. Obviously, that recall didn't do anything to help my situation.
I'll post here when I hear more from the dealer.
Main takeaways so far:
- Your 2017 Bolt can die on the highway without warning even if you're up-to-date with all the software patches and recalls.
- Chevy doesn't have enough trained personnel to properly support the Bolt.
- Roadside assistance doesn't know which dealers can actually fix your Bolt. And when they've screwed up and sent you to the wrong dealer they aren't willing to go out of their way to help you.
My theory on why it failed?
Jealously. That's right -- I spent too much time talking in front of the Bolt about my Telsa Model 3 that's being delivered in two weeks. I think I hurt it's feelings and it just went into a deep, battery-less depression. Maybe I'll eventually hear a better explanation from the dealer.
Before the incident, it was at about 2/3 full charge. When it lost power, it immediately went to empty and displayed the message "Shift into Park". Now, when I start it, I get the "Initializing... Wait to shift" message. After it finishes rebooting. it shows a fully discharge battery and I can only shift it into neutral. Sometimes there's an error message about the hybrid power train.
Since it's still under warranty, Roadside Assistance towed it to a dealer. Unfortunately, that dealer's "EV guy" had quit recently and they weren't working on any Bolts that they hadn't sold. I paid to tow it to another dealer but their "EV guy" doesn't work on weekends.
Roadside Assistance said it would take 2 to 3 DAYS before they could approve towing it to another dealer. That seems ridiculous to me but I spoke with two supervisors who refused to provide immediate service. I finally paid AAA $120 to tow it to the dealer I bought it from. Their "EV guy" does work on weekends but didn't have time to even look at the car.
The Bolt has been flawless until now. It has around 18,000 miles on it and already had the battery notification recall done. Obviously, that recall didn't do anything to help my situation.
I'll post here when I hear more from the dealer.
Main takeaways so far:
- Your 2017 Bolt can die on the highway without warning even if you're up-to-date with all the software patches and recalls.
- Chevy doesn't have enough trained personnel to properly support the Bolt.
- Roadside assistance doesn't know which dealers can actually fix your Bolt. And when they've screwed up and sent you to the wrong dealer they aren't willing to go out of their way to help you.
My theory on why it failed?
Jealously. That's right -- I spent too much time talking in front of the Bolt about my Telsa Model 3 that's being delivered in two weeks. I think I hurt it's feelings and it just went into a deep, battery-less depression. Maybe I'll eventually hear a better explanation from the dealer.