[Jim Salem]

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.

 

[bro1999]

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.

Sounds like you got bit by the low voltage/sudden death issue that afflicted some Bolts. Did you not get contacted by GM about the recall?
https://www.greencarreports.com/new...-to-update-battery-software-prevent-shutdowns

 

[beeguz]

Sounds like you got bit by the low voltage/sudden death issue that afflicted some Bolts. Did you not get contacted by GM about the recall?
https://www.greencarreports.com/new...-to-update-battery-software-prevent-shutdowns

He had the recall done, the car was up to date.

 

[NY-Rob]

That's scary... you had the recall service performed.... and you still got stuck.

Doesn'r really inspire much confidence in GM's repair efforts!

 

[Pike Bishop]

- 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.

Jim, a 50 to zero situation is not pleasant. And you are quite right, ONStar does not have a good idea of which dealer is qualified to perform service for Bolt or Volt.


You may want to review this thread as it nearly happened to me.


During a routine check, my dealer found a potential MSD (Manual Service Disconnect) issue that would cause lack of propulsion.



At issue is we have all been sensitized to immediately think it is the battery pack that causes a propulsion failure. In reality, the Bolt EV DC power circuit is complex, and any circuit resistance that causes the sensed voltage to drop outside of the permitted range will cause a propulsion shut down to protect the battery.


In my case, it was the MSD fuse that may have developed a milliohm resistance. The dealer was able to trigger a fault just by test driving the car with a fully charged battery.


This may not be your exact case, but there is a TSB referenced.



And of course, mine had all of the software updates completed.



https://www.chevybolt.org/forum/178-2017-chevy-bolt-ev-issues-problems/29599-2017-bolt-ev-msd-manual-service-disconnect-loss-power-update.html#post433695

 

[MDBolt]

Well that just stinks. As far as I can tell, this is the first report of a loss-of-propulsion issue in a Bolt that got the reprogram done, at least based on this forum. Would you happen to remember how low the battery was right before it plummeted to zero?

 

[Ampera e]

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.

I am sorry to hear about your troubles, but was there any reason to believe this would not be possible with a 2017 Bolt? I think any make and model can and will do this on occasions.

 

[GJETSON]

Well. dang! My wife finally gave me the go-ahead, yesterday, to sell her 2006 Corolla. It has been sitting in the garage for a year, in case the Bolt would cough up a hairball. We figured a year, and 14K miles was enough to be confident in the car. I guess it will sit there another year. :-(

 

[GJETSON]

I am sorry to hear about your troubles, but was there any reason to believe this would not be possible with a 2017 Bolt? I think any make and model can and will do this on occasions.

The difference is that I can take any ICE car to any of a dozen independent repair shops within a 25 mile radius. And that is in the middle of nowhere.

 

[psyflyjohn]

First of all, show me an ICE model where this can't also happen. The Bolt isn't bullet proof, but does have an outstanding service record so far.
The issue of not having service available at the dealer is common, and is serious. I bought the Bolt primarily because of easy access for service, and this is disturbing. Let us know what the problem turns out to be...

 

[Pike Bishop]

Well that just stinks. As far as I can tell, this is the first report of a loss-of-propulsion issue in a Bolt that got the reprogram done, at least based on this forum. Would you happen to remember how low the battery was right before it plummeted to zero?

Mine was fully charged, under the dealer's control. And not that the MSD fuse or battery blew, just that the combination of sensor readings signaled a fault and the 'safe mode' is to shut down.

 

[MDBolt]

Mine was fully charged, under the dealer's control. And not that the MSD fuse or battery blew, just that the combination of sensor readings signaled a fault and the 'safe mode' is to shut down.

Hmm. Yeah that's pretty disturbing. Wonder what OP's situation was, and if it's rooted in the MSD as well. From what it looks like, though, OP's battery was well below 50% given the parameters - ~66% to start with, driving ~100 miles. I also wonder if this might result in another "program" or recall from GM. We'll have to wait and see...

 

[bro1999]

Hmm. Yeah that's pretty disturbing. Wonder what OP's situation was, and if it's rooted in the MSD as well. From what it looks like, though, OP's battery was well below 50% given the parameters - ~66% to start with, driving ~100 miles. I also wonder if this might result in another "program" or recall from GM. We'll have to wait and see...

I have a Nov '16 build Bolt, and have yet to get any battery recall update performed. I recently took a MD-CT-MD trip, and had no issues. I even drove the battery down to "blinking LOW" on the return trip. I actually don't want to get the battery recall update done because I've had absolutely no problems with my Bolt. 25k miles and counting.

 

[GlenandhisBolt1!]

What is the build date of your Bolt?

 

[Jim Salem]

Would you happen to remember how low the battery was right before it plummeted to zero?

As mentioned in the OP, it was about 2/3 full at the time the engine shut down.

 

[Jim Salem]

What is the build date of your Bolt?

I'm not near the car so I can't tell for sure. I do have the VIN 1G1FW6S01H4160XYZ (didn't want to publish the exact number) if someone can figure out the build date from that.

According to this article, it was made just before they started using the newer version of the battery pack.

 

[Jim Salem]

Recall does NOT fix the battery failure problem

Several people have remarked that the recall was supposed to have fixed the battery failure problem. If you dig into it, you'll see that the recall doesn't actually fix the problem. It's only supposed to give you earlier warning of its impending death. See https://insideevs.com/chevy-bolt-battery-cell-failure/

That said, Chevy has not yet determined the cause of the failure.

 

[Jim Salem]

Chevy doesn't know how to fix the Bolt

Well it's been over 3 days since my Bolt died. I'd gotten no update from Chevy service, so finally at 4pm I called them. I learned that their tech had "looked at it" but still had "some more tests to run" before determining what the problem is. They seem to think it's a battery problem but they aren't sure yet.

They also said that if they need to replace the battery pack, it takes several days to order one and then a 10 hour maintenance to replace it. Wow!

What particularly amazes me is that this is the #1 Bolt dealership in Massachusetts and New England. By far -- almost 4 times more than their closest competitor (according to MOR-EV statistics). So if they can't service it quickly, it pretty much says no one can service these things quickly.

The battery packs (indeed the whole powertrain) is made by LG, which probably slows down the root cause analysis and improvements.

I'll keep y'all posted.

PS: The dealer did give me a free rental. But, ugh, it's a gas car.

 

[Jim Salem]

Hmm. Yeah that's pretty disturbing. Wonder what OP's situation was, and if it's rooted in the MSD as well. From what it looks like, though, OP's battery was well below 50% given the parameters - ~66% to start with, driving ~100 miles. I also wonder if this might result in another "program" or recall from GM. We'll have to wait and see...

That's incorrect, MDBolt. It was at least 66% at the time the engine died. (I'd checked a few minutes before and it was exactly at 75%).

 

[redpoint5]

I feel like I know a little bit about how dealership service works based on my IT experience. The problems I know are urgent and I know how to fix I'll pick up first. The problems that will be a big time sink while my other customers pile up tend to get pushed back. Today I finally pulled out an old issue to see what I could figure out, considering my zero training on the product. So far I've talked to 5 people and gotten nowhere.

Service is one area where the squeaky wheel gets the oil. Keep bugging them, once in the morning and once in the evening and you'll get results faster.

George- If you're in the Portland area you can borrow a car any time if that's what's hanging you up from selling the Civic. No sense letting the thing depreciate and go unutilized. It may be a more efficient replacement vehicle for someone else too, so consider that it might even be better for the environment than letting them drive their gas guzzler around.