Problems with 2012 Chevrolet Volt ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

Breaks failed while driving 25-30 mph on windy mountain road . there was no warning , car started to accelerate downhill gradually . after about 0.3 miles i was able to finally push emergency breaks (it's a button and didn't work at first ) get to more flat road and stoped the car by driving on gravel and dry brush . vehicle completely lost its power about 2-3 minutes later . emergency lights didn't work . chp assisted us as car was abandoned in the middle of mountain road , blocking the whole line . gm has not offered any explanation yet .

Airbag light coming on intermittently took car to chevrolet dealer and was told it was a bad sensor in the passenger seat and the cost would be 900 dollars for part and labor.

The check airbag sensor comes on sporadically, and the car does not seem to recognize when someone is in the passenger seat. the estimated cost of the sensor repair is ~$900 even though the warning is not consistent. this happens while driving. as far as i can tell, there is no known cause.

The car will shut itself off with very little time to get to the side of the road if that is even a possibility. when switching from battery power to the gas motor. randomly. the car will die at any speed. first message is low propulsion power. next message engine not available, service soon. less than 4 minutes from 1st message to total shut down. least amount of time between messages and shut down is 15 seconds. car will decelerate (on highway where vehicles behind have no warning... no brake lights that car is rapidly losing speed). never know when it will happen. usually car will restart and run terrible.. after 20 minutes or so. after restart car runs bad low power. check engine light is on. after 10 more minutes of driving. it straightens out. usually. dealership unable to find problem. assorted codes in computer. very dangerous when driving. especially when it happens and it is 15 seconds to complete shut down. i have opened a case with chevrolet. no response as of yet. they were supposed to call within 2 days. i will upload an attempt at restart as it is the only one i have where i was safely in a parking lot when it happened. usually i am not. and many roads in my area do not have a shoulder.

Driver's information screen failure. upon starting, screen would not illuminate. cannot see speed traveling, fuel available, turn signals, hazard lights, etc. unsafe and seemingly common problem that we are now experiencing ourselves.

I was driving in 50 mph traffic it lost all propulsion. the problem i have sounds exactly like the problem gm has issued a recall for with 2013-2015 volts. i believe gm did or should have anticipated the problem and did nothing. gm program n172130462 has owners of 2013-2015 volts bringing their cars in to dealerships for a software update. gm has recognized that these cars "may have a condition where it could gradually lose the ability to maintain voltage. if battery concerns are not addressed, over time the vehicle could enter a reduced propulsion mode while driving, or lose propulsion, or it may not start." i brought my volt in to the dealership on january 31, 2019, because it was not consistently holding the charge that it normally did and the car would often start in "low propulsion mode" when starting it after turning it off with the battery low or depleted. despite being under warranty the dealership, bob steele chevrolet in cocoa, fl, claimed the could not figure out what was causing the problem, refused to try further, and sent me on my way with a bill for their failed efforts. on july 19, 2019, i was driving in on my way to work in my 2012 volt with 101,400 miles. the car switched from battery to gas as it had many times before. about one mile later it switched back to battery, gave a message that it was going into "low propulsion mode", and stopped providing any propulsion. this occurred while i was on us1 and it was dangerous for me to rapidly change lanes while losing speed to get off the road. i got to a parking lot without enough speed to get up the mild incline at the entrance and was stuck blocking the entrance while i awaited a tow truck. this loss of propulsion could have happened at any speed and things would have been worse had i been on the interstate.

The information display has gone black. the information display shows speed, mileage, fuel level, turn blinker status, and other critical information. the screen brightness adjustment does not affect the display and is not the problem. the issue continues whether the vehicle is in motion or stationary, on city streets or highway, turning, or braking. i do not know the root cause of the issue but it appears to involve onboard computer components. the vehicle has not been in an accident nor damaged in any way.

Volt loses power when switching from battery to gas. has now occurred four times. each time volt is traveling on highway 65+mph. volt depletes battery charge and immediately upon transition to gas will lose all power. cannot accelerate. steering wheel loses power steering. volt will decelerate until 0 mph. very dangerous. in each instance driver is forced to get to shoulder or off freeway in volt which is rapidly losing speed. occurred on highway without shoulder last time. almost caused a serious accident.

