[banksdad]

I have owned my bolt for about 2k miles so far and have been loving it. Today, something happened that has never occurred before. While driving home, my battery range jumped up and down by ~ 10 miles over the course of several minutes many times. It went from 176 to 163 back to 171 then 160 and 159 then back up to 169. I was doing nothing to provoke this. No aggressive acceleration and not running the heat. I was driving as I always have but have never seen this behavior before. Has anyone else seen this?

Update:

This happened again from a charge at 197, which rapidly dropped to ~ 172 within a couple of miles. It came back up to 182 shortly thereafter and started dropping at a more normal pace. I fear my battery cells at the higher range are defective. Thoughts?

 

[just frank]

What was the outside temp during both drives?

In my case, below freezing I can see the battery conditioning cycles while I am driving, which causes some projected range problems.

But not as bad as yours. I would worry too.

 

[ClassH]

I have owned my bolt for about 2k miles so far and have been loving it. Today, something happened that has never occurred before. While driving home, my battery range jumped up and down by ~ 10 miles over the course of several minutes many times. It went from 176 to 163 back to 171 then 160 and 159 then back up to 169. I was doing nothing to provoke this. No aggressive acceleration and not running the heat. I was driving as I always have but have never seen this behavior before. Has anyone else seen this?

Update:

This happened again from a charge at 197, which rapidly dropped to ~ 172 within a couple of miles. It came back up to 182 shortly thereafter and started dropping at a more normal pace. I fear my battery cells at the higher range are defective. Thoughts?

Good chance that the automatic defrost is kicking in and running the heat. This is an option you can turn off and see if it stops it from happening. I think this is in the comfort and convenience section of the vehicle settings.

 

[banksdad]

Good chance that the automatic defrost is kicking in and running the heat. This is an option you can turn off and see if it stops it from happening. I think this is in the comfort and convenience section of the vehicle settings.

That is not the case for me. I have made sure the defrost was not on. I have owned this vehicle for ~2k miles and have grown very familiar with its operation and what is normal. This just started happening in the last couple of days. It will deplete ~ 10 miles of range inside a couple of miles. I just drove to work and it consumed ~ 40 miles for a 26 mile trip. It has never done this before... even if I WAS using heater.

 

[banksdad]

What was the outside temp during both drives?

In my case, below freezing I can see the battery conditioning cycles while I am driving, which causes some projected range problems.

But not as bad as yours. I would worry too.

Funny thing is, when I originally bought it, I was using it in colder temps and that had a -2.7 effect on my score. But in the last couple of days (when it started happening), it has been unseasonably warmer. So really, I should be seeing an improvement of range (if anything).

 

[ClassH]

That is not the case for me. I have made sure the defrost was not on. I have owned this vehicle for ~2k miles and have grown very familiar with its operation and what is normal. This just started happening in the last couple of days. It will deplete ~ 10 miles of range inside a couple of miles. I just drove to work and it consumed ~ 40 miles for a 26 mile trip. It has never done this before... even if I WAS using heater.

Not sure if you are misunderstanding me or not, I don't mean the normal defrost, there is a setting called automatic defog or something like that in the vehicle settings page. This will run regardless if the heat or cool is turned on if it senses the windshield needs defogged. In cooler temps it runs the heat. If the setting is already off then disregard.

 

[just frank]

Perhaps the OP is one of the 'unlucky 100' club. IIRC, the battery problems have cropped up around the 2k mile mark or before.

Or perhaps there is an 'almost unlucky 300' club, that don't get stranded or scary warning messages, but which manifest as slightly wonky GOM behavior.....for now.

 

[mboni]

It will deplete ~ 10 miles of range inside a couple of miles. I just drove to work and it consumed ~ 40 miles for a 26 mile trip.

So here's the most important question at this point in time: is the battery actually getting suddenly drained? or is the car's estimate of range changing?

My bet is that it's the range estimate that has changed, and actual power consumption is probably pretty stable. But we don't know all the factors that go into the range estimate, so it's hard to tell what might have altered that estimate.

 

[banksdad]

Thanks for all your inputs. As I said before, I am aware of what things can cause a sudden change of range readout. I did all that experimentation early on. Turning on the heat, turning it off, turning on the auto and turning that off. I would consider it acceptable for slight adjustments in range but nothing like what I have seen on the last few trips. And again, for my recent trips (and most of the ones before it), I run a steady setting on the fan at level 2 with NO heat and NO auto setting for defrost / defog. I have found that level 2 at all times is perfect for me and has pretty much a zero impact on range. But with these last couple of trips, the range dropping steadily by more than 10 miles in the span of just 2 is crazy.

I have an appointment with the dealership tomorrow. Hopefully they will perform the necessary adjustments and not pretend this is normal.

 

[devbolt]

Knowing the actual outside temps, length of commute, length of time between range readings, and the driving conditions would help a lot. I know that my range plummets when I go up a steep hill, and then slowly climbs back up once I start driving on level ground, or when I go down a hill. Also tends to drop when I start exceeding 65 MPH.

It is possible you have a bad battery, but the likely scenario is driving style. Good luck with getting a diagnosis.

 

[banksdad]

Knowing the actual outside temps, length of commute, length of time between range readings, and the driving conditions would help a lot. I know that my range plummets when I go up a steep hill, and then slowly climbs back up once I start driving on level ground, or when I go down a hill. Also tends to drop when I start exceeding 65 MPH.

It is possible you have a bad battery, but the likely scenario is driving style. Good luck with getting a diagnosis.

It isn't driving style. My style, if changed at all, only improved over time. In the last ~ 2k miles of use, the vehicle has behaved as one would expect. And in that time (over a month), the temperatures were quite low on average (between 35 - 45 F). In the last 2 days is when I started seeing this dramatic change in range readings. Here is the kicker... the weather has been unseasonably warm in the last 2 days (45 - 60 F). So no... it isn't temperature, it isn't me being more aggressive, and it certainly isn't me running heat.

 

[devbolt]

It isn't driving style. My style, if changed at all, only improved over time. In the last ~ 2k miles of use, the vehicle has behaved as one would expect. And in that time (over a month), the temperatures were quite low on average (between 35 - 45 F). In the last 2 days is when I started seeing this dramatic change in range readings. Here is the kicker... the weather has been unseasonably warm in the last 2 days (45 - 60 F). So no... it isn't temperature, it isn't me being more aggressive, and it certainly isn't me running heat.

It would be helpful to know where you live and the type of commute (distance, highway/city mix, uphill/downhill, etc). For some people on the east coast, 35F to 45F is balmy. For me in the Bay Area, that’s frigid...

Again, good luck in getting a good diagnosis out of your dealer. See if you can get them to tell you what the individual module or cell voltages are. I know that if neighboring cells or modules have more than a few hundredths of a volt difference, the computer is supposed to throw a diagnostic code and have you take the car in for further diagnosis.

 

[banksdad]

Perhaps the OP is one of the 'unlucky 100' club. IIRC, the battery problems have cropped up around the 2k mile mark or before.

Or perhaps there is an 'almost unlucky 300' club, that don't get stranded or scary warning messages, but which manifest as slightly wonky GOM behavior.....for now.

So it appears my manufacture date is June 2017. Is that within the Unlucky 100 club? Also, I haven't heard about this 300 GOM thing. What is that?

 

[ibboltin]

That is not the case for me. I have made sure the defrost was not on. I have owned this vehicle for ~2k miles and have grown very familiar with its operation and what is normal. This just started happening in the last couple of days. It will deplete ~ 10 miles of range inside a couple of miles. I just drove to work and it consumed ~ 40 miles for a 26 mile trip. It has never done this before... even if I WAS using heater.

What did your energy info screen show? Climate and battery? I believe previous poster is correct is will jump when turning climate on and off. Be aware I still have not figure it out. I have had defrost on with heat/ac off and still I got heat and i i wanted wat airflow to keep windows from fogging. I think the system has a mind of its own from what others have written as well.

 

[quirkySquirt]

Dunno if June is part of the 100 club. Quick google shows yields following:

https://www.greencarreports.com/new...new-pack-needed-for-a-few-of-gms-electric-car

So "1% of the 10000 Bolts" yields the 100 club number. I'd still go ahead with your dealer visit incase GM dropped the ball and hasn't contacted you yet.

 

[just frank]

So it appears my manufacture date is June 2017. Is that within the Unlucky 100 club? Also, I haven't heard about this 300 GOM thing. What is that?

I just made it up....I assumed if 1% were warranty claims, then 3% were near-misses.

I hate near-misses.

 

[drdiesel1]

It's the HVAC system and that's that. Get use to it or turn it off completely.
No use arguing over it. Learning what's going on and understanding it is key.
You're NOT aware of how it works and you refuse to listen to anyone.

 

[banksdad]

Update: Day 3 of the problem (not as bad today but still not behaving like it did in the first month). I started the morning with 199 miles of range. I drove 26.2 miles into work with NO air, NO heat on a 90% highway mostly flat trip with the cruise set at 62 most of the way. The temperature this morning was 45 degrees F. At the end of my 26.2 mile trip, my range now shows 168. 31 miles of range lost for 26.2 traveled. In the month of ownership before this started occurring, I would normally be able to run the fan at level 2 and still not have that kind of delta with range. In fact, I often wound up with a tad more range left than what was traveled.

 

[GJETSON]

Update: Day 3 of the problem (not as bad today but still not behaving like it did in the first month). I started the morning with 199 miles of range. I drove 26.2 miles into work with NO air, NO heat on a 90% highway mostly flat trip with the cruise set at 62 most of the way. The temperature this morning was 45 degrees F. At the end of my 26.2 mile trip, my range now shows 168. 31 miles of range lost for 26.2 traveled. In the month of ownership before this started occurring, I would normally be able to run the fan at level 2 and still not have that kind of delta with range. In fact, I often wound up with a tad more range left than what was traveled.

Unfortunately, we need more information to see if you have a problem with your car. You need to be looking at is the miles/kwh too. If you are seeing very different range estimates while still seeing the same miles/kWh used, then you could have a problem with your battery capacity. If the range estimate jives with the miles/kWh, then you may have some other problem causing the car to be less efficient, a dragging parking brake, etc.

 

[banksdad]

Unfortunately, we need more information to see if you have a problem with your car. You need to be looking at is the miles/kwh too. If you are seeing very different range estimates while still seeing the same miles/kWh used, then you could have a problem with your battery capacity. If the range estimate jives with the miles/kWh, then you may have some other problem causing the car to be less efficient, a dragging parking brake, etc.

If you are referring the the miles per kWh, there oddly didn't seem to be much of a difference there that I can see. I figured that no change in that only hurts my case. Are you saying that it helps it? I am really worried that the dealer is going to try and say there are no problems. Clearly, the vehicle is not behaving as it was in the first month of ownership.