[Randall Foltyniewicz]

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.

To make it easy, here is the link to do so. Approximately 100,000 Volts were manufactured between 2016-2019.

Report a Vehicle Safety Problem, Equipment Issue | NHTSA

 

[Nweke Simon]

It also occurred to me to try and get a list together, as people were naturally offering up their situations. I'm curious if anyone has written you. Also, there's lots of BECM sufferers over at reddit r/volt.

I've reached out to as many contact points as I can at GM - wrote the former Program Manager for Volt/Bolt, who responded and forwarded my message along. The gist of the message is "I'm not trying to get you to solve my problem, but you should know that there are quite a few Volt owners who are very unhappy, and given that Volt/Bolt owners are the early adopter crowd you'll need to generate the future EV sales, it might be a fire you want to put out". I also sent similar messages to GM/Chevy's various social media contact points.

I don't know much about lawsuits, and I need to dig into my 2017's CPO warranty, but I would just like to see GM make at least some accommodation - establishing a rental reimbursement program, extending warranties to make up for the months of warranty wasted while cars are stuck at dealerships... something?

As I've mentioned in other threads, part of my frustration is that I don't really buy that GM can pawn this off on the supply chain crisis given that it was a known issue well before covid, and it's a critical part - not exactly rocket science to look at the failure rate and fleet size and take a guess at the needed supply. If they can build whole new factories lines and models, they can honor the basics of the warranties they sold and we paid for. Companies have to make choices with limited resources, and it's hard not to see this as GM choosing to prioritize new sales/future revenue instead of prioritizing existing customers. I don't know what their legal obligations are, but it certainly doesn't make me want to be at the whim of GM's priorities or resource management ever again. If what I've read is true, it's an LG made part, which might make things more complex.

I'm up to 68 days. I do miss the thing, regardless of my smoldering animosity towards GM.

Please this BECM issues is only applicable to 2017 Volts?

 

[Steverino]

Please this BECM issues is only applicable to 2017 Volts?

It seems 2017 has more reports than other years, but if you start with post #1 of this thread you'll see other years can have the issue as well.

 

[zimmerdale]

After more than 12 months since diagnosis of a bad BECM (and just under 10 months of sitting undriveable at the dealer), our 2017 Volt Premier is back home and appears to be working properly.

Nov. 2021: Found the car through the GM Certified website and purchased from a dealer. It worked great for three months.

Feb. 18, 2022: After a couple weeks of reduced propulsion warnings and other issues, we dropped it off at the only dealer (Wichita, KS) within three hours that could do warranty work.

Feb. 21, 2022: Dealer diagnosed a bad BECM. Part on backorder with no ETA. Told us to keep driving it.

Mar. 30, 2022: No word from the dealer. GM ([email protected]) responded to say, "the part's ETA is 4/21/22."

Apr. 26, 2022: Dealer said the BECM came in (just over two months wait). Dropped the car off for the first available appointment. Dealer said it would take five hours. A day or two later, dealer said they found a couple other broken things. One clip would come in the next day. Another "cable" was special order or on backorder with no ETA. Car is undriveable and parked at dealership.

July 11, 2022: Dealer told us that on June 23 the backordered cable was going through quality control.

No further updates.

Nov. 11, 2022: Filed lawsuit: Complaint – #1 in Miller v. General Motors, LLC (E.D. Mich., 2:22-cv-12739) – CourtListener.com

Feb. 6, 2023: GM filed motion to dismiss. We have 21 days (Feb. 27) to file an amended complaint.

Feb. 21, 2023: Dealer suddenly told us our car was ready. Twelve months to the day from when the BECM was diagnosed. Paperwork says: Installed 24296900 Module (BECM), 84075358 Cable, and 24299153 Relay. This was the first I heard of the high voltage relay being replaced as well. The dealer never mentioned it before. It's also not mentioned in the limited description:

Replace the Kl6 Battery Energy Control Module: durning tear down of vehicle found that the to the safety clips were broken on the High Voltage Battery to Inverter harness plug that plugs into the high volatge ev battery.

replaced the battery energy control module per Document ID: 4179662 .. and replaced the the High Voltage Battery to Inverter harness due to the safety clips being broken.

 

[Steverino]

I'm glad yours is back, yikes, what a long journey!

Yup, the BECM supply chain logjam seems to have broken in the last month or so. People are now reporting getting the replacement in under a month, sometimes in a week.

 

[dvb]

After more than 12 months ...

Can you remember what SOC of the main battery was at the time the dealer took the car and what was it upon you receiving the car? Did it degrade much?

I mean has the lack of charging for almost a year somehow affected the battery health?

 

[zimmerdale]

Can you remember what SOC of the main battery was at the time the dealer took the car and what was it upon you receiving the car? Did it degrade much?

I mean has the lack of charging for almost a year somehow affected the battery health?

I'm worried about battery degradation after sitting uncharged and unplugged for ten months.

I'm not sure how to judge that accurately, as we only had the car for three winter months before the BECM acted up, and I didn't pay close attention to the charging numbers. The guess-o-meter was telling us about 32-36 miles of EV only in those first three months, with the car being used to commute daily just over 30 miles round trip at 75-80 mph. And it often wouldn't even go 30 miles if heat was used.

Now with it back for a few days, the guess-o-meter has dropped to 30 miles after a full charge.

 

[dvb]

Many owners say, that after BECM reprogramming the guessometer started to show less miles, so that's probably ok. You could estimate watching the numbers of kwh, used from a full charge to full discharge, and then kwh, used from the grid for a full charge.

