Battery died with 35 miles left. Is this normal?

[SeanNelson]

Escalate things with GM. You absolutely should have a loaner vehicle made available to you regardless of whether you purchased an extended warranty.

I completely agree - a loaner should absolutely be provided when a warranty problem for a new car takes a week to correct. Escalate to the service manager first, and then to GM if you don't get satisfaction.

 

[user 1034]

You have 3 years bumper to bumper. That even includes a loaner vehicle. Those guys are not an honest dealership, maybe find another after all this.

 

[newton513]

You suggest "escalate with GM". Any idea how to do that?

 

[devbolt]

You suggest "escalate with GM". Any idea how to do that?

They have a customer care number, it's 877-486-5846 or 800-222-1020. Call up, complain, firmly, but politely, about how your car is in for repairs, you have nothing else to drive and that the dealership is refusing to provide a loaner car. If you had known you get such terrible service, you wouldn't have bought the car, especially from that dealership. Mention that they used the lack of an extended warranty bought from them as an excuse. Tell them the dealer is very poorly representing the Chevrolet name and makes you not want to recommend the Bolt, much less any Chevrolet to friends and family who might be considering a new car. And if the repair is taking a really long time, you can bring up the phrase "lemon law".

 

[devbolt]

You have 3 years bumper to bumper. That even includes a loaner vehicle. Those guys are not an honest dealership, maybe find another after all this.

I can't find anything in the manual that says a loaner car comes with the vehicle when it is in for repairs under warranty. A free tow, sure, but no free loaner. But I agree that a loaner should be made available to the OP.

 

[user 1034]

I can't find anything in the manual that says a loaner car comes with the vehicle when it is in for repairs under warranty. A free tow, sure, but no free loaner. But I agree that a loaner should be made available to the OP.

You may be right. I was going off what the dealer told me and forgot about to think about the salesman "options".

 

[sparkyps]

You have 3 years bumper to bumper. That even includes a loaner vehicle. Those guys are not an honest dealership, maybe find another after all this.

I can't find anything in the manual that says a loaner car comes with the vehicle when it is in for repairs under warranty. A free tow, sure, but no free loaner. But I agree that a loaner should be made available to the OP.

p332-333 of the owner's manual

Courtesy Rental Vehicle
For an overnight warranty repair, the
dealer may provide an available
courtesy rental vehicle or provide for
reimbursement of a rental vehicle.
Reimbursement is limited and must
be supported by original receipts as
well as a signed and completed
rental agreement and meet state/
provincial, local, and rental vehicle
provider requirements.
Requirements vary and may include
minimum age requirements,
insurance coverage, credit card, etc.
Additional fees such as taxes,
levies, usage fees, excessive
mileage, or rental usage beyond the
completion of the repair are also
your responsibility.
It may not be possible to provide a
like vehicle as a courtesy rental.
Additional Program
Information
All program options, such as shuttle
service, may not be available at
every dealer. Contact your dealer
for specific availability.

 

[Pigwich]

Any decent dealer will give you a loaner - Not a loaner Bolt, but SOMETHING. If they don't give you a loaner, there's no reason you can't take the car to another dealer to get it repaired. They get paid by GM to do warranty work, so it's not like they're taking it on the chin. Of course they don't HAVE to give you a loaner, but conversely, you don't HAVE to give them your business, and they ARE getting paid for the work they do.

There are lots of fish in the sea. Take zero BS. I know you're probably not in Glendale, but I stand by Allen Gwynn and anybody that shares their standards. Their service department is great. The put in the effort, and as a result, I feel comfortable getting work done with them, even out of warranty stuff. I don't think I'm alone either. Weird how that works for a company, right?

Good luck. Sorry your pack is screwed up. We're basically BETA TESTERS for this car - First model year? I'm not really too bothered by the problems I've had (including being without my car for almost 2 weeks within the first month) but that's because I got a loaner. Again, take no BS.

 

[devbolt]

You have 3 years bumper to bumper. That even includes a loaner vehicle. Those guys are not an honest dealership, maybe find another after all this.

