[Silidus]

A few days ago I went out to my garage (on some random errand) and found my Volt running on the ICE. The garage itself was filled with exhaust and the Volt was plugged into the 120v charger still (and charging).

I was able to pop open the garage door quickly, and (after 2 tries since I didn't have my keys on me) get the car moved out to the driveway and off.

I have since decided that I probably left the car on when I parked it a few hours earlier, and have been unable to reproduce the problem (ie ICE engine starting while plugged in) over the last few nights. What is confusing me is that when I first got into the vehicle (engine running but no keys), the dash showed the estimated time to full charge screen but no other displays, suggesting that the car was 'off'. It also would not let me move the vehicle or turn it off because there was no key present.

Has anyone else had a similar issue? Did I just leave it on? And even if I did, why would the ICE be running while it was on the charger (I don't recall if the battery was full or discharged after I got it started up afterwards)?

Suggestion to GM: If the car is charging and the main battery is discharged, TURN OFF THE VEHICLE instead of running the ICE to maintain charge!!!!

I am just thankful that I needed a beer and happened to need a trip to the garage, esp with my 2 year old sleeping in the room above (no exhaust smell in his room, but we opened a few windows just to be sure). Remember kids, beer saves lives so drink often!

 

[RoRo]

I suggest you contact OnStar and your Volt advisor to see if they can aid in finding out what happened.

 

[holland_patrick]

it might be too late now but a word to the wise when your car does anything funky you should hit the onstar button right away so they can check you car

 

[Richmond72]

Any idea of how long it was running (how much gas was used)?

 

[Silidus]

it might be too late now but a word to the wise when your car does anything funky you should hit the onstar button right away so they can check you car

I spent some time with the OnStar rep while sitting in the driveway the night it happened. Unfortunately, they said they could not determine what had happened or why, and had suggested that I call my dealer. I am however loath to be without my car for a few days while they try to reproduce the issue which may have just been me being overly distracted 8/.

 

[ClarksonCote]

I don't think the car can charge while it is turned on, so if it truly was charging and the engine was on, that fact alone merits further investigation.

Edit: I may have lied. You can turn on the Volt while it is charging, and it will continue to do so. I don't think you can start charging if the vehicle is turned on, though. Pretty sure the light just stays amber.

 

[Codyozz]

I need to make a point here. The exhaust on this car cannot kill anyone. I may be "somewhat harmful" to breathe the fumes for hours on end, but ya ain't gonna die!
That being said, see if you can find out how much fuel was burned durning the ICE start up. Most owners report that about .3 gallons being burning during maintenance mode.
So Volt owners.... Doesn't the car give you any indication that it's powered on when you plug it in? If it doesn't, it should!

 

[Silidus]

To make a guess, the car could not have been running for more than 3 hours at most, and appears to have burned less than 1-2 gal of gas (difficult to tell since I use the ICE every day on my commute home, so there is always some gas burned).

 

[Codyozz]

Was he engine hot? Did the Volt take on any additional range (was it charging?) this is very peculiar indeed. Ive never heard of a volt ice running more than a few minutes all by itself... I know you didn't pop the hood earlier that day, right? We can rule out some sort of "engine start due to raised hood" right?

 

[Adarondax]

I need to make a point here. The exhaust on this car cannot kill anyone. I may be "somewhat harmful" to breathe the fumes for hours on end, but ya ain't gonna die! ...

How can that be? There's gotta be some CO. At the very least oxygen will be depleted in a closed garage.

 

[Silidus]

Yeah I did not pop the hood.

I can say that the Volt was in CS mode when pulling into the garage, so its possible that if I left it on it would need to run the ICE periodically to maintain the min state of charge. It was plugged into a 120v charger, so if left on there may not have been enough draw to offset the climate controls (again, assuming it was left on).

 

[Silidus]

How can that be? There's gotta be some CO. At the very least oxygen will be depleted in a closed garage.

Modern engines with catalytic converters still emit a very small amount of CO, I have not seen anything to determine just how much CO that actually is or if it will 'build up' in a lightly vented enclosed space.

That said... does the 'self aspirating' ICE on a Volt have a catalytic converter? (This caused a minor worry for me on the night in question, just because I parked 'front first' in the garage, so there was no 'tail pipe' sticking out the newly open door, and the engine was at the far end').

 

[Silidus]

I will run some 'tests' tonight once I have depleted the battery on the way home and see how the volt behaves if I just plug it in with the car on, and how it behaves when I try to get in without the key-fob.

 

[Skotty]

This is why the keyless operation feature many newer cars have that people seem to love so much is not always a good thing. It is much more obvious you left your car on when the key is sitting in the ignition.

At any rate, I believe if you leave the car on and walk off WITH the keyfob, the car stays on. This is bad. If the car is in Park and the keyfob wanders off, the car should shut itself off. IMO.

 

[Skotty]

This is why the keyless operation feature many new cars have that people seem to love so much is not always a good thing. It is pretty hard to not notice you left your car on if the key is still in the ignition.

I believe if you have the car on and leave the area WITH the key fob, the car stays on. This is bad, IMO. If the car is in Park and the keyfob wanders off, the car should shut itself off. But it doesn't.

 

[mczajka]

Silidus, I think everyone here wants to know the answer to one very important question...

When you went out to the garage to get a beer, was this beer number 4,5,6...?

Just kidding; glad everyone is ok.

 

[drbruns]

This is why the keyless operation feature many new cars have that people seem to love so much is not always a good thing. It is pretty hard to not notice you left your car on if the key is still in the ignition.

I believe if you have the car on and leave the area WITH the key fob, the car stays on. This is bad, IMO. If the car is in Park and the keyfob wanders off, the car should shut itself off. But it doesn't.

I did this with my wife's Prius a couple of times. I can see it happening here, especially if you are distracted when exiting the car.

 

[Silidus]

I did this with my wife's Prius a couple of times. I can see it happening here, especially if you are distracted when exiting the car.

Yeah this led me to believe that it was my own failure, rather than a 'Volt' issue. As stated already I have a 2 year old, very rarely am I NOT distracted.


Edit: Mind you, I would like to see GM put a condition in the software to shut off (or prevent starting) the ICE when plugged in, or when the Fob cannot be detected (or when both occur, in case the fob fails for some reason),

 

[CarZin]

At any rate, I believe if you leave the car on and walk off WITH the keyfob, the car stays on.

It does. I use this feature all the time. I have my dog in the car, and want the AC running when I stop it to pick something up at a store.

 

[AZ EV Driver]

When you plugged it in did the green light go on and the "charging toot" sound? Or I guess the core question is will the Volt initiate a charge when the car is ON?

VIN # B0985