Been lurking this forum for some time, but just registered as a member to, hopefully, get some help or advise. Took delivery of our Bolt LT on November 27th, so just under two weeks ago. Went to drive it this afternoon and it is completely dead. This is after driving it yesterday, plugging it in to our level 2 charger, in our garage when I returned home, then unplugging it a few hours later after noticing that the charge light was steady green. There are absolutely no signs of life. No response to the fob, and no response when I plug it back in. Called the dealership and they told me to call roadside assistance to tow in for an appointment, tomorrow. Waiting to hear back from roadside assistance, now. This is really disturbing. Any thoughts or ideas, folks?
My bolt is completely dead
- Thread starter scottmcll
- Start date
Help Support Chevy Bolt EV Forum:
BoltMaybe
Active member
There are actually two threads on this subject:
How a 12volt Battery can kill an Electric Car and Towed to the Dealer after two weeks and 351 miles.
The upshot is that your 12v battery may be dead. An EV needs a 12v battery in order to function. Counterintuitive given there is another huge battery in the car, but the car is a brick without a live 12v battery. If the firmware is behaving badly it may not charge the 12v battery correctly.
If you have a Voltmeter check the battery or if you have a trickle charger try charging it. If the car starts functioning take it directly to the dealer tell them the 12v battery is not charging and demand they fix it (for free).
How a 12volt Battery can kill an Electric Car and Towed to the Dealer after two weeks and 351 miles.
The upshot is that your 12v battery may be dead. An EV needs a 12v battery in order to function. Counterintuitive given there is another huge battery in the car, but the car is a brick without a live 12v battery. If the firmware is behaving badly it may not charge the 12v battery correctly.
If you have a Voltmeter check the battery or if you have a trickle charger try charging it. If the car starts functioning take it directly to the dealer tell them the 12v battery is not charging and demand they fix it (for free).
Thank you SO much for the reply. Sure enough, dead battery. The tow truck arrived and we didn't know how to put it in neutral. After reading your response and checking w/the dealership, jumped the 12v battery and it started right up. You weren't kidding, the thing IS a brick without that battery. And we're just at the 351 mile mark like the second thread you linked to. Since the truck was here, I had them take it in. I've already spent three-ish hours dealing with it. Time for a cocktail. Sincerely, thank you, again.
oilerlord
Well-known member
I think we may see several threads like this one, especially because there is a surplus of Bolt EV's sitting on dealer lots for months at a time. The issue can happen with most electric cars. The car I bought was sitting on a lot for 5 months. It was in a market were few people are interested in an EV - so there's a very good chance it sat undriven the entire time.
I towed the car home on a flatbed. When I first turned it on, sure enough it was throwing malfunction errors on the dash. The red, serious ones. No joy without a healthy, charged 12V battery.
I towed the car home on a flatbed. When I first turned it on, sure enough it was throwing malfunction errors on the dash. The red, serious ones. No joy without a healthy, charged 12V battery.
That may be, but my dealership is in a Seattle suburb. The area has been selling bolts well, so I doubt mine had been sitting long. Also, I have charged it at least a dozen times since taking it home and driving it at least 350 miles. I've made note of the "Ignition ON/Vehicle in Service Mode" service bulletin in another thread, so will mention that when I talk to their service dept., tomorrow.
BoltMaybe
Active member
The Service Mode issue may be it, or it could also be something draining the battery when it shouldn't. So they need to make sure that there isn't an unusual draw when the car is idle. Read the details on Collimare'sscottmcll said:
service report. And if that is the problem, make sure they do the correct post service checks after they have fixed the problem as I recommended on his ChevyBolt.org thread:
"After replacing the HPMCM2 module, be sure to update it to latest firmware and relearn the car parameters. Before returning vehicle to the customer, recharge the vehicle and check that battery charge & range displayed are accurate"
EV's are so technology sensitive just driving the car around the parking lot is not sufficient (as it would be with an ICE). Service Techs are going to have to learn that there is more to validate when it comes repairing to these computers on wheels.