I can't find anything in the manual that says a loaner car comes with the vehicle when it is in for repairs under warranty. A free tow, sure, but no free loaner. But I agree that a loaner should be made available to the OP.

p332-333 of the owner's manual

Courtesy Rental Vehicle
For an overnight warranty repair, the
dealer may provide an available
courtesy rental vehicle or provide for
reimbursement of a rental vehicle.
Reimbursement is limited and must
be supported by original receipts as
well as a signed and completed
rental agreement and meet state/
provincial, local, and rental vehicle
provider requirements.
Requirements vary and may include
minimum age requirements,
insurance coverage, credit card, etc.
Additional fees such as taxes,
levies, usage fees, excessive
mileage, or rental usage beyond the
completion of the repair are also
your responsibility.
It may not be possible to provide a
like vehicle as a courtesy rental.
Additional Program
Information
All program options, such as shuttle
service, may not be available at
every dealer. Contact your dealer
for specific availability.

Awesome catch! I couldn't find this when I looked through the manual the first time.

 

[phil0909]

I can't find anything in the manual that says a loaner car comes with the vehicle when it is in for repairs under warranty. A free tow, sure, but no free loaner. But I agree that a loaner should be made available to the OP.

p332-333 of the owner's manual

Courtesy Rental Vehicle
For an overnight warranty repair, the
dealer may ...

All program options, such as shuttle
service, may not be available at
every dealer. Contact your dealer
for specific availability.

Awesome catch! I couldn't find this when I looked through the manual the first time.

Sure, except that this promises exactly nothing. The dealer may give you a loaner, he may give you courtesy shuttle service, or he may give you a million dollars for your trouble. Then again, he may not. Contact your dealer for availability of anything.

FWIW, my dealer claimed that GM 'region' policy is that they do not provide a loaner vehicle until the problem is diagnosed. He explained that until diagnosis, there's a chance that the problem is MY fault, not GM's fault. It took them 8 days to diagnose my engine failure, and I thought it was pretty bad service to leave me without transportation that long for something that did eventually turn out to be a manufacturing defect. As was totally obvious all along. After the diagnosis, they did promptly provide me a paid rental. A Chevy Sonic - I'd almost have preferred walking...

 

[newton513]

So here's the followup to my post:
*Had the car towed to the dealer on Monday 7/19
* Service Adviser tells me I don't qualify for a loaner despite the car being under warranty
* Service Adviser calls me late in the day to tell me "battery pack" failed and will need to be replaced, will take 7 days, still no loaner
* On Thursday 7/22 I call the national number to express my disappointment with the way this was being handled, but did not ask for or demand any action, just wanted them to know they were disappointing a new GM customer
* On Friday 7/23, someone from Chevrolet Customer support calls and apologizes and authorizes me to go and rent any GM vehicle and then submit the paperwork for reimbursement to them instead of the dealer
* We didn't have an immediate need for the loaner or rental so we waited
* On Monday 7/26 I called the dealer (he had not spoken to me in a week), the same service adviser tells me he had been badgering Chevy and got approval to get me a loaner car. He assured me he was my best advocate with Chevrolet
* I call him back Monday 7/26 afternoon to find out if the loaner was going to be ready and he says the part came in early and our car would be ready Tuesday by 10 AM.
* He calls me Tuesday 7/27 to tell me my car is ready and that he had just road tested it and was satisfied the repair had been made correctly. He added that he was sending the car to be cleaned and it would be ready about 11:45 AM.
* I called the dealer shuttle and they dropped me at the dealership at around noon and told me to see the cashier to pickup the car. Cashier asked if the car was sitting in the service lane and I said no. She called for it from the back lot.
* The car was brought up, the car had NOT been washed, someone had tried to remove the child safety seat we had in the back but couldn't figure out how to do it so it was on it's side and with the seat belt stuck in it.
* We went to lunch and I noticed the car seemed to be riding even rougher than normal. I used the app to check the status of the vehicle and found they had added air to the tires bringing them up to 56 psi on all four instead of the recommended 38 psi.
* By the way, the car at 143 miles range showing on it when I picked it up. That was better than what I expected.
* I could have fixed the air pressure problem myself but decided I should let the dealer know they messed up. I went back to the dealer and sought out the Service Adviser. I introduced himself and pointed to my car and told him about the air pressure problem. He pointed at the car and said "That's your car? I washed the wrong car!". Yes, the same guy that said he had road tested my car and said it was good to go didn't know which car was mine and in fact had another car washed and parked in the service lane ready for pickup!
* He immediately took the car to the lube bay and asked the tech to drop the air pressure to 38 psi. When he said we were good to go there was 40 psi in the front tires and 39 psi in the back.
* The Service Adviser then offered to have the car detailed, a $299 value, next week and then rushed to offer a second detail in about a year. He also said he would add 7 days of loaner car to me, somehow, that I could use in the future. Within a minute of two he backed off and said he could only do 5 but I had to specifically ask for him next time I was in for service and he would appreciate a positive review on the post service questionnaire!
*He also added that he got in trouble with his boss for berating the chevy rep on my behalf.