Tl* the contact owns a 2012 chevrolet volt. while driving 35 mph, the tachometer gauges became inoperable. the contact was unable to determine the speed, fuel level, temperature, or other functions with the vehicle. the contact stated that the failure persisted for approximately three days. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the dealer and manufacturer were not notified of the failure. the approximate failure mileage was 80,000. the vin was not available. *bf update: neither dealer nor manufacturer have found part to repair vehicle.*as

Passenger side air bag / seat sensor malfunctioned shortly after purchasing the vehicle. seen many other complainants exactly the same issue. got in a car accident and my passenger was almost killed as the air bag did not deploy. the manufactures really needs to recall and fix these seat sensors. this has been going on way to long. also the conditioning unit failed due to faulty manufacturing.

Vehicle dies suddenly while moving, although under full electric charge. could not restart. chevy said was software problem and made fix dec 2018. just happened again yesterday 2/17. others reported on volt blog site. said wait 5-10 minutes and then restart, which i did and that worked. concern that loss of power is sudden and without warning. died in middle of intersection this time but fortunately no cross traffic. this is serious problem -- apparently others have had same issue. reporting to local chevy dealer at this time.

The main display on the dashboard is blank. i cannot see my speed or remaining charge or gas.

11/10/2018 while driving about 45mph heading school the car totally shut down for not reason, and would not restart. the ev mode shut down and the gas engine did not start. police recommend to get it towed to safe location. onstar records, multiple shut down of computer modules. 11

Went out to start my car to go to work and the touchscreen or main data screen is black. i can't tell if i have any electrical power or if the heat or ac or stereo is on. if this were to happen on a trip out of town it could put me in severe danger.

Drivers display dashboard is black when started. has not returned after many restarts, charges, locks and battery disconnects.

Driver's instrument cluster screen flickers and then goes blank while driving/in motion on a city road and on the highway. driver loses all indication of speed, turn signals, lighting, speedometer, cruise control, fuel level, charge level, and all other critical information that is displayed on the driver screen.

Drivers display dashboard is black when started. hasn't returned after many restarts, charges, locks and battery disconnects.

About 2 minutes after starting and while driving about 20mph, the driver's lcd panel suddenly went completely black. this contains the speedometer, battery gauge, fuel gauge, turn signal indicator, and shift position indicator. i turned off the car and restarted, and it came on but went black again. now when starting the car, it doesn't come on at all.

The instrument cluster has gone completely blank in the car. it went in and off for two days and then died completely.this is a major hazard as i dont know how fast i am going or the gas amount i have in the car. this was a major problem as i was driving the car when this happen not knowing if the entire car was going to black out very scary moment.

The instrument panel goes completely blank when starting the car, and stays blank for the duration of the trip. speed, warning lights, and all other indicators are completely absent. the event appears to be random, with sometimes the panel working fine, other times it is completely blank. the car appears to otherwise work perfectly fine, and can be driven in this state, although i think this is a very unsafe situation. it has happened in cold conditions, warm conditions, and everything in between.

Nhtsa id number:10872363 the instrument panel display screen went blank and will not come back on. the backlight is functioning and it will intermittently reboot and display but only temporarily. it started gradually and would occasionally go blank while driving on highways and city streets; both in motion and stationary, and eventually failed entirely. after researching the issue, it seems this is a common issue which no dealer seems to know how to fix. this means no speedometer, no fuel/battery range information, and no indicator lights of any kind. the odometer is also now not visible. originally this issue only occured when the outside temperature was over ~75f (a common noted factor with other volts having this problem). the issue has since progressed to being fully disfunctional.

Tl* the contact owns a 2012 chevrolet volt. while driving various speeds, the instrument panel malfunctioned. the contact stated that the screen became black and none of the instrument cluster icons were visible. the contact stated that the failure recurred intermittently. regal chevrolet in lakeland, florida was made aware of the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. the failure mileage was approximately 61,000.

Evse charging cable stopped working. gm flip flopped over the last year on warranty coverage. i have technical service bulletins with the warranty coverage status changed from v (voltec), to bumper-to-bumper, in the middle of the warranty period as of dec 1st, 2017 (not what i agreed to when i purchased the car). unable to charge vehicle at home without it. gm replaced a significant number of these units under a recall campaign between 2012-2013, only for a portion of the vin #'s from the 2011-2012 model year. mine was not included. they are many others with this problem, and gm has refused to replace the rest of the 2012 model year units. i have exhausted all avenues of trying to have gm stand behind their product, including involving the ceo of gm, mary barra, via the attached emails. this needs to be escalated to recall status for the other 10,000 some 2012 volt units on the road today that gm will not stand behind. this relates to the car being stationary. charging the vehicle via the evse is absolutely needed to drive the vehicle in electric (ev) mode.

