Dead Bolt, battery suspected

[salterpoint]

My Bolt died last week (23-June) while I was on the freeway. The expected range was 150 miles, then it dropped to 10 miles and the car essentially shut down. I had just enough juice to coast to the freeway verge where the car shuddered to a stop and then get the car towed to the dealership. Once the car was dead it still claimed 11 miles of range but it refused to shift into anything but N or P. I called OnStar to get a tow and they were trying to be helpful, but really quite hopeless. They were quoting absurdly long wait times for a tow. I called AAA and they got to me in 20 minutes.

I'm told that Chevy is flying technicians to Seattle to inspect the car. They think there are bad cells in the battery, but I really won't know until I get a report. It is going to be at least a couple of weeks until I get the car back.

I know I've seen at least one other similar report. It is a bit concerning that they don't have better quality control.

The car is just 3 months old with around 950 miles. I do mostly short trips and this was the first time that I'd run the battery down to less than half charged. If there is a lesson here for me, it is that once I get the car back I'll take a longer trip and try to drain the battery, just to make sure it can be drained.

 

[user 1034]

I don't understand how one car out of thousands makes a fault bad "quality control". Yes it sucks it happened to you but there is little that can be predicted for a cell failure. That's why they are sending out techs to look at it, they want to document the issues.

If you had a battery die in your regular electronics, you would just swap out the battery. They'll probably do the same here but that takes a bit more effort to do.

 

[salterpoint]

I've now seen 4 similar reports (including the "35 mile" thread earlier on this board).

I stand by my quality control statement.

 

[oilerlord]

I don't understand how one car out of thousands makes a fault bad "quality control".

I wouldn't minimize it. It could be a minor fix or have the potential in becoming a very big deal. It's reasonable to assume that every "dead battery" incident doesn't necessarily make it to this board. There are only a few thousand Bolts sold thus far. If 1 out of 1000 cars are affected - it's happening too often. Toyota sells ~400,000 Camrys per year in the US. Would 400 dead 2017 Camrys be acceptable, or would the media turn it into the latest scandal?

 

[salterpoint]

The end of my story is that they have a "whole new battery assembly", whatever that means. I'll take the car for a long-ish drive tomorrow and try to stress test the system.

 

[Anonymous]

This exact thing happened to my wife last night. She was driving about 50mph, with approximately 75% battery capacity indicated when the car just slowed to a stop. She said it felt like the regenerative breaking was activated. Could not restart, range of 11 miles indicated.

Chevy roadside assistance sent a tow truck (took 75 minutes to get there) and now I await the dealership's verdict of the problem.

For the past few days, the infotainment system had been giving us problems. Black screen, rear camera not activating, etc. Not sure if it was related.

Anyway, I will post more once I hear from the dealership.

 

[oilerlord]

This exact thing happened to my wife last night. She was driving about 50mph, with approximately 75% battery capacity indicated when the car just slowed to a stop. She said it felt like the regenerative breaking was activated. Could not restart, range of 11 miles indicated.

Chevy roadside assistance sent a tow truck (took 75 minutes to get there) and now I await the dealership's verdict of the problem.

For the past few days, the infotainment system had been giving us problems. Black screen, rear camera not activating, etc. Not sure if it was related.

Anyway, I will post more once I hear from the dealership.

Hey, welcome to the forum! I wish it was under better circumstances.

Sometimes these problems are linked to the 12V battery. It's critical to the operation of your vehicle. If it's dead or not charged, you won't be able to start the car. Hopefully, it's as simple as that. Let us know how it goes.

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

Doesn't Bolt have a system to protect the 12v if it's failing? By shutting down unnecessary components like the infotainment system? This one sounds like that.

The original case seems resolved, and sounded like a bad cell.

I wonder, if people aren't charging to 100% at least once a month, if some packs develop really out of balance cells.

Wish we had a BoltSpy app.

 

[SeanNelson]

I wonder, if people aren't charging to 100% at least once a month, if some packs develop really out of balance cells.

I've been wondering about that too. When my Bolt arrives I plan to use the "HIlltop Reserve" charging mode, but I think I'm going to make a habit of fully charging every few weeks just to be on the safe side.

 

[Xelus]

Been using hilltop reserve since I bought the Bolt. I haven't done a full charge in 9k miles now.

Don't know anything about battery chemistry, but I would think the the car has some kind of cell balancing function.

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

I'm no expert in any way, but I've read in the Leaf forums that some balancing occurs at lower SOCs. Haven't seen anything on that for the Bolt yet. Without a spy app I can't see the cell voltages like I could on the Leaf. I guess there's always some probability of a problem cell.

