Dolly towing a Chevy Bolt

[Anonymous]

Has anyone dolly towed Chevy Bolt? Are there any issues or things to watch out for when you do?

 

[NeilBlanchard]

If you tow it on the front, with the rear wheels on the ground, it should be fine.

 

[user 387]

The owner's manual says its OK. Plus, it has a small rear overhang and no tailpipe to drag the ground!

 

[davidhun]

For the past two weeks, my wife and I have been dolly towing our Chevy Bolt behind our motorhome on a Roadmaster tow dolly. I must say, in our decade of full-time RV experience this trip has been absolutely the most ... interesting. :roll: :roll: :roll:

First of all, we absolutely love our Bolt. But towing it has proven to be quite challenging as the Bolt is almost too smart for its own good.

The manual says to follow these steps:

• Put the front wheels on a dolly.
• Put the shift lever in P(Park).
• Secure the vehicle to the dolly.

However, in the owners manual under "Electric Parking Brake" it also says "The vehicle may automatically apply the EPB in some situations when the vehicle is not moving. This is normal, and is done periodically to check the correct operation of the EPB system." I have also noticed that it will automatically apply the parking brake when parked on an incline.

It is this last behavior that seems to have caused our issues.

On our first tow with the Bolt we headed out as we have many times before with other vehicles and exactly according to the instructions listed in the owner's manual. Before we left we ensured that the wheels were rolling fine and off we went. This trip was uneventful and we arrived fine 4 hours later.

On our second tow we followed the same steps ensuring that all wheels were turning before departing. When we arrived at our destination, there were tire drag tracks from the registration office all the way to our site (but amazingly not from the road to the registration office)! When I turned the car on, sure enough, the EPB was engaged and the two rear tires were ruined.

Obviously the EPB was engaged for more than just the short trip from the office to our parking spot as the tires were worn completely flat down through the entire tread to the inner portion of the tire. At the same time, I do not think that the brake was engaged the entire journey of about 200 miles as 1) There were no drag marks into the RV park and 2) I'm pretty sure that the tires would have been completely destroyed if it had been engaged the entire journey.

After a tow to the Chevy garage and a few day's of researching on their part, there were no answers as to what might have gone wrong or how to proceed. Thankfully, Chevy covered the new tires under warranty and they're still working with me to find a solution.

Upon having our car returned, my wife and I loaded the car again and videoed the process. We very carefully made sure that everything was set according to the procedures in the manual. We found that we were only able to pull the car about 5 feet until it automatically applied the EPB and locked up the rear wheels. (Thankfully we were on gravel)

After further discussion with the garage, I asked if I could simply disconnect the battery. They said that should do it as long as I didn't need any lights on the car. I don't need any lights as my tow dolly has lights powered from my motorhome.

We have now completed two more towing sessions successfully using this strategy of disconnecting the negative terminal of the battery. However, we have found that you need to be very carful to the following:

• Listen carefully to ensure that the car does not automatically apply the EPB between the time the time that the car is turned off and the time that the battery is disconnected (I've had this happen)
• Make sure to keep the driver's door open until after the battery is disconnected, otherwise the car may automatically lock the doors and you'll have to use the physical key to unlock the door when you arrive at your destination (I've had this happen)
• Always make sure to test that the wheels are rolling freely before departure

I hope that this helps others so that they don't have to go through this process. It took many days away from our vacation driving back and forth the dealership for service.

Another lesson learned was to make absolutely sure that the dealership to which Chevy Roadside Assistance is sending you to can actually work on a Bolt. I assumed that since I was using OnStar things would "just work". However, that was not the case. The first dealership that they sent me to couldn't work on Bolts. Then it was practically impossible to get Chevy Roadside Assistance to tow me between dealerships and I had to use my Good Sam Roadside assistance to complete that part of the process.

 

[SeanNelson]

For the past two weeks, my wife and I have been dolly towing our Chevy Bolt behind our motorhome on a Roadmaster tow dolly. I must say, in our decade of full-time RV experience this trip has been absolutely the most ... interesting. :roll: :roll: :roll:

Wow, what a tale! Thanks for sharing it with us - I'm sure it's going to save someone all the trouble that you had to go through.

 

[user 1034]

I was seriously going to skip over this (TLR) but I will say you were very concise and informative. This is some very good information and I am glad you went to the dealer to not only get replacements but also have these faults on record.

 

[Anonymous]

DAVIDHUN!! I CAN'T THANK YOU ENOUGH FOR POSTING THIS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT AND HELPFUL INFORMATION!!! Yes, I am planning on towing my Bolt and had come across both the towing instructions and e-parking brake information. I had it in the back of my mind that the behavior of the e-parking brake might cause a problem, but then thought that Chevy surely wouldn't have left that out of the towing instructions section. HOW WRONG I WAS!!! I sure hope they correct the manual and find an easier work around other than disconnecting the battery, like, maybe a software update to allow you to put the car FULLY in tow mode.

