[snic]

I wish more people would report the BECM issue on the NTHSA complaint board - especially if it's causing a clear safety issue like suddenly stopping the car. I recently did a search on the board and found 9 hits for "BECM" or "battery energy" for 2017 Volts, and 0 for any other year (2016-19). But from this forum and Reddit it seems the problem is much more widespread. The government is not going to force a recall unless they have evidence that it's a serious and common safety issue.

 

[snic]

Agree. I'm still waiting for someone else to truly take up the mantle of the Voltec approach, and keep wondering if GM will come back to it now that the consumer interest is catching up to what Voltec was offering 11 years ago. I do get that as a compromise, the Voltec drivetrain doesn't do the best in terms of efficiency once you're in ICE mode, so you end up with a car, on paper, that gets 42mpg.. an Accord or Camry hybrid look better on the window sticker. Of course, most of us Volt owners are actually getting hundreds of mpg in real life, but that doesn't make it to the window sticker. The way I've always felt is that it's the drivetrain Americans actually need, if they could only be convinced to want what they need.

My big issue with other PHEV offerings is that other than the Volt, i3, and maybe the Rav4 Prime, most the PHEVs since the Volt have such small electric motors that they must inevitably depend on ICE for typical use, which defeats most of the purpose of a PHEV for me. I could be wrong, but it seems that the Volt and i3 still stand out as the only PHEVs that are genuine BEVs until the battery is depleted.

I bought a Rav4Prime last year and am more or less happy with it. In EV mode the engine does tend to come on more often than the Volt's. It's not excessive, something like once or twice a week in cold weather (I noticed that now that I'm not using the heater, it happens less), and the most annoying thing is that there doesn't seem to be any logic as to when/why the engine starts and there is never a message indicating why the engine is on. The Volt always tells you (ERDTT, EMM, FMM). The only time it doesn't is if your hood is open. Anyway, I'd say the R4P is close to being a genuine BEV until the battery is depleted - not as close as the Volt, but probably closer than some other PHEVs. I've actually never had the engine come on when punching the accelerator, so it's not as if the R4P's motors are too small.

The R4P range is almost as good as the Volt's, and it routinely outperforms (I often get more EV miles than the stated range). And it's a fun drive, for a SUV. The Volt feels zippier, but the Volt is a small car. Of course the extra cabin space feels downright luxurious after the tiny volt. Another improvement over the Volt is that both heating and cooling of the cabin are performed with a heat pump, which is much more energy efficient than the Volt's resistive heating.

The only problem with the R4P at the moment is getting one. Dealers are marking them up by thousands.

 

[snic]

It is dead. Fortunately, I have other vehicles that are old but still run and are much cheaper to fix. I really liked that Volt and want to have it fixed, but after the Tesla down the street burned until there was nothing left but the frame, and my lithium ion battery in my 5G phone swelled up and ruptured the phone case, I'm getting concerned about driving around on top of a big pile of rechargeable lithium ion batteries.

How odd. You aren't concerned about driving around with 10 to 20 gallons of highly flammable liquid in the back of your car?

One of the most frightening things I've ever seen was a pickup truck by the side of the highway, burning with huge angry red flames and rolling black smoke. Yet I willingly ride around in ICE cars, buses, vans, airplanes, boats...

 

[snic]

Don't forget the fuel pump that pump that explosive liquid at 100psi (or higher, if direct injected) around the vehicle. The '67 Ford truck I drove in high school had the fuel tank INSIDE the cab, right behind the seat. Slosh, slosh, slosh...

-Charlie

...inches from the cigarette lighter!

 

[snic]

If I remember right, people have managed to get GM to agree to pay for a rental by calling GM directly.

 

[snic]

I purchased my 2016 in December 2015. It went into the dealership two weeks ago for a replacement BECM.

Lovely. I bought mine at around the same time. The voltec warranty will expire in 25,000 miles or about 15 months. I'm guessing the BECM is going to fail right at 8 years and 1 day...

PLEASE report the issue to the TSA. The more reports, the more likely that GM will be forced to issue a recall.

 

[snic]

In early July, 2022, my 2017 Volt (107,500 miles) continuously had LOW PROPULSION MODE kick in and the vehicle was unsafe to drive. On July 8, 2022 my Chevy dealer ordered a BATTERY ENERGY CONTROL MODULE 2.210, FP Number 24296900, for my 2017 Volt. Since that date my car has been sitting like a rock in my driveway because we cannot take it on the road. Dealer stated it is covered under the vehicle exhaust warranty which is in effect until 150,000 miles. Still waiting for the part to arrive but the car is absolutely worthless at this time.

Just curious what state your car was sold in when it was new? It's a bit unclear whether the Voltec warranty (which covers the battery and BECM) extends to 10 years/150k miles in any state other than California.

 

[snic]

The BECM is covered outside of California. We're in Texas and I'm not sure what part of the warranty covers the BECM. My 2017 Volt will be 6 years old in December, so its past the standard 5 year warranty, but the BECM repair parts and labor will be covered when the replacement BECM finally arrives for my 2017 Volt that has been at the local Chevrolet service shop for ... too long.

The standard (bumper to bumper) warranty is 3 years, not 5.

The BECM is covered under the Voltec warranty, which is 8 years/100k miles. The Volt also comes with an emissions controls warranty that is also 8/100 in most states, but 10/150 in California. The BECM may be covered under the emissions controls warranty as well. The question is whether any Volts sold in a CARB state other than California have the 10/150 emissions controls warranty.

 

[snic]

The class action was a fun read, thanks for the link. Keep us posted, please.

The one thing I didn't agree with was the bolded word "GM was engaged in an aggressive marketing campaign to promote the Volt and attract customers".

Thanks to zimmerdale for doing this! Hopefully it at least prompts GM to increase BECM production and issue a recall. Given the high proportion of Volts that have faulty BECMs, and the dangerous nature of the defect (paragraphs 90-98), I'm surprised GM hasn't been forced to do a recall.

 

[snic]

Sorry to see these problems is this basically 2017-2018 volts that are having this issue? I have 2013 and it been solid was thinking of upgrading to a 2019 but now I'm on the fence.

Most reports of BECM failures are 2017. But 2016 and 2018 also pop up occasionally. I'm not sure about 2019.