Chevrolet Bolt EV Complaints (2019)

179 consumer complaints on file.

#11521369May 10, 2023
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM, POWER TRAIN
While driving on the freeway at 65 mph during morning rush-hour, the vehicle unexpectedly decelerated without warning and came to a stop. The vehicle was barely able to make it to the shoulder before losing all momentum. There is a high-risk of a fatal collision when a vehicle unexpectedly stops or drastically slows on a freeway with 65 - 70 mph traffic, which is compounded during peak travel times. This is a risk to not only the vehicle occupants, but other drivers and vehicles as well. Several error messages were displayed on the dashboard as the car was decelerating: Drivetrain malfunction: Stop and turn off engine; Service high voltage battery system; Service Vehicle Soon; Unable to shift. The battery range dropped from just under 50% (~115 mi) to 0 while attempting to pull over on the shoulder. After the vehicle was stopped, it was unable to be powered off for about an hour. It was not successful in shifting or moving and the battery range showed 0. An hour and a half (1.5 hours) after the incident, the vehicle would power on and show a battery range between 121 - 110, which would drop to 0 within 15 seconds with a message that it is unable to charge. At the time of the incident, OnStar sent an email stating that "A critical issue with the engine and transmission system in your 2019 Chevy Bolt has been detected. Please service your vehicle immediately." The battery had been replaced the week of February 5th, 2023 per several product safety recall notices . There was one issue on February 18th, 2023 that the battery range was not updating, but it corrected itself after being parked for 3 hours. There were no other previous issues or indications of a problem prior to vehicle malfunction. The vehicle is currently being diagnosed by a dealer. It is currently available for inspection. The electrical, propulsion, and powertrain (and possibly speed control) systems did not function properly.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11521276May 9, 2023
STEERING
When making turns, the steering does not return to center. I must move the steering wheel to straighten the wheels to continue forward. I researched the issue and have found that this is a common complaint with the Bolt. From what I have read, this is due to a faulty steering gear. I called the dealer, and although there is a service advisory, this not a warranty or recall situation. I was quoted $3500 to repair this issue.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11520092May 2, 2023
STEERING
Steering does not return to center. Must manually turn wheel back to center after turning.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11518247April 21, 2023
STEERING
Steering gear (rack and pinion) has failed leading to steering wheel not returning to center after turns at mid speed or faster. Also noticed audible clicking sounds at low speeds when turning steering wheel.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11518325April 21, 2023
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
After driving the car for roughly 60-75 minutes while at highway speeds and within the posted speed limits: 65mph-75mph, the car will chime and the driver information panel will flash "Propulsion Reduced." At that point, the vehicle's electrical propulsion will gradually reduce to a maximum output power of roughly 20KW. The propulsion will stay capped at 20KW for a bit of time (15-20 minutes) and then gradually the cap will increase. Unfortunately, on I-25 in southern Colorado where this usually occurs, the speed limit is 75mph and and 20KW of propulsion results in the vehicle traveling on the interstate at roughly 45-55mph which results in very unsafe situations. That road has a minimum speed of 55mph. This happened on the first day that I purchased the car, I can reproduce it with my family in the car, but the dealer has been unable to reproduce it. I have had the Chevrolet dealership inspect it multiple times, but they can not find a fault. It has happened when ambient temperatures are as low as 28F and as high as 98F there does not appear to be a correlation there. I have had it happen when the battery has a SOC of 70% and as low as 25%, that also does not show a correlation. I have seen a correlation with passengers/weight in the vehicle as that requires more KW of output to propel the car. Likewise, consistent average speed has a correlation. If traveling at 75mph (posted speed limit) the propulsion reduction will occur sooner rather than traveling at 73mph.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11514657March 30, 2023
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
I was driving on a highway access road when my Chevy Bolt's automatic emergency braking system suddenly and unexpectedly applied the brakes. I have noticed that the proximity warning system is fairly sensitive - often beeping even when I am applying brakes to decelerate at a rate that feels comfortable and reasonable to me given the distance of the vehicle in front of me. In this instance, however, there was no beeping of the warning system. Additionally, I was not closing the distance between my vehicle and the one in front of me, nor were they braking. I was concerned that the unexpected and unnecessary emergency braking could have caused me to be rear-ended had a vehicle been behind me. It was very heavy braking - disproportionate to the distance and speed between myself and the vehicle in front of me.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11511118March 10, 2023
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
This is for the recall N222383791 (SEATBELT PRETENSIONER FIRE) that was issued on 12/15/2022. The Remedy has been identified as dealers installing metal foil on the carpet near the pretensioner exhaust. Certain vehicles will also need a pretensioner cover installed. It was said that a remedy would be available at dealerships around 1/30/2023. It is now 3/10/2033 nearly three months after the remedy was identified, and it's still not possible to get it repaired at dealerships. This complaint is that the manufacturer hasn't remedied this safety recall in a timely manner.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11508757February 23, 2023
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, POWER TRAIN, FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
Vehicle without warning stopped moving while making a left turn in an intersection at night. Power to dashboard was on but no propulsion, brakes or steering. Was unable to put car into gear to move forward or in reverse. Message was displayed, "Unable to Initalize Propulsion System" Extremely dangerous situation, I turned on flashers and left car in intersection. Called tow truck. When tow truck arrived, we pushed car to curb and he hauled it away. Cheverolet dealer diagnosed the problem as a defective wiring harness. He said there was a GM alert regarding this as a known issue that led him to the defective wiring harness. They charged $1567 to replace it which included $1200 in labor and recommended I contact GM to see if they would compensate me since it was a known issue and the car was only 2 months off warrantee. GM refused to compensate me for the faulty harness. The Bolt has 19K miles on it, is kept in a garage and has never been in an accident.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11508379February 21, 2023