I have a question for you. Did you find that after you reconnected the 12V battery that any of the functions had to be reconfigured?? Basically, did disconnecting the battery cause a reset of some kind???

Thank you again for your post!!! You sure saved my bacon!!!!!

 

[NeilBlanchard]

Would it be possible just leave it in neutral, instead of park?

 

[SeanNelson]

Would it be possible just leave it in neutral, instead of park?

No - read David's post again.

 

[davidhun]

I have a question for you. Did you find that after you reconnected the 12V battery that any of the functions had to be reconfigured?? Basically, did disconnecting the battery cause a reset of some kind???

The first time that I used the battery disconnect method to tow the car, when I reconnected the battery, I got all sorts of warning lights including the service car soon light. I immediately called the service center (don't want to do anything to void the warranty ) and they suggested simply driving it a bit and see if the lights went out. That's exactly what happened. As soon as I drove it a bit all went back to normal. I've not had this happen on subsequent tows.

I've also not lost any settings to my knowledge, so it seems all is good.

I'm still working with the service center and with Chevrolet trying to sort out what the final fix is for dolly towing. Chevy seems to hint that disconnecting the 12V battery might cause some settings to be lost, but so far they've not elaborated on what that might be.

 

[davidhun]

Here's a video that I recorded of us trying to tow the Bolt w/o disconnecting the battery. Notice the car's brake lights flash when it auto-engages the parking brake: https://youtu.be/gRaWzZmO40E

(Sorry for the terrible quality it was a hot Arizona day and we were just trying to get on the road!)

 

[Anonymous]

Have you had any final resolution? We are looking at becoming fulltime RVers and I would really prefer EV as a toad.

 

[davidhun]

Have you had any final resolution? We are looking at becoming fulltime RVers and I would really prefer EV as a toad.

The only thing that I've heard back is Chevy saying that this is now a 'known issue' (others have had the problem as well) and that, until a fix is made available, disconnecting the ground wire from the 12-Volt battery terminal is the workaround.

Using this workaround, we've not encountered any further issues and continue to tow our Bolt EV.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the reply, We are in a situation of potentially forced into early retirement and considering the RV lifestyle. After having a Focus electric I can say no more ICE vehicles for us. The BOLT seems like a great tow vehicle with enough utility to be very functional.

 

[oilerlord]

Thanks for the reply, We are in a situation of potentially forced into early retirement and considering the RV lifestyle. After having a Focus electric I can say no more ICE vehicles for us. The BOLT seems like a great tow vehicle with enough utility to be very functional.

No more ICE vehicles for you...except for the RV

You can tow a Bolt behind an RV, but it certainly is not a "great" tow vehicle. For that, look no further than an older Honda CR-V. No tow dolly required. The Bolt + dolly is a big load...a lighter vehicle will give you better fuel economy too. Also consider that the "RV lifestyle" may take you places where a plug-in isn't available.

 

[SeanNelson]

Also consider that the "RV lifestyle" may take you places where a plug-in isn't available.

Actually, if the poster's "RV Lifestyle" consists of staying at serviced RV sites then a plug-in will always be available.

 

[oilerlord]

Never said they wouldn't be available, just that they may not be available (and that gasoline usually is). I bought my Clipper Creek HCS-40P specifically because it can plug into the common 14-50 plugs found at campsites. There are of course workarounds like using a gasoline generator to charge the EV, and of course everyone's priorities are different. I'm only commenting that the Bolt isn't necessarily a "great" tow vehicle when other lighter, more-designed-for-towing choices are out there.

 

[SeanNelson]

Never said they wouldn't be available, just that they may not be available (and that gasoline usually is).

Of course. But one of the cool things about camping in serviced RV sites is that you're pretty much guaranteed of having a plug-in. That's something that can't be said of just driving the Bolt itself and staying at hotels.

 

[gpsman]

Great thread. Thanks for posting.
This is ALSO relevant to the case of tow truck towing.
If you get disabled for any reason, tow truck drivers will need to know this.

Now that I know, should the need arise, I will always request a flat-bed tow truck, if at all possible.

And for those terrified of using car washes, simply explain your situation. Car washes WILL allow you to stay in the vehicle, even if it is not common practice. That is what I do. Never had any trouble in the 3 or 4 times I used those conveyor type car washes. I stayed in the car, left the power on, and left the car in N.

Thanks again, great info here.

-John

 

[ghoticov]

Have you had any final resolution? We are looking at becoming fulltime RVers and I would really prefer EV as a toad.

The only thing that I've heard back is Chevy saying that this is now a 'known issue' (others have had the problem as well) and that, until a fix is made available, disconnecting the ground wire from the 12-Volt battery terminal is the workaround.

Using this workaround, we've not encountered any further issues and continue to tow our Bolt EV.

Any more updated on this from GM?

I am looking to dolly tow my Bolt and am very curious as to if they have made any more suggestions or changes.

Thanks!