[Ladogaboy]

Generally the conditions have been dry, and I do not recall having seen the traction control light come on, BUT in keeping with the same idea, could/would low tire pressure have been the culprit?

The only way I could see that being the cause is if one tire's pressure was drastically lower than the rest, but even then, I think that that would be something you'd notice.

 

[Jenn]

Yeah, they were all low-ish. Like around 31-33 psi. Nothing dramatic. I was just reaching.

 

[SteveC5088]

All will be well and soon you will be shouting that old song- With apologies to- Johnny Paycheck and David Allan Coe

"Take This Gas And Shove It,
Ain't Buying Much No More-
Cruzing In My Chevy Volt-
With The Pedal To The Floor,

Driving By Them - Fillen Stations,
Pluggen In At Home,
Unplug A Lamp, Plug In My Volt,
For Bout A Buck A Day!

Take Your Gas And Shove It,
Not Buying Much No More,
Crusing In My Chevy Volt,
Who Could Ask for more.................................................."

Best-

Thomas J. Thias

LOL

 

[Chevrolet Customer Svc]

I have had my 2012 Volt a little over 2 months. I absolutely adore it, but it is doing something that gives me cause for concern.

I have noticed that it occasionally seems to hesitate or lose power for a few seconds when it should be accelerating. It seems to happen most often early in a drive, usually when I am running on battery power. I press the accelerator, but the car doesn't accelerate. Instead, my speed drops, and there is a 1-3 second hesitation before it "catches" and becomes responsive to the accelerator again. Needless to say, it is a little scary when this happens, especially when attempting to merge into traffic. My significant other was in the car with me Friday and it happened twice. I thought he was going to go into orbit, since obviously this is a good way to get run over. (Pressing the gas harder doesn't have any effect, by the way.)

Has anyone else had this issue, or does anyone have an idea as to what causes this and what the remedy might be? The dealership says there are no software upgrades for my car, and they are going to have a service tech drive it after lunch to try to duplicate the issue.

Jenn,

Could you please PM me the last 8 of your VIN, the best method of contact for you, and the dealership that you have been working with?

Thank you,

-Ian Chevrolet Volt Customer Service

 

[Chevrolet Customer Svc]

@Jenn, my MY 12 does the same thing. I mentioned this to my salesperson and he acknowledged that he was 'aware' of the condition and 'shrugged his shoulders' as in "That's normal." When you want to get going 'in-a-hurry' I've found that it is usually best to go 'soft' on the accelerator pedal to start and then 'ramp-it-up.' In my mind, it has to be some sort of programming 'thing'. I'd like to hear from our Volt Rep on this...

RCB268,

Sorry to hear that your experiencing this as well. Could you please also PM me the last 8 of your VIN, Servicing Dealership, and best method of contact for you.

Thank you,

-Ian Chevrolet Volt Customer Service

 

[Jenn]

Thanks, Ian. PM sent.

 

[RCB268]

Thanks, Ian. PM sent.

 

[Fulgerite]

NOT NORMAL! YOUR VOLT IS BROKEN. GET IT FIXED.

 

[RCB268]

@Fulgerite, et al: We're going to try. Again, as I've said, my SP indicated that this condition 'was normal' so I quit bitchin' about it and just tried to work with it. Now, from what you forum folks have said, I have been driving a defective automobile for over a year and 1/2 and I'm still VERY HAPPY with the car. Can only imagine what I've been missing! Want to say to all "Thanks" for your good advice and to Jenn for getting this thread going and putting this issue (albeit, evidently, not very common) out in the open!

 

[Jenn]

My salesperson emailed me this morning to see what the sevice department discovered regarding the hesitation issue. I gave him the rundown, and told him that it did the hesitation bit again this morning (29 degrees outside, 31 miles remaining on the battery, and within the first mile of travel, at less than 30 mph). He suggested I bring it back in so they can try again to replicate what I am describing. He said I may have to leave it for a few days, but said they'd give me something to drive while they have it. He said he'd feel a lot better about it if they could figure out what causes the issue. I am significantly less than overjoyed at the prospect of parting with my Volt for a few days -- I've grown quite attached to it in my 10.5 weeks of Volt ownership -- but I know this issue needs to get sorted out. Hopefully they will be able to get it to hesitate, then quickly determine the source of, and fix for, the problem.

 

[Jenn]

I had a change in plans, so my Volt did not get to go to the dealership last week. I ended up having to travel the opposite direction for work last week, so I took it in yesterday afternoon. I am extremely disgruntled to report that I am driving a low-end loner Impala at present. Seriously? That thing gets 23.4 mph. (My pre-Volt vehicle was a Tahoe, so it cracks me up to hear my horror at that number, but my Volt has completely spoiled me.) Also? It's ugly.

I explained to the dealership what it does, and gave specific directions regarding what I was doing when the hesitation/power loss occurred. I can tell from my RemoteLink app that they haven't done anything thus far to try to replicate the issue. The battery has not been charged, and it has not been driven (so as to attempt to replicate the problem). Happy, I am not.

I am desperately hoping I can have my Volt back by Thursday of this week. I drive A LOT for work, and I am not going to enjoy funneling money into the gas tank of this Impala. Not to mention the fact that driving something other than my Volt kind of makes me sad...

