Replying to my own thread to update on the bold portion above: Check engine light came on yesterday and the diagnostics report on the My Chevrolet app indicates an issue with the lithium ion battery. So far it still starts and charges OK, but I suspect it won't remain that way for long.
Per your previous message where they confirmed BECM issues but denied a loaner because it was still drivable, I'd be curious to see if your symptoms progress to what I (and other people) dealt with in terms of BECM failure. My assumption is that the failure is of a binary electrical/software nature (perfect one day, failure state the next) as opposed to a gradual mechanical failure, but maybe not? In any case, if your car gets to the state mine was in, well, technically it could be coaxed into under its own power, but I wouldn't really call it driveable.
Has anyone waiting this long tried contacting GM corporate offices about this issue rather than just going through the dealer? This is really unacceptable from a customer standpoint.
I've reached out to the apparent program manager for the Volt and Bolt programs (John Ferris on LinkedIn) -not sure if he's the right person or even still in that role. From my point of view, my employer has had to make choices about prioritizing new sales vs focusing our supply chain crisis limited resources on existing customers. Just like new cars, if we can sell a new machine, it will generate years of parts and support revenue, but it doesn't make sense to sell as many new units as possible if it means burning our existing customers... so we don't. GM is huge and complicated but I can't help but feel sure that when I see low-production buzz generators like the Lyriq or Hummer roll off a new line in this supply environment that it intentionally came at the cost of supporting existing customers, especially when we're talking about a critical part that appears to have had a known high failure rate for many years. Given that the Volt/Bolt represent the real world EV customers GM will need to generate the word of mouth EV sales they seem to banking the future of the company on, you'd think they'd prioritize supporting those customers. Or, apparently, not?
Well, it doesn't seem to be a constant degradation because today the Check Engine light turned off in the in the dash and the My Chevy app show no current issues. It seems I'm certainly on the precipice of a total BECM failure but at this point it comes and goes.
As I'm spending more time searching this forum and Reddit, I'm learning a) this has been an issue forever b) it sounds like it's an issue with the solder in the BECM which is particularly afflicted when it's cold and the solder contracts. This lines up with my experience - the failures were on especially cold days, which initially had me assuming 12V battery issues. To further complicate the issue, pulling the 12V resets everything, giving you the impression that the BECM is fine and the car is driveable... for the moment.
I'm wondering if the range will come back up as it learns your driving habits again? I'm guessing that was reset in the process?
The dealer arranged the loaner. The associate told me that my car was still under warranty and so the loaner was covered. I hope the range comes back up. Various parameters were reset and I hope that the range was merely one of them.
good to hear
CEL is back on and while the car starts (so far) after a short drive I get the "Propulsion Power is Reduced" message and the car switches over to the gas engine. Car won't even charge now (solid orange light when plugged in).
That's exactly what mine would do, fwiw. Other than the whole stopping mid-motion, which happened twice for us.
I've had some studders while driving with "Propulsion Power is Reduced" but never had it completely stop. How did you get it going again when that happened? Gotta be prepared
For me, holding down the start button (can't remember if foot needs to be on or off brake) for something like 7 seconds triggered a reset that would allow me to proceed in ICE/reduced propulsion mode. Limped it home both times that way.I've had some studders while driving with "Propulsion Power is Reduced" but never had it completely stop. How did you get it going again when that happened? Gotta be prepared
You should start the ball rolling, contact an attorney. Post the results of your discussion in a new thread.