 

[Sheldon]

Many owners say, that after BECM reprogramming the guessometer started to show less miles, so that's probably ok. You could estimate watching the numbers of kwh, used from a full charge to full discharge, and then kwh, used from the grid for a full charge.

My 2017 has about 13% battery range sitting in the hot Texas sun waiting for a BECM last summer; the car was towed Jul21 2022, and stayed outside in the hot sun until it was repaired and returned home Nov 1st over 3 months later. This was the hottest Austin Texas summer on record with many 105 degrees in July. The range new roughly 53 miles for a mix of city/hwy driving at 14.1kwh, and now its about 46 miles, 12.25kwh. Prior to the repair, the Volt battery had degraded and was down perhaps 6.5% from new, so the 3 1/2 months roughly doubled the battery degradation.

Personally, 46 miles on a full charge is plenty enough for my daily needs especially since we now also own a 2022 Bolt EUV with 250 miles of range. During the week, I drive the Volt to work, my wife drive's Bolt. In total, the Bolt gets much more of our annual driving miles even given the roughly one to two trips per year that's more convenient in the Volt due to the DCFC charging network limitations in Texas.

 

[zimmerdale]

The amended complaint filed yesterday includes fifteen additional plaintiffs.

 

[zimmerdale]

I thought our experience was rough.

Plaintiff C:

... purchased a new 2017 Chevy Volt in or around August 2016. [...] In or around March 2020, the MIL (or “check engine”) light came on in Varadarajan’s Volt and he began experiencing decreased propulsion. He took the vehicle to Stevens Creek Chevrolet in San Jose, California for repair for the first time in or around March 2020. The dealership informed Varadarajan that his Volt’s BECM had failed and needed to be replaced. Over the next approximately two years, Varadarajan’s Volt has been in for BECM-related repairs six different times. Varadarajan’s vehicle has undergone five (5) BECM replacements – the latest occurring on or about January 5, 2023 – and all attempts at repair have failed. After the latest failure, Varadarajan had his car transported back to the dealership for the sixth BECM-related issue, and the dealership retains Varadarajan’s Volt as of the date of filing of this First Amended Complaint.

 

[zimmerdale]

Plaintiff H:

Upon taking the vehicle in for repair, Hogan was informed that the BECM on his Volt has failed and has since sought BECM-related repair service from authorized GM service centers on multiple occasions. The BECM failures on Hogan’s Volt occurred at approximately 40,000, 65,000, 85,000, and 100,000 miles.

 

[Steverino]

I wonder for some of these if the BECM failure is a symptom rather than the cause? Like a blown fuse, where the replacements keep blowing. It's not a fuse issue, something else is causing the problem.

 

[noyoudont]

I wonder for some of these if the BECM failure is a symptom rather than the cause? Like a blown fuse, where the replacements keep blowing. It's not a fuse issue, something else is causing the problem.

maybe a 12v power supply

 

[dvb]

Interesting thought, though I can't imagine what exactly could be damaged by low voltage inside the BECM. It receives 12V and makes 5V to feed the main CPU and optotrsistors.

 

[noyoudont]

Interesting thought, though I can't imagine what exactly could be damaged by low voltage inside the BECM. It receives 12V and makes 5V to feed the main CPU and opto transistors.

i break the becm down into 2 sections hv and low voltage. the hv side is connect by per cell to 400v on the traction battery
communication error is on the low voltage side running from 12v or 5 v as you say, the 5v also running from the 12v
a bad solder joint seems to be suspect on the opto coupler
so the question you should be asking, is, what causes bad solder joint
some on this forum suggested the solder type as being the factor, and that maybe true, but if that was the case, you would think you would see this on a number of solder connections and not just one , as it seems to be in this case
high current through the solder connection could also make it fail over time, but being an opto coupler that turns on and off a led through a current resistor make the chances of high current very low unless some thing shorted. but people have repaired the solder connection and have it work again, suggesting that there was not, a component failure
so what electronic hacksaw is working on that connection

 

[dvb]

Two guys I know tried to solder the optotransistor chip. Only one succeeded and it was 23284999 module. Another guy couldn't repair his 24283xxx module, though he tried resoldering all of them and even exchanging them. I tried soldering too but I don't know the result yet, as I can't reset P0AFA code.

The suggested soldering of one chip seems wrong to me either, because schematicaly it can cause only three of six U... errors, which seem to be common to everyone having BECM trouble.

 

[noyoudont]

if there was enough force of some type to break that connection , i would be checking 'through holes' in the board near that location as well

 

[Scott6666667]

The case is finally filed.

Complaint – #1 in Miller v. General Motors, LLC (E.D. Mich., 2:22-cv-12739) – CourtListener.com

COMPLAINT - Class Action filed by All Plaintiffs against All Plaintiffs with Jury Demand. Plaintiff requests summons issued. Receipt No: AMIEDC-9126368 - Fee: $ 402. County of 1st Plaintiff: Out of State - County Where Action Arose: Out of State - County of 1st Defendant: Wayne. [Previously...

www.courtlistener.com

If you think your situation is similar (see my posts earlier in this thread), and you are interested in being added to the case at some point, I can connect you with the lawyers in charge.

This has happened to me twice. Is it still possible to join the lawsuit?

 

[zimmerdale]

This has happened to me twice. Is it still possible to join the lawsuit?

I sent you a message with the contact info for one of the lawyers. I don't know if they are still able or wanting to add plaintiffs, but I'm sure they would be interested in hearing about your situation.