Tl* the contact owns a 2012 chevrolet volt. while driving 65 mph, the instrument cluster went completely dark. the vehicle was taken to george moore chevrolet (10979 atlantic blvd, jacksonville, fl 32225) where it was diagnosed that the instrument cluster failed and needed to be replaced. the vehicle was repaired. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure and stated that they could not assist because the vehicle was out of warranty. the approximate failure mileage was 70,000. ..updated 10/23/17 *bf

The main driver display does not come on usually when it is cold outside. this happens mostly in the winter, but has been happening more when temps are in the 70's. never in the summer. there is no speed, fuel or mileage display.

Lcd screen that shows speed and fuel level and information shorted out while driving

Service airbag warning appeared. all other functions checked ok, no codes. one day later the multifunction screen display is blank and all buttons but the climate control are non functioning. only capacitive touch buttons that work are front dehumidifier, and fan control buttons (including auto). air conditioning is stuck on an no other buttons function. may be related to prior submission: nhtsa id number: 10872363

Instrument panel went totally black while driving, engine still runs and vehicle was drivable. can not check the speed, other than follow the speed of the other vehicle.

I have had various electrical issues-november of 2012. first back up camera went blank, july 2014 check engine light high voltage; november 14 electrical issue; june 2015 unintentional running light on; july 2015 same issue; august 2015 check engine/aribag light on dealer checked and reset codes . august 2016 check airbag light on. went in several times steve moore ordered part that would be $1,200 to fix. light went off. when check airbag came back on took the car to a different dealer. city chevrolet said i needed a new 12 volt battery replaced battery within 48 hours of being at the dealer issue came back. now the lcd screen is blank. the problems seems to be electrical in nature

The charger over heats and melts wires coating shorting the wiring cause charger to blow fuse leaving a fire hazard in your garage

The lcd screen showing speed, charge level, amount of fuel goes dark as i drive down the road. it comes back on after restart but shuts back down. very dangerous, don't know how fast i'm driving or fuel level.

The screen on the drivers dash for the instrument panel , speed, gas volume and electric charge,has gone black or blank and stays black in park or in driving mode. the result of the inspection from a chevy technician found the cluster is inop. it needs to be replaced and reprogramed for $923.52 as quoted.this is an on going problem with other volt owners and a complaint : nhtsa id number 10872363 has been filed.

Tl* the contact owns a 2012 chevrolet volt. while driving 70 mph, the vehicle stalled without warning and completely lost power. the vehicle was towed. in addition, the check engine indicator illuminated without warning. the vehicle was diagnosed, but the dealer could not duplicate the failure. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the failure mileage was 48,014. *cn

Without warning the illuminated instrument panel goes black. usually it happens during start up after the car has set for a few hours. the problem resolves itself after driving for several miles,or, if the car is shut off and restarted. numerous complaints about the issue are stated in the chevy volt forum online. the problem appears to be occurring in first generation volts. *tr

At random times and days, when starting the car, the center lcd display is blank. this display is crucial for the safety of the vehicle because it displays your speed, the battery life and gas tank amount, turn signal indicators as well as other important details needed when driving. it's not safe to drive this car when the vehicle's screen is blank. this has happened 4 times. 3 of the 4 just recently. after a day or 2, the screen will start working and then after a day or 2, it would stop. it's an on going issue and i'm finding out through forums that there's a bunch of complaints about this issue and not just with the 2012 volt but with other year volts as well. i'm concerned for my safety as it's dangerous to drive blindly without knowing your speed or how much gas or battery life you have left. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2012 chevrolet volt. upon starting the vehicle, the instrument panel failed without warning and prevented the contact from viewing the speed limit. in addition, the battery percentage, turn signals, and fuel level could not be seen. the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. the failure mileage was 35,000.

The display that shows gas gauge, mph, etc. has gone blank. it is a hazard. there needs to be a recall on this.

