Our five month old 2018 Bolt LT was rear ended. The insurance company wants to repair it, $11.5K worth of damage they say. As this is our first accident with a EV, what kind of things should we be on the lookout for? Do we need to worry about the battery? The car seems to be offline. We aren't getting any OnStar updates for instance. If they have shut-down the car in some way, does whatever required battery protection / conditioning still continue? Is that a concern? The outside air temperature has dropped below freezing now. What kind of things should be look for once the repairs are complete and they want us to accept it back? What things should be be looking for once we get do get it and start driving it? We love our EV. It was our pride and joy. We want to do everything we can to get back to those days.
My EV has been in an accident, what should I look out for
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2017 Premier, new battery, 1993 GMC 2500, 2022 MYLR, 2017 M235i, Kubota B7100
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I'm interested too. As I mentioned in another thread, my Bolt was rear ended last week as well, although I'm certain the battery was not impacted. I did get an onstar alert that the left front tire was low, which makes sense as it was essentially ripped from the car. My concerns (other than appearance) will be about the left front drive mechanisms, any damaged sensors in the left rear bumper, and replacing the mirror.
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I was involved in a similar rear-end accident in July with my 2017 Bolt EV. Liberty Mutual, my insurance carrier, recommended a diagnostic from the Chevrolet dealer, preferably before repairs were started. (In any case, my insurance would have covered 'hidden damage' should the car not have been driveable.)
The technician at the dealer checked for any potential problems caused by accident forces being carried down the frame rails into the battery case, which makes up a good deal of the stiffness for the vehicle. For a rear-end collision, the assumption was the drive electronics and motor were not affected.
What I received was a full diagnostic with battery cell voltages, control signals, and charging controls, as well as a written report for my insurance.
Hope it helps.
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You need to seek diminished value too. It's not enough that they repair the car.
There might be a switch that disconnects the traction battery in an impact, and if that's the case, battery conditioning would not work.
I'm surprised they didn't write it off. It's getting rained on too as long as it sits outside with a busted window.
There might be a switch that disconnects the traction battery in an impact, and if that's the case, battery conditioning would not work.
I'm surprised they didn't write it off. It's getting rained on too as long as it sits outside with a busted window.
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Sad for sure to both of you guys.
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That damage is repairable. My 1995 Buick Regal was rear ended by a Ford Econoline van in 1996. The Van was badly damage and needed to be towed away, yet I drove my Regal (with a smashed trunk) to the GM dealer (they sell the Volt and Bolt EV now) which has its own repair shop. The trunk was cutout and replaced with a new one. The insurance paid for it. I drove that Regal for twenty more years, I sold it in 2016, and the new owner doesn't know that it was smashed up and repaired (that is how good the repair was). It still looks like new!
Have the diagnostics done, then send it for repair. It will be most cost effective and time saving than having it totaled and getting a new one.
Have the diagnostics done, then send it for repair. It will be most cost effective and time saving than having it totaled and getting a new one.
Rear end collisions can really mess with a car, putting the whole body out of alignment. I have had two rear end collisions over the years, and neither of the cars really drove well afterwards, with poorer handling and a bunch of other issues. The magnitude of the misalignment at the end of the repair depends on the severity of the rear end collision, the type of body construction, and how good is the body shop. Trouble is you cannot answer these questions until the repair is done. BTW Liberty offers new car replacement if the accident takes place early in the life of a new car. Having to repair a new car is a real bummer.
This is very important. My friend got an extra 4k in diminished value after his car was repaired. Hire a 3rd party appraiser. Sign nothing until you get diminished value back!
If any of the air bags or seat belt pretensioners have deployed or if the SDM (air bag module) detected a collision. The HPCM2 (hybrid powertrain control module 2) will open the high voltage contactor relays, placing the vehicle in a high voltage lockout state and disabling the vehicle whenever a crash event of sufficient intensity has been detected. additional inspection will be required.
If the frame is not damaged then everything else can be replaced.
I have a year and half year old Bolt that was rear ended about a month ago. My entire bumper and all the sensors in the bumper had to be replaced. When I got my Bolt back from the body shop I noticed the side mirror sensor on the driver side was not working properly. It kept going off even if there was no car next to me. Apparently, there is a bulletin about this. The body shop had me take the Bolt to the dealer to recalibrate the sensors and fix the side mirror sensor issue. The dealer charged $120 to recalibrate the sensors and $500 to put a piece of butyl tape over the sensor per bulletin instructions. Without the tape, the sensor doesn't work right. Had my car not been in an accident, this would have been covered under warranty. Insurance ended up paying for it. Everything seems to be working ok now. Just a pain to have to take the car to multiple places because of the bumper sensors.
Welcome to the world of the connected car...
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So how is the lockout renabled. My car was in an accident that deployed airbags. I repaired it myself cleared the codes and it runs and drives nicely but does not charge via the onboard AC charger. It acts like it is, blinking green light on the dash, but no current reaches the battery. I suspect the charger has some internal damage but if it is just a software lockout that would be nice to know.
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