2019 Bolt heater turns on

[Somun]

Hi all,

I have a 2019 Bolt which I absolutely love. I did not have any issues with it so far but one curious thing started happening. As you may know with 2019 model year, the Bolt has separate touch buttons for AC and heater. Here's a stock photo that shows the extra heat button.

The weird thing is even if I have both of them turned off, I see the power usages reaching 6 kW at idle sometimes and the air coming out of the vents is warm. It should be the fans only. I don't think It's battery conditioning as we are talking about 60 degrees (F).

Anyone with a 2019 can confirm? Is this somehow expected or an issue with the firmware?

Cheers.

 

[Bolt2019]

It's Auto Defog. It's in the vehicle settings if you want to stop it. But battery temperature management still goes on. You may find the odd occasion where cooler or warmer air is coming out.

 

[theothertom]

It's Auto Defog. It's in the vehicle settings if you want to stop it. But battery temperature management still goes on. You may find the odd occasion where cooler or warmer air is coming out.

^^^^^This^^^^^ It drove me nuts until I figured it out. Also, on a cold but sunny day, the cabin will warm up due to solar heating. Then the A/C comes on....Anybody know how to stop that from happening automatically?

 

[Somun]

Thanks Bolt2019! I will check that out.

 

[UnclePat]

My 2020 Bolt does the same thing (I still get heat or cold with "heater" and "AC" in off position - so what's the point?). A new wrinkle on mine is that the watt-meter does NOT register the drain although the range meter does drop dramatically when I feel the hot or cold air coming out. I will look for the "auto defog" setting noted earlier.

 

[dborn]

Yes, I'm having several strange heat/cool events happening this summer on my 2019 (first summer).

A few days ago, I was stuck in traffic on a hot day and climate control was on "Auto" and clearly outputting cool air with "A/C" light on. Suddenly, I saw the consumption meter jump from 1KW to 6-7KW. "Heat" light was off. I pressed the "Heat" button twice (Auto->On->Off) and consumption went back down to 1KW. I was not moving the whole time and no battery conditioning either. So I can only assume it was the heater turning on..?

Looks like "Auto" mode is a crap shoot. I you want to be sure, better use manual mode... I am leaning towards that I think.

Also, if you want to be sure to cool down your interior via remote pre-conditionning, better set the thermostat to 20 or 21C, otherwise you may get heat even if the current ambient temps are clearly above the setpoint (of say, 24C).

*Note: Auto Defog is turned off in my car.