I don't have any need to get this guy in trouble, but wow! what a load a crap he was shoveling and what an amazingly poor customer experience we had. This same dealer sells Buick, Cadillac, GMC, and Infinity...I wonder if all there brands offer the same level of experience?

The next closest Chevy dealer is part of the same dealership group so I'm not optimistic it would be a significantly different experience.

 

[newton513]

For the technically minded here's what the invoice said about the repair:
"2239 Internal High voltage battery cell failure verify code P1787 P1B79 for internal battery cell 50 failed, found cell 50 at 2.80 volt all other cells at 3.61, called TAC case#8=3041317492 Mitch McGill told to replace high voltage battery, replace high voltage battery top off coolant and program HPCM2, and relearn battery capacity and learn adapt charged overnight and road test ok at time. Program code CB22E Battyer part #111602RES224314"

 

[newton513]

Further update: After reaching a full charge according to the in car display and the app, the car shows only 165 miles range. I returned to the dealer and asked to speak to the mechanic/technician who worked on the car. He assured me the car has to relearn its range over the next few days of driving it. He said they've had similar experience with the Chevy Spark and that if it wasn't back to showing 240 on a full charge within a week that to bring it back and they'd try "reprogramming" it again.

He also confirmed with one of the battery packs cell more than 1/10th of a volt different than the others the car shuts down to protect the pack. Even though just the one cell was a problem, they replaced the entire battery pack and were instructed to send the original back to Chevy for analysis.

He also confirmed the access to the power attachment is under the rear seat which explains why our daughters safety seat was dangling from the seat belt. No one in the garage to figure out how to disconnect it completely so it could be removed.

 

[newton513]

No, it isn't normal and it suggests a problem with your car that needs to be taken care of under warranty.

Unlike a gas tank, an EV's range estimate isn't based on a fluid level reading and while a gas car can be allowed to run the tank dry without (generally speaking) causing damage, an EV battery must never be allowed to be fully depleted or it will be permanently damaged. As a result your car shut down your battery when it determined it couldn't allow any more current to be drawn without risking permanent damage and at the same time a separate piece of software was calculating that you had 35 miles of range remaining.

It could be that the overall voltage level of the battery pack was sufficient to estimate 35 miles of remaining range while one of the 288 battery cells that makes up your battery pack was at a low enough voltage level to require the battery management system to shut down the battery pack to avoid damage.

Sort of like a gas car with 288 gas tanks where they should all be at almost the same level but if any 1 of the 288 drops below a certain point the car stops working even though the other 287 tanks still have enough gas to get you another 35 miles down the road.

Great explanation Sparkyps! Seems to be very consistent with what appears to have been the problem. Cell #50 had dropped to 2.8 volts while the others were 3.1. This size of difference sent the system into shut down mode. Thanks for sharing the knowledge.

 

[traiger]

I was a few miles from home and had 35 miles left, according to the dashboard. I was on the freeway, going about 60, and received the message "Propulsion Power Is Reduced." The car immediately slowed to about 40 mph and, luckily, I was right at my exit so slowly made my way off the freeway. For a mile, still reading 35 miles, the car slowed to around 20 mph and then shut off on a low grade hill. Unfortunately, I had to get the car towed 1 block to my house. So does "35 miles" actually mean ZERO? I had planned the trip in a way knowing that I'd have a small buffer and made sure to not run AC. I've read that Propulsion Power can be reduced in extreme temperatures but it was a moderate 70 degrees.

I had almost the same experience. I eventually got a call from Chevy telling me that they had detected a low voltage condition in the battery pack, and that I needed to bring my car to the dealer for a diagnosis and possible repair. The short version of the story: Diagnosis showed that the battery pack had to be replaced. (The car had about 3,500 miles on it.) It then took Chevy 3 weeks to get the new battery and install it, reporting to me that the part was lost in transit during most of that time. (They held on to the car for the entire time, but provided a rental car.) I now have my Bolt back, but haven't tested it with 35 miles left. Still love the Bolt, but I am completely unimpressed by Chevy's service, both locally at my dealer and in my calls to GM's customer service center.