Tl* the contact owns a 2012 chevrolet volt. while driving at an unknown speed, the instrument panel became inoperable without warning. the vehicle was taken to the dealer to be diagnosed, but the results were unknown. the vehicle was not repaired. the contact stated that the failure was intermittent. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the vin and failure mileage were not available.

Tl* the contact owns a 2012 chevrolet volt. while driving at an unknown speed, the instrument panel became inoperable without warning. as a result, the contact was unable to determine the amount of fuel that was inside the vehicle and the speed. the vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the failure. the failure mileage was 56,000.

I charge my 2012 chevy volt with the 120v charging unit supplied by the manufacturer. i use the charger in a dedicated circuit of 20 amps. however i have noticed that there may be a deficiency in the gauge of the wire used. the wire from the charging unit to the car becomes quite warm. however, the short cord from the charging unit to the wall plug becomes dangerously hot. so hot that part of the plug has melted and left burn marks on the wall socket. even the wall is very warm indicating that the wiring in the wall is hot as well. i am concerned about a possible fire hazard at this point. would you please investigate? i have attached a photo of the charging unit plugged into the wall showing the scorch marks from overheating. during this time, the car is stationary in the garage.

The volt was purchased in november of 2012: in / around june of 2013 a warning light came on and it was taken into the local dealer (where it was purchased) it was found to have a leaking coolant system for the primary electric battery (lithium ion battery). they could not find the leak so they refiled the system and included a fluorescent dye and returned it to me (the amount of coolant was ~7 liters). 12 months later (plus or minus a few weeks) in 2014, the same light came on, it was again serviced (they claimed to have fixed the leak) and it was returned to me (~7 liters coolant). 12 months later (plus or minus a few weeks) in 2015 again the light came on, this time a substantial part of the coolant system was replaced around the lithium ion batteries (claimed to have found a few leaky connections). the vehicle was again returned to me (~all knew coolant). 12 months later (plus or minus a few weeks) in now 2016 the same light has come on yet again and it will be returned to the dealer for repair yet again. leading to the warning light the car's fan runs longer and longer while charging (its trying to cool during charging) and the ac stops working / blowing cold. the light usually come on shortly after starting. attempts are currently being made to contact a chevrolet volt / electric car advisor to work with the chevrolet zone manager on fixing / repair this vehicle. this is not only an obvious manufacturing defect, which the dealer clearly can not repair. but also, a major safety concern, if they warning light failed and the battery of this car overheated it would likely cause an intense fire (its a large lithium ion battery). furthermore, they coolant being released by this vehicle is a substance monitored by the epa. this is again a genuine manufacturing safety defect and needs to be resolved or the vehicle declared a lemon.

The car shut off completely while i was driving 65 mph on the freeway and had to be towed into the dealer for repair. it was determined by the dealer that an underhood fuse shorted out and burned into the vehicle battery charging system causing the car to shut down while driving. a major safety hazard as this could have caused an fire.

The vehicle continuously stalls out at any speed the only way to get power back is by putting the car in low gear and then back into drive.

When the vehicle would come to a stop, the parking brake would engage by itself. the only way to disengage it was to turn the vehicle off and on again. the second time i did this, the vehicle failed to shift out of park, and the vehicle was disabled in the middle of a roadway. the cause was a faulty charging port sending out a false proximity signal to the car's computer, making it think it was charging...updated 08/27/15 *bf

The vehicle information center (drivers display) goes out. speed, warnings, fuel level, turn signal indication are not available and potential safety problem. *tr

The florida department of health (doh), bureau of epidemiology received a report of carbon monoxide (co) poisoning associated with a 2012 chevrolet volt. as a part of routine surveillance for reportable conditions, doh followed up on this report to investigate. on march 2, 2015, three people went to an emergency department (ed) for co poisoning. a 40 year old male parked his 2012 chevrolet volt in the garage to charge (plugged into the outlet) and accidentally left the car running overnight. in the morning, he noticed the car was running and had switched to gasoline use. he and his two children complained of headache, weakness, chest pain, palpitation, and dizziness. carboxyhemoglobin (cohb) levels were >15% for all three individuals. on march 12, 2015, several news media outlets reported that gm is recalling all 2011-2013 chevrolet volts (about 64,000) to install updates to prevent co poisoning when the driver forgets to shut off the vehicