Hey Guest, welcome to ChevyBolt.org. We encourage you to register to engage in conversations about your Bolt.

Realistically speaking: How often do Bolts need to be cold-rebooted (by disconnecting the battery)?

10136 Views 138 Replies 101 Participants Last post by Rosenbauer, 2 mo ago

Atlant

Discussion Starter · 3 mo ago

Please be honest with me here.

Realistically speaking: How often do Bolts need to be cold-rebooted (by disconnecting the battery)?

In nearly every way, a Bolt seems like a better alternative for me than my current VW ID.4. The Bolt designers did right nearly all of the things that the VW designers did wrong. (So far, the only glaring exception is that 2023 Bolts lost the lock/unlock controls on the rear exterior door handles.)

But a lot of folks here mention that they've needed to cold-reboot their Bolts by disconnecting and reconnecting the battery cable and that they even carry a 10mm wrench so they are ready when that need arises.

Honestly, I could NEVER sell this idea to my wife. Around our house, we refer to turning something off and then on again as the “Microsoft solution” to the problem (harkening back to the days when PCs and apps commonly needed to be power-cycled to recover from software failures) and I don't think she'd ever want to drive a car where this need might arise. (As it is, she won't drive my ever-buggy ID.4 for fear of it failing on her.)

So: Is this a real problem that frequently comes up? Have a lot of you needed to reboot your Bolts? Or is it just a rarity that ends up getting discussed here because it happened to a few people who come and post about it?

Reactions: 3

41 - 60 of 139 Posts

Pat S.

· #41 · 3 mo ago

2018 Bolt here. We have never needed to disco the little battery. But because the little battery is now ~ 6 years old, we carry a 10mm wrench in the boot of the Bolt.

Maybe now I am bragging...but this 10mm wrench originally came from the toolkit of my 1973 Honda CB450 motorcycle (which is long gone), so I am glad to put the wrench back in service...

Reactions: 2

GregBrew

· #42 · 3 mo ago

Atlant said:
Please be honest with me here.

Realistically speaking: How often do Bolts need to be cold-rebooted (by disconnecting the battery)?

In nearly every way, a Bolt seems like a better alternative for me than my current VW ID.4. The Bolt designers did right nearly all of the things that the VW designers did wrong. (So far, the only glaring exception is that 2023 Bolts lost the lock/unlock controls on the rear exterior door handles.)

But a lot of folks here mention that they've needed to cold-reboot their Bolts by disconnecting and reconnecting the battery cable and that they even carry a 10mm wrench so they are ready when that need arises.

Honestly, I could NEVER sell this idea to my wife. Around our house, we refer to turning something off and then on again as the “Microsoft solution” to the problem (harkening back to the days when PCs and apps commonly needed to be power-cycled to recover from software failures) and I don't think she'd ever want to drive a car where this need might arise. (As it is, she won't drive my ever-buggy ID.4 for fear of it failing on her.)

So: Is this a real problem that frequently comes up? Have a lot of you needed to reboot your Bolts? Or is it just a rarity that ends up getting discussed here because it happened to a few people who come and post about it?

I've driven two different Bolts since 2017 ('17 and '21 Premier), and have never needed to do the 12V reboot. In the '17, I did need to reset the Infotainment system twice, using the Home and FF buttons. An early Infotainment OTA firmware update seemed to fix that.

Reactions: 1

LarryO

· #43 · 3 mo ago

Atlant said:
Talk to my Volt. Talk to every battery that the Bell System installed in “float service” for the last century or so.

There's no reason why a 12V battery in a BEV should ever fail.

But let's take the article at face value: Realistically, how many Bolts have required replacement of the 12V battery?

I had an issue where the battery in my 2019 Bolt inexplicitly went dead. I charged it and the battery tested fine. It has worked perfectly for the last 6 months.

I am convinced that there is some bug that caused this. However, I am hopeful that a subsequent software update may have addressed this.

I have used the "12V disconnect reset" The only serious issue was with the charger cord latch. I believe that this has been patched. The other cases were not very critical, and I believe would have resolved themselves.

My favorite year for the Bolt EV is the 2020 Premier. The features were somewhat improved over the 2019 Premier model. My favorite features available in the EV Premier trim are the upgraded sound system with the subwoofer and the 360-degree overhead camera view. When the EUV was brought out, the Premier trim on the EV was dropped.