 

[Jenn]

Okay, so the end result, for anyone who has kept up with this, is that my Volt now has a new transmission. Over the course of the four weeks my Volt camped out at the dealership, they did a whole bunch of data-capturing, had GM Field Service Engineers come in to inspect it, took my transmission apart looking for issues, etc., and ultimately decided to replace the transmission. I got to drive it for a week after picking it up before another issue surfaced. This one was the result of poor workmanship on the part of the dealership, however, and not a mechanical issue. I picked it up again yesterday, and I think all is well now. I won't go into all the details, but I will say I have changed my preferred dealership for service, and have returned to the dealership where I purchased and had my Tahoe serviced during the eleven years I owned it. With that said, I could not be more happy with my Volt Advisor or with the assistance she provided and the treatment I received while dealing with these issues. GM's customer service has been absolutely amazing.

 

[SteveC5088]

Interesting story, Jenn. Glad it finally got worked out. It sounds like it was a puzzling issue, even for GM people.

Please report back in a few months whether the problem shows up again.

Also, is "NWA" northern Washington?

 

[RCB268]

@Jenn: Extremely helpful post/thread for the very few of us who's Volt has this 'hesitation' issue. Thanks!

 

[Chevrolet Customer Svc]

Okay, so the end result, for anyone who has kept up with this, is that my Volt now has a new transmission. Over the course of the four weeks my Volt camped out at the dealership, they did a whole bunch of data-capturing, had GM Field Service Engineers come in to inspect it, took my transmission apart looking for issues, etc., and ultimately decided to replace the transmission. I got to drive it for a week after picking it up before another issue surfaced. This one was the result of poor workmanship on the part of the dealership, however, and not a mechanical issue. I picked it up again yesterday, and I think all is well now. I won't go into all the details, but I will say I have changed my preferred dealership for service, and have returned to the dealership where I purchased and had my Tahoe serviced during the eleven years I owned it. With that said, I could not be more happy with my Volt Advisor or with the assistance she provided and the treatment I received while dealing with these issues. GM's customer service has been absolutely amazing.

Jenn,

Glad to hear your back in your Volt and everything is back to normal. Could you PM me either your last of the VIN or your Advisor's Ext. I would like to share your post with them.

Thank you,

-Ian Chevrolet Volt Customer Service

 

[Jenn]

Also, is "NWA" northern Washington?

Nope! "NWA" is Northwest Arkansas.

 

[Mountie]

Just a side note, ive seen in the owners manual that for best acceleration you should not press on the throttle more than fifty percent until vehicle speed is above 35mph. Is this due to it may bog or hesitate? ive noticed some hesitation at higher speeds say above 50mph when passing, but have noticed i usually have cruise on and thought it may have something to do with that. My volt is 9 days old and a premium 2012. Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance

 

[TSquare]

Just a side note, ive seen in the owners manual that for best acceleration you should not press on the throttle more than fifty percent until vehicle speed is above 35mph. Is this due to it may bog or hesitate? ive noticed some hesitation at higher speeds say above 50mph when passing, but have noticed i usually have cruise on and thought it may have something to do with that. My volt is 9 days old and a premium 2012. Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance

I don't remember seeing that about acceleration, but I would guess that you would risk spinning the drive wheels which is just showing off.
The hesitation that you have seen at high speed when passing is because, at a constant speed, the gears in gauge both motors for better efficiency. When you ask for more power it takes a moment to disengage from the two motor mode and re engage the "get up and go mode"

 

[sdjames952]

Same issue plus new symptom

hmm... Found this thread. I have been having a similar issue with my 2013 Chevy Volt. About a week ago, driving about 60 mph with 31miles on the charge on cruise control (temperature was about 30 degrees, engine not running, I think). All of a sudden the cruise control went off and, of course, the car decellerated. I couldn't re-engage the cruise control (the CC showed being "on"). And not until I had stopped and turned off the car and then turned it back on was I able to restart the cruise control. This has happened again a couple of times. Today, while maintaining speed, at about 60mph, about 28miles on the charge, temperature was about 11degF (not on cruise control) the car hesitated for a few seconds a couple of times within a few minutes. The cruise control did not work at this point either. Later, after the car was off, it worked fine again. I plan on taking it in tommorow, but was hoping I could go in with a solution... Replacing the transmission seems extreme, but if it works...

 

[Chevrolet Customer Svc]

Originally Posted by sdjames952hmm... Found this thread. I have been having a similar issue with my 2013 Chevy Volt. About a week ago, driving about 60 mph with 31miles on the charge on cruise control (temperature was about 30 degrees, engine not running, I think). All of a sudden the cruise control went off and, of course, the car decellerated. I couldn't re-engage the cruise control (the CC showed being "on"). And not until I had stopped and turned off the car and then turned it back on was I able to restart the cruise control. This has happened again a couple of times. Today, while maintaining speed, at about 60mph, about 28miles on the charge, temperature was about 11degF (not on cruise control) the car hesitated for a few seconds a couple of times within a few minutes. The cruise control did not work at this point either. Later, after the car was off, it worked fine again. I plan on taking it in tommorow, but was hoping I could go in with a solution... Replacing the transmission seems extreme, but if it works...

Hello sdjames952,

Oh no! I can see how concerning this must be. Let me know if you plan to take it to the dealership. If you do plan to take it in for a diagnosis, we will contact your Volt Advisor to have them get involved. They will be able to assist you throughout the process.

Katie O.
Chevrolet Customer Care