2019 Chevrolet Bolt EV Powertrain & Transmission Problems

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.

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.

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.

Solenoid on charge receptacle that asserts locking latch gets stuck in extended state leaving the car in a bricked state - out of charge and unable to insert a charger. This occurred after receiving the new battery packs covered by recall and the dealer did the associated firmware upgrade after the battery recall fix. Also - when observing the Bolt forums the "stuck latch preventing charging" is occurring on quite a number of other Bolts - FW bug??

Vehicle was driving in DRIVE mode, and began to surge as if it was regenerating hard (Felt as if downshifted quickly in a manual), which was odd since it was in DRIVE not LOW. Pulled over and placed the car in PARK. Car began to smoke (First noticed from the front underbody). Exited the vehicle and got far away. Called 911 and gave the dispatcher the information. The car lit on fire. Called 911 let them know the fire had begun. Car fully burned by the time the fire department was able to put out the fire. -What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? Unknown, and it will be available for inspection if requested. -How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? The fire could have easily killed someone and having to stand on the shoulder of a multilane highway next to a blaze was dangerous. -Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? There is no vehicle left after the fire (Total loss confirmed by insurance) -Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? Insurance Co. has. GM will be -Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? No warning lights appeared at any time

Battery pack is failed and needs replacing, attempts have already been made to no avail. We should have our batteries replaced at no expense along with loaner provided until completed. Than you

I have a 2019 Chevrolet Bolt with a US made battery. It is not part of the recall for battery fires. NHTSA, Chevrolet, and LG all say that the problem with the fires is "2 rare manufacturing defects" and not an issue with the battery design or the manufacturing process. It has a 60kwh battery just like the Korean made batteries that have caught fire. It is produced at an LG factory following their industrial design, and presumably the manufacturing process is the same as at the Korean factory - since it was a defect that caused the problem, and not a manufacturing problem. However, LG has had to recall batteries made for other brands of autos. LG has had to recall home storage batteries. Looking at all the different batteries that LG has had to recall, how can I trust NHTSA when they restate that the problem is a rare manufacturing defect that was identified by Chevrolet and LG? Can I believe something that was identified by a manufacturer who has had to recall multiple batteries for multiple cars and stationary situations? I would like you to investigate the manufacturing process that LG uses, and be sure the non-recalled batteries are truly safe, especially for the 2019 Chevrolet Bolts that have the exact same battery as the ones that caught fire. Thank you. Anne Mellinger-Birdsong 934 Artwood Rd NE Atlanta, GA 30307

My vehicle is fully electric and has been under a recall for fire risk from the high-voltage battery. I completed the remedy from the manufacturer earlier this year, but now a new recall has been placed because the original remedy didn't actually fix the problem. The manufacturer is now stating that they will need to replace some/all of the battery, and they've said it isn't safe to charge the vehicle overnight, charge it in my garage, or charge it fully to 100% capacity. This means I'm unable to use my vehicle safely to drive to work or other required activities. I'm dissatisfied with General Motors' response to this safety issue, and I'm requesting that they approve vehicle buy backs for any owners of affected vehicles who request them to do so.

The car’s electronics under the hood got very hot when charging at Level 2 (ChargePoint wall charger) at home at night in mild ambient conditions (low 70s deg F). The surface of the electronic component boxes on top of the engine compartment were very hot to the touch but not burning the skin. It is not clear whether the propulsion battery also got very hot or not, but later on car’s display showed that car consumed 10% of used electricity for “battery conditioning” since the last full charge, namely since the car was unplugged and started to use battery power to keep battery cooling system going. This implies that it is quite possible that the battery also got hot (>100 deg F, since this temperature is what I have had observed in the past was the trigger temperature for initiating battery conditioning/cooling, e.g. 30 minutes into fast charging - FCDC - when ambient temperature was in the low 90s). The temperature measured by electronic thermometer on the surface of one of the electronics boxes under the hood indicated 113 deg F one hour after the car was unplugged and moved out of the garage, while the ambient temperature was measured to be 72 deg F. This implies the temperature of car components was even higher an hour earlier during and right after charging. If the car continued to charge, it is possible it would be in danger of catching fire since it appears the cooling system was not able to stop electrical component temperatures from rising. As far as I am aware, this car is the only Bolt EV that has been observed to reach unexpectedly high temperatures when Level 2 charging (240V 32A = 7.6 kW) without actually catching on fire.