I like the EV because it's 6" shorter than the EUV so it's a bit more maneuverable.

Reactions: 1

PLP

· #44 · 3 mo ago

Atlant said:
Please be honest with me here.

Realistically speaking: How often do Bolts need to be cold-rebooted (by disconnecting the battery)?

2019 Bolt, with about 37k miles.
Never had to do the reboot.

I had some glitches, mainly the radio screen (would not run on or not respond), but regular restart of the car would fix it.

Reactions: 1

MikeZ

· #45 · 3 mo ago

ARob said:
The most common issue requiring reboots by disconnecting the 12V seems to be the charging port issue on 2019 models following the recall replacement pack and diagnostic update. The most recent patch seems to resolve it.

I had to do this once for my 2019, for the one time I had the charging port mishap. Hasn't happened since I got the patch to fix it.

Reactions: 1

jefro

· #46 · 3 mo ago

My rear view camera display went from full screen to a zoomed in image. For 32K miles it was a very nice clear image and now a fisheye display. Seems car has entered a zoom 1 state similar to other cars/trucks. If I knew the image would return then I'd pull the 12V. Being superstitious I don't reboot stuff for minor instances.

Reactions: 1

Atlant

Discussion Starter · #47 · 3 mo ago

Thanks for all of the replies!

If I were to summarize what I think I've learned so far is that 1) prior to a software update, there was that issue with the 2019s where the Charge Port Plug Lock worked incorrectly and disconnecting the battery could fix that and 2) for a few other issues, folks used the disconnect-the-battery fix but it may not have actually been necessary in those cases.

Is that a fair summary of all of the comments so far?

Reactions: 1

Packard V8

· #48 · 3 mo ago (Edited)

Realistically, never in six years. 12-volt batteries are random failure generators. In diesel pickups which have two batteries, one will usually fail long before the other, which will continue to start the engine. There are instances where replacing the failed battery will allow the original one to go on until the replacement fails.

As previously mentioned in several threads, there are battery disconnects which once installed do not require a wrench to reboot the system.

Today's cars are both easier on batteries, because they have smaller displacement engines which start instantly and harder on batteries because of the parasitic drain of all the computers.

BMW has its own glitch. To get the last tenth of a MPG on the ratings, the software does not charge the battery in steady state cruise, but only kicks in the alternator on deceleration. Turns out this is not enough to keep the battery charged under some driving patterns. Because it would affect the EPA rating, they can't change the software. Their warranty solution was to replace the battery at each scheduled oil change; for those out of warranty, a new battery is a $500 bill.

jack vines, who probably should think about replacing the battery on our 2017.

See less See more

Reactions: 3

MikeZ

· #49 · 3 mo ago

Atlant said:
Thanks for all of the replies!

If I were to summarize what I think I've learned so far is that 1) prior to a software update, there was that issue with the 2019s where the Charge Port Plug Lock worked incorrectly and disconnecting the battery could fix that and 2) for a few other issues, folks used the disconnect-the-battery fix but it may not have actually been necessary in those cases.

Is that a fair summary of all of the comments so far?

Sounds about right to me.

Reactions: 2

Voldar

· #50 · 3 mo ago

Atlant said:
Thanks for all of the replies!

If I were to summarize what I think I've learned so far is that 1) prior to a software update, there was that issue with the 2019s where the Charge Port Plug Lock worked incorrectly and disconnecting the battery could fix that and 2) for a few other issues, folks used the disconnect-the-battery fix but it may not have actually been necessary in those cases.

Is that a fair summary of all of the comments so far?

Yes

Reactions: 1

Pete Blair

· #51 · 3 mo ago

ARob said:
And this is something ICE GM owners need to occasionally do as well.

Oh for sure, the infotainment system is not exclusive to the Bolt and GM has been known to have some interesting issues with them in many models.

Reactions: 1

BoltEUV

· #52 · 3 mo ago

19K miles and no reboot so far. I did have to have my transmission module reprogrammed right from the start. But that only took a few minutes. However, getting the authorization from GM to reprogram took 4 weeks!

Reactions: 1

Brad

· #53 · 3 mo ago

It looks like plenty of people have responded, so I would not be contributing anything new. But here is my experience for your info: I have disconnected the negative a handful of times. Had the check engine light come on, and tried to fix the plm by disconnecting the negative cable. Turns out to be an abs sensor issue, and not an issue needing a reboot.
The one time I needed a reboot was when I couldn't get the car to charge on dcfc. Disconnecting the cable for a reboot took care of that problem. I suspect a faulty dcfc station caused that problem to start with. So basically, 1 time in ~ 20k miles.

