[Bolt604]

Hey everyone,

So as the thread title says, I am not a happy camper at the moment. Was a very happy bolt owner until yesterday. So long story short. I purchased my brand new 2018 Bolt 16 days ago. Everything was great and I was having a blast commuting back and forth from work and just generally enjoying the car. Then yesterday I hop in to pick the kiddos up from school and I get this message on my HUD screen " SERVICE HIGH VOLTAGE CHARGER" immediately I am concerned. The car still run but once i had returned home to investigate a bit more I found that it would no longer take a charge. This morning I got it into service from my dealer and they had informed me that a section or entire battery would need to be replaced. What the heck is going on? This car doesn't even have 1100km on the odo and this happens!???I really didn't expect anything of this magnitude to occur in a brand new vehicle. Can anyone shed a little light on maybe why this is happening. I have driven the car very gently as it is new and I try my best to get the most distance out of it per charge....I'm pretty confused and upset at this moment. Guess I will wait until tomorrow for an update from the dealer. attached is a picture of the service message below.

 

[surgeonFWW]

This is obviously not a wear & tear phenomenon and there is nothing you did wrong. Some batteries, despite passing all the pre- and post-installation checks, will fail. Chevy sold over 15,000 Bolt EVs last year, and the battery failure (such as yours) rate was under 0.001. Get a loaner, get a new battery, and enjoy the thrill of electric driving for many years to come.

 

[XJ12]

did you recently wash the car? there's been one forum member that got a fault because an improperly sealed connector got wet on the battery.

 

[Bolt604]

No, no car wash since i brought the car home. It has been raining a lot and gets left outside when i get to work.

 

[XJ12]

Seems if the car would still move that the battery would not be the problem. The car has a 7.2 kw high voltage charger that sounds like it has a fault. Still could be a loose connector somewhere. Could even be a cooling problem to the charger.

 

[Bolt604]

Sounds like you know a heck of a lot more than I do. Hopefully the people at the dealership will be able to figure out in a timely manner...

 

[XJ12]

looks like the Volt has had issues with the service high voltage charging system when a low coolant sensor goes out. Can be a bad sensor, connector issue, or even just low coolant.

from a Volt forum where they have come up with a way to defeat the coolant sensor:

low cost replacement level sensor that plugs into the connector harness the factory coolant level sensor.
Once completed, (following the special instructions) it "mimics" a properly operating sensor at the correct coolant level, PERMANENTLY mitigating the possibility of ever getting the dreaded SERVICE HIGH VOLTAGE CHARGING SYSTEM (SHVCS) message.

 

[daveo4Bolt]

warranty will fix the issue - it will be fine - not sure why you're so stressed.

 

[Sean Nelson]

...from a Volt forum where they have come up with a way to defeat the coolant sensor:

Oooh, that sounds like a bad idea to me...

 

[Bolt604]

Im sure warranty will take care of it. I wouldn't say stressed more disappointed now than anything. When you purchase a new vehicle you don't expect anything like that to happen in such a short period of time owning it.

 

[Lbrooks51115]

Understand Bolt 604. Just like all of us you are an early adopter of a new technology so there will be bumps in the road. Hopefully you will get your "new" car back quickly.

 

[ga2500ev]

Im sure warranty will take care of it. I wouldn't say stressed more disappointed now than anything. When you purchase a new vehicle you don't expect anything like that to happen in such a short period of time owning it.

I have no such expectations. The only difference is that when a new car breaks, repairs are warranteed.

My first new car was a 1989 Ford Taurus SHO. The clutch failed for the first of 5 times at barely 2000 miles. It simply wasn't properly designed to handle the torque of the Yamaha engine in the car.

In some ways EVs are (over) engineered like all lithium battery systems. Sometimes you can just sneeze in the wrong direction and the system will fault due to an abundance of over cautiousness. In short the charging and drive systems only work perfectly when conditions are perfect. Sometimes I'm amazed that we don't get even more faults.

ga2500ev

 

[GlenandhisBolt1!]

Things tend to fail when they are either new or when they are old. You are the unlucky recipient of an 'infant mortality'. They can't test the vehicle forever at the factory. And this vehicle incorporates a lot of emerging technology. It's not like an ICE car that's been in production for years and based on decades of previous design experience.

I'm sure the dealer gave you a loaner until the repair is completed.

 

[rgmichel]

Not noticed any effect from sneezing.

In some ways EVs are (over) engineered like all lithium battery systems. Sometimes you can just sneeze in the wrong direction and the system will fault due to an abundance of over cautiousness. In short the charging and drive systems only work perfectly when conditions are perfect. Sometimes I'm amazed that we don't get even more faults.

I am a bit non-surplussed by this comment. I agree that I have not had a single fault with my Bolt EV since I bought it, but I put it down to the simplicity of the technology compared to ICE vehicles, rather than some sense of disappointment that my Bolt does not act like an ICE vehicle. All of us can tell multiple tales of problems with ICE vehicles over decades of fighting repair men and warranty work. So far, EVs do not seem to have many problems, and it is important to recognize the expertise in building cars that GM brought to the table when it engineered the Bolt EV. This has shown up recently with Tesla's difficulties with their production line, compared to the steady progress of the Chevy Bolt EV production line. As for sneezing, I have not noticed any serious disadvantageous effect on my Bolt EV, maybe the steering wheel wobbled a bit, nor have I noticed any other serious problems no matter what non-perfect conditions arose.

 

[gern_blanston]

Stuff happens. You are an early adopter.
Chevrolet will fix it. You will be fine.
Enjoy the car.

 

[rcturner]

As with almost anything, everything is most prone to failure when it is new or completely worn out. This is why you take it easy on anything new. If something happens, it will hopefully be less catastrophic and less dangerous to the operator.

 

[LooseBolt]

I don't blame you for being upset, I would be too. But as others have said, early adopters and infant mortality. The real question is how long will it take to fix it, which in turn is related to how long it takes for the dealer to get a batter. Please keep us posted.

(As the owner of an early Cruze, I can sympathize with a new car having problems. I loved the Cruze, but boy did it have the bugs. Recall after recall).

Ron

 

[Bolt604]

Quick Update;

So finally heard back from the dealership and they said that the hybrid battery in my car was faulty and needed to be replaced. so long story short, it's gonna take a week for them to get the battery and some more time on top to make the repairs. glad that they have figured it out and hopefully this will resolve the issue completely. Itching to get back behind the wheel of my EV.

 

[AC/DC]

In 1958 my folks bought a new 1958 Chevy, they went to pick it up while I was at school. Shortly after I got home they turned into our driveway in a shiny new (ugly) '58 Bel Air and the car DIED, rear end partly in the street. Nothing worked. The car remained there a couple of hours until a mechanic from the dealer arrived and found the battery ground strap had come loose. Afterward, the car ran fine for years.. but was still ugly.

 

[psyflyjohn]

These new cars are loaded with electronics ! The general rule for electronics is, if there is a weakness or fault it will show up pretty quickly when new. I suspect that this happened to you. If you watched the tear down of a battery unit video, there is very sophisticated software that can diagnose your problem quickly. Good luck and many fun years with the Bolt...