STEERING
What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? Steering rack and pinion; the pinion gear and housing broke free from the rack housing. I have the component available for inspection. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? The vehicle was barely controllable. Turned steering wheel up to 180 degrees back and forth to maintain straight travel. After making it into a parking lot the parts became separated and all steering control was lost. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? After towing in, rack and pinion assembly was replaced and old part returned to me. Also had to replace the airbag clockspring that was damaged as I tried to control the vehicle. Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? Component was only inspected by the repairing dealer. Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? these was no warning lamp until after the break occurred. No previous indications of any problem.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11508110February 19, 2023
STEERING
Steering won't return to center in a turn, steering rack/gear must be replaced, $3k repair https://www.chevybolt.org/threads/how-to-replace-a-faulty-steering-rack-in-your-bolt-how-to-fix-steering-wont-return-to-center.43056/
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11503159January 23, 2023
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM:PROPULSION SYSTEM:TRACTION BATTERY
2019 CHEVROLET BOLT. CONSUMER WRITES IN REGARD TO NHTSA SAFETY RECALL 21V-560. THE CONSUMER IS DISSATISFIED WITH THE AMOUNT OF TIME IT TAKES TO PERFORM THE RECALL ON THIS VEHICLE.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11502183January 17, 2023
SEAT BELTS
GM Recall #: N222383791 NHTSA #: 22V930 Date Issued: Dec 15, 2022 brought my vehicle in to complete repairs for recall on 1/12/23. was told that a remedy is not available despite recall being issued since 12/15/22
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11502012January 16, 2023
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS, BACK OVER PREVENTION: REARVIEW SYSTEM BRAKING, LANE DEPARTURE: BLIND SPOT DETECTION
Rainwater leaks through the rear windshield wiper grommet and runs down into the trunk shorting out the amplifier that is located at the bottom underneath the tire change kit. Collision alert sounds and turn signal sounds do not function because the amplifier is shorted out. There is no visible sign of water leak unless you disassemble and entirely remove 1) the top trunk cargo liner, 2) lower trunk charger compartment liner, and 3) large styrofoam tray with tire change kit. Water pools around the amplifier corroding terminals and shorting out the amplifier creating an electrical shock hazard. There are no drainage holes in the trunk well so rainwater has no way of draining.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11495863December 2, 2022
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, POWER TRAIN, FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
I'm experiencing the loss of propulsion covered in this bulletin. It's happened around 5 times. https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2020/MC-10176614-9999.pdf The malfunction indicator lamp comes on after each incident and then clears. The problem has been confirmed by a dealer and they are refusing to repair it under either the power train or emission control systems warranty. Losing propulsion is a safety issue, particularly in high speed traffic, and it needs to be fixed.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11492459November 6, 2022
AIR BAGS
collided with a deer at 45mph. enough force for airbag deployment. airbag attempted to deploy. I can smell igniter fumes and have smoke in the vehicle however the actual steering wheel bag did not deploy.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11492290November 4, 2022
SERVICE BRAKES, SEAT BELTS, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Parking brake engages sporadically and automatically and sometime produce loud grinding noise in front of the car. Passenger rear middle seatbelt is not retracting automatically and is not self adjusting. Reverse camera has changed from a full screen view to a smaller screen with wide bars left and bottom of the image that now is hard to see. I believe this changed due to a software update with no warning. Dealer requests me to pay for this issues to be inspected. I believe this are safety concerns and Chevy should recall them.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11488459October 8, 2022
STEERING
The steering when turning is sticky and making a clicking noise. If you turn it left it really sticks, you have to work to straighten it out. I took the car to the Chevy dealership and they told me this: "Performed diagnostic on the vehicle. Was able to verify customers concern.Found the steering problem is coming from a noise in the steering rack, found that the steering gear needs replacement. Gear #(42353783). Estimate w / labor is $1958.15." Dealer told us it was safe to drive, but this IS a safety issue: we do not feel confident driving this car, the steering is not responsive! Even though the wheels may not fall off, it still remains a steering control issue. Car is out of warranty, but we feel this should be taken care of by Chevy for no charge; it only has 42097 miles on it! Looking on message boards reveals this is not an uncommon issue.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11488495October 8, 2022
STEERING
The car's steering system does not return the wheels to straight ahead after going through a turn unless there is significant operator input to the steering wheel. On several occasions, i was caught by surprise and had to quickly straighten the wheels to avoid staying in a turn and running off the road, or hitting another car.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11485430September 20, 2022
LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES
The contact owns a 2019 Chevrolet Bolt EV. The contact stated that while driving approximately 55 MPH, the rear passenger’s side door suddenly unlocked and opened. The contact stated that there were no passengers in the rear of the vehicle for the door to be unintendedly opened. The contact pulled over to the side of the road and was able to close and lock the door. The contact had taken the vehicle to the dealer who was unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle had not been diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and confirmed there were no recalls or service bulletins for the failure. The approximate failure mileage 45,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11481274August 25, 2022
STEERING
My 2019 Bolt has about 38K miles on it. In the past few weeks, the steering has become difficult to use. The steering does not return to center as it should after a turn, creating a potentially dangerous situation. There is also a clicking noise in the steering column. I had it inspected and evaluated at the dealership and was told it needed a new steering rack and a steering shaft coupler, no longer under warranty. Cost estimate about $3,000. A quick online search shows there are many other Bolt owners experiencing similar issues. Yes it is available for inspection. No warning lamps or other symptoms.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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