Reactions: 1

cwerdna

· #54 · 3 mo ago

I had a '19 Bolt bought new that I owned for 3 years and IIRC ~21K miles. For me, never. I can't think of a time that I ever disconnected any cable from 12 volt battery. But, I never had the pack replaced and thus didn't have the software update(s) that introduced the silver locking tab blocking the inlet bug.

Car was bought back related to the battery recall.

The infotainment system on the other hand, I did have to reboot via FF + home button numerous times.

Reactions: 1

dfedorov200

· #55 · 3 mo ago

Not once

Reactions: 1

Leather Bear

· #56 · 3 mo ago (Edited)

enslay said:
My impression is that it's only a problem when the 12V battery is dying (i.e. it's old and needs to be replaced). I've read a lot strange stuff happens with dying 12V batteries... like DCFC cables being stuck, stuck "conditions not correct for shift", and fake problem codes. When you disconnect the 12V battery and reconnect it some time later, a lot of these problems just go away. That should be enough of an indicator for you to get the battery replaced (if you know about this)!

I encountered the "conditions not correct for shift" message on the DIC on my 2nd Bolt a few weeks after taking delivery in March 2020. I used a portable booster/jump starter (didn't think of the battery disconnect trick) to get the car going and down to my local dealer. They did indeed diagnose a bad 12v battery, and it was replaced under warranty that day. I originally found the car at a rural dealership about 75 miles from home (at the time they were the closest Chevy store that had a Bolt with the equipment I wanted), and it was the only Bolt on their lot. Considering their local market, I suspect that they moved a lot more Silverados and Tahoes than Bolts and that my new car had probably been sitting on their back lot for a few months with little or no attention, hence the 12v battery issue. This was the only problem I had with that Bolt during the 3 years I owned it.

Reactions: 1

gbeddow

· #57 · 3 mo ago

1-1/2 yrs, ~9,000 miles, 1 reboot - although there was one additional time when a reboot might have made a difference. Split the difference and call it 1-1/2 reboots?

Reactions: 1

martinknutson

· #58 · 3 mo ago

2017 Premier, 85k miles, never had to do a reboot. I've had to do a restart of the infotainment system a handful (less than 10) of times.

Reactions: 1

GeneL

· #59 · 3 mo ago

Never did the battery cable reboot. Car is two years old and has about 68000 miles on it.

When the car was new I had a problem with the infotainment system where it would not connect to Android Auto. I was rebooting the infotainment system every other time I started the car. Finally it just would not connect anymore at all. I called OnStar and after a while of debugging they said I would need to take it to the dealer. I was about 500 miles from home at the time

. I hit on the idea of doing a complete hard reset of the system. Buried in the menus somewhere there is a hard reset that clears every setting in the infotainment system. Boy was that a PIA to fix up; but, it worked and oddly enough the problem has not recurred in the 20 months since then.

Reactions: 3

chuck3565

· #60 · 3 mo ago

Atlant said:
Please be honest with me here.

Realistically speaking: How often do Bolts need to be cold-rebooted (by disconnecting the battery)?

In nearly every way, a Bolt seems like a better alternative for me than my current VW ID.4. The Bolt designers did right nearly all of the things that the VW designers did wrong. (So far, the only glaring exception is that 2023 Bolts lost the lock/unlock controls on the rear exterior door handles.)

But a lot of folks here mention that they've needed to cold-reboot their Bolts by disconnecting and reconnecting the battery cable and that they even carry a 10mm wrench so they are ready when that need arises.

Honestly, I could NEVER sell this idea to my wife. Around our house, we refer to turning something off and then on again as the “Microsoft solution” to the problem (harkening back to the days when PCs and apps commonly needed to be power-cycled to recover from software failures) and I don't think she'd ever want to drive a car where this need might arise. (As it is, she won't drive my ever-buggy ID.4 for fear of it failing on her.)

So: Is this a real problem that frequently comes up? Have a lot of you needed to reboot your Bolts? Or is it just a rarity that ends up getting discussed here because it happened to a few people who come and post about it?

Once in 3 years for a backup camera issue. The car was drivable.

Reactions: 1

41 - 60 of 139 Posts