VEHICLE UNEXPECTEDLY & WITHOUT WARNING LOST POWER WHILE TRAVELING ON HIGHWAY. VEHICLE WAS UNABLE TO ACCELERATE AND ALL POWER FROM THE HIGH VOLTAGE SYSTEM WAS LOST. *TR

I HAVE A 2019 BOLT EV (MILEAGE APPROXIMATELY 10K) THAT AUTOMATICALLY SHIFTED GEAR TO "PARK" MODE FROM THE "L" MODE AND SLOWED TO AN ALMOST STOP WHILE I WAS ON THE HIGHWAY AT RUSH HOUR DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 65 MI/HR. I WAS ABLE TO SAFELY STEER THE CAR TO A MEDIAN AND CALL ON STAR AFTER REPEATEDLY SHUTTING POWER OFF AND BACK ON AGAIN. I WAS ABLE TO CONNECT WITH ON STAR FOR LIVE DIAGNOSTICS SHOWING A FAILURE IN THE HYBRID CONTROL PROCESSOR (P0A78). I ARRANGED FOR THE VEHICLE TO BE TOWED TO THE NEAREST DEALERSHIP AND HAS BEEN UNDER REPAIR FOR THE PAST TWO WEEKS. GM SENT THE DEALER A "CONTROL MODULE" AS REPLACEMENT BUT THIS DIDN'T FIX THE PROBLEM. RECENTLY, THE DEALER CALLED TO INFORM ME THAT THE TRANSMISSION WILL BE REPLACED BUT NEITHER THE DEALER OR GM PROVIDED A ROOT CAUSE FOR THE FAILURE. GM HAS NOT PROVIDED ANY INDICATION WHETHER THIS IS AN ISOLATED OR KNOWN ISSUE, HOWEVER, I GATHERED FROM PUBLIC FORUMS THAT OTHER BOLT EV OWNERS HAVE EXPERIENCED SOMEWHAT SIMILAR UNEXPECTED SHIFTS IN GEAR TO PARK.*DT*JB

GOT BRAND NEW VEHICLE ON SEPT 7TH. ON SEPT. 8TH SUFFERED LOSS OF PROPULSION AND INABILITY TO CHANGE GEARS. AFTER DRIVING FOR 20 MINUTES (50%+ CHARGED) WE REACHED OUR DESTINATION. I ATTEMPTED TO SHIFT THE VEHICLE TO R IN ORDER TO PARALLEL PARK, HOWEVER THE VEHICLE WAS STUCK WITH A MESSAGE SHOWING AN INABILITY TO SHIFT. WE TRIED MULTIPLE TIMES TOGGLING THE CAR ON/OFF. AFTER LEAVING FOR 10 MINUTES AND TRYING AGAIN IT WORKED, HOWEVER WITH A SERVICE ENGINE LIGHT ON. WE CONTINUED TO THE GROCERY STORE. AFTER LEAVING THE GROCERY STORE AND DRIVING 10 MINUTES WE SUDDENLY WHILE MOVING GOT A 'LOSS OF PROPULSION" MESSAGE. PRESSING THE ACCELERATION PEDAL DID NOT MOVE THE VEHICLE. WE STRUGGLED TO NAVIGATE TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD AFTER LOSING TOTAL POWER. WE TRIED AGAIN TURNING THE VEHICLE ON/OFF BEING GREATED WITH INABILITY TO SHIFT MESSAGE. EVENTUALLY AFTER 15 MINUTES IT TURNED ON AND LUCKILY WE WERE BLOCKS FROM A CHEVY DEALER. THIS WAS QUITE TRAUMATIC TO GO THROUGH WITH MY MOTHER-IN-LAW AND PREGNANT WIFE.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2019 CHEVROLET BOLT EV. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THERE WAS AN ABNORMAL TICKING NOISE COMING FROM THE VEHICLE. THE NOISE SOUNDED AS IF IT WERE COMING FROM THE AREA OF THE CONSOLE/ GEAR SHIFT. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO CAMELBACK CHEVROLET (1233 E CAMELBACK RD, PHOENIX, AZ 85014, (602) 457-3232) WHERE IT WAS KEPT FOR TWO WEEKS TO HAVE A NEW GEAR SHIFT INSTALLED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE AND DID NOT ASSIST. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 3,217.