 

[Anonymous]

So, just got the call from the dealership. They're going to replace the whole battery. Will take about a week, mostly of waiting on the part.

I guess I got unlucky. Still love the car, but my wife doesn't want anything to do with it now.

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

Bluto, when was yours manufactured? There was this story from a couple months ago:

2017 Chevy Bolt EV battery may fail due to faulty cell; new pack needed for a few GM electric cars - Green Car Reports
https://apple.news/Aw7JGFMviOe2d6oo3DrbCaQ

 

[user 744]

Bluto, when was yours manufactured? There was this story from a couple months ago:

2017 Chevy Bolt EV battery may fail due to faulty cell; new pack needed for a few GM electric cars - Green Car Reports
https://apple.news/Aw7JGFMviOe2d6oo3DrbCaQ

Which makes this odd, because Chevy said at the time that they knew which Bolts were affected, and were contacting the owners/lessees.

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

A new model anything carries a higher risk as they work the bugs out. So, yours is one of those early builds? They may have a bigger problem than they thought. They can be wrong. Sorry it happened to you though. It's not fun. You'll get a new battery anyway.

We have a 2003 Toyota Spyder. The early models of that car tended to burn oil, which cooked a ceramic exhaust preconditioner for the catalytic converter. It would then crumble, blocking the cat and some of it sucking back into the pistons, bricking the engine beyond repair. Toyota never fully admitted responsibility.

But it's a cool little car.

 

[LeftieBiker]

We have a 2003 Toyota Spyder. The early models of that car tended to burn oil, which cooked a ceramic exhaust preconditioner for the catalytic converter. It would then crumble, blocking the cat and some of it sucking back into the pistons, bricking the engine beyond repair. Toyota never fully admitted responsibility.

OT, but is that the same 1.8L I-4 aluminum engine used in the late 90s - 2003 Corolla? My friend has one of those, and it burns a truly incredible amount of oil, while acting normal otherwise. We're talking one to two quarts of oil a week, for a few hundred miles of driving... THAT really made me wonder about Toyota quality...

 

[RickCH]

OT, but is that the same 1.8L I-4 aluminum engine used in the late 90s - 2003 Corolla? My friend has one of those, and it burns a truly incredible amount of oil, while acting normal otherwise. We're talking one to two quarts of oil a week, for a few hundred miles of driving... THAT really made me wonder about Toyota quality...

LOL, I have a 2000 Celica with the same engine (the 1zzfe, from 98ish to 2003) and I replaced it with my Bolt. I called the Celica my two stroke car because I had to add at least 1 litre of oil per tank of gas. Well known issue with the piston rings and piston oil drain holes with those years of that engine.

 

[Tinbecca]

I wonder if I am having the same problem? My bolt had a near full charge when we left for the weekend. But now it is dead, dead, dead in the driveway: will not unlock, when I plug it in the orange then green indicator light at the windshield does not turn on. I can't even unlock it with the manual key (a whole different problem, I think). Do you think it's the same problem. The only thing I can think of, besides a battery defect, is that we forgot to turn it off when we pulled it into the driveway and then left for the weekend in a different car. Any ideas?

 

[dandrewk]

I wonder if I am having the same problem? My bolt had a near full charge when we left for the weekend. But now it is dead, dead, dead in the driveway: will not unlock, when I plug it in the orange then green indicator light at the windshield does not turn on. I can't even unlock it with the manual key (a whole different problem, I think). Do you think it's the same problem. The only thing I can think of, besides a battery defect, is that we forgot to turn it off when we pulled it into the driveway and then left for the weekend in a different car. Any ideas?

That sounds more like your 12v battery is dead. However, you'd need to pop the hood to charge it back up. There is no reason why you can't use the manual key, as it is purely a mechanical operation. In fact, it's whole purpose is the address issues such as the 12v battery being depleted. Are you sure you are doing it correctly? Popping the cover, insert key (it does go all the way in) and turning?

 

[dandrewk]

I wonder if I am having the same problem? My bolt had a near full charge when we left for the weekend. But now it is dead, dead, dead in the driveway: will not unlock, when I plug it in the orange then green indicator light at the windshield does not turn on. I can't even unlock it with the manual key (a whole different problem, I think). Do you think it's the same problem. The only thing I can think of, besides a battery defect, is that we forgot to turn it off when we pulled it into the driveway and then left for the weekend in a different car. Any ideas?

That sounds more like your 12v battery is dead. However, you'd need to pop the hood to charge it back up.

There is no reason why you can't use the manual key, as it is purely a mechanical operation. In fact, its whole purpose is the address issues such as the 12v battery being depleted. Are you sure you are doing it correctly? Popping the cover, insert key (it does go all the way in) and turning?