Sitting on lots is not the issue per se it is being drawn down repeatedly when it should not (car is off and parked) until it fatigues and/or goes below the allowable system threshold. My car was fresh from the factory less than a month old. I kept it plugged at work and home. Drove it an hour so and left it parked at the mall for a couple of hours and it had drained down enough to not shift and throw codes. Next morning it was dead. Suggest reading the aforementioned threads and be prepared when you take it in. Your dealer might even thank you. I have a feeling it is more wide spread than thought. The good news GM will be more on top of it soon.
Heard back from the dealer, today, and they said the problem was the battery itself. They won't have a replacement till tomorrow ???, but fingers crossed that takes care of it. Think I'll be keeping my portable jump-starter in the car for the next month or so to be safe. Thanks again, all, for your feedback and help. I'll post here if I have any further issues with this. Cheers!
scottmcll said:
Hopefully it is indeed a bad battery and all is well for the foreseeable future, however you are doing yourself a disfavor if you simply live with it by jump-starting it. As big a pain as it is you need to contact customer support each and every time for them send someone out to jump start it so it is hard documented. Then with the issue documented take it back to the dealer. Good luck!!
DesertSprings
Active member
- Joined
- Jun 12, 2017
- Messages
- 30
The 12v battery should absolutely be covered under warranty.
scooter123
Well-known member
- Joined
- Aug 16, 2017
- Messages
- 50
Guess what happened after I left my hazzards on all day.
That wasn't fun. I had to get a jump for about 10 min. A insta-jump would NOT start the car for more than a few seconds.
That wasn't fun. I had to get a jump for about 10 min. A insta-jump would NOT start the car for more than a few seconds.
SparkE
Well-known member
scooter123 said:
I highly recommend plugging your 12V battery in to a smart trickle charger overnight to make sure the accessory battery is fully charged.
BoltMaybe
Active member
MAKE SURE YOU USE THE CORRECT TYPE OF CHARGER. The Bolt uses an AGM battery which is different than your typical lead acid flooded cell battery. Most importantly has a special charging curve so be sure to use an AGM trickle charger. Unlike a traditional battery, an AGM does not recover well from a deep discharge (below 50%).SparkE said:
IMHO It is worth investing in one of the high end AGM batteries. there are a bunch of sites with reviews, I used https://mozaw.com/best-agm-battery-chargers/ as a reference.
SparkE
Well-known member
BoltMaybe said:
Yes, I should have mentioned "AGM Charger" (which is what I have : C-TEK US 0.8). AGM batteries do not like getting charged to over 14.6V or so - regular, "traditional" flooded lead-acid are fine up to about 15V (for short periods - not for days).
My (12V battery trickle) charger will charge at a very low constant amperage (0.8A !!) until battery voltage reaches about 14.4V (Bulk phase), then keeps the battery at a constant 14.4V while slowly dropping the amperage (Absorption phase), then once amps drop close to nil (i.e., complete saturation charge to 100%) it will keep the battery at 13.6V for up to 10 days (Float phase). I connect it and plug it in and forget it until the next day. Note this is basically a 'top-off' trickle charger to use when the battery is over 50-60% full. I have a 12A smart charger that I use when I need to dump more than 10 Ah into the battery (e.g., my idiot son leaves the inside dome light on overnight).
scknogas
Active member
Guess I've joined the my battery died club! Came out this morning, and it was at 0v! Called for a tow to dealer to have them swap it out, and threw it on a battery charger while waiting. Got it up to 12v and 10% capacity before they showed up.
SparkE
Well-known member
scknogas said:
Getting it up to a "usable" voltage (12V? 11.6V? ???) is important for loading it onto the bed of the truck.
scknogas
Active member
Well, after 1 week of being at the dealership, they called to let me know that they "fixed" the issue.
Replaced my Key fob and receiver. According to the dealer, that drained my 12v battery overnight...
Color me skeptical.
Replaced my Key fob and receiver. According to the dealer, that drained my 12v battery overnight...
Color me skeptical.
SeanNelson
Well-known member
I don't have a problem with them replacing the key fob, no harm in it and they're paying. But if the 12V battery was drained then I'd be a lot happier if they replaced it as well - those batteries tend to become problematic if they've been completely drained.scknogas said:Well, after 1 week of being at the dealership, they called to let me know that they "fixed" the issue.
Replaced my Key fob and receiver. According to the dealer, that drained my 12v battery overnight...
Color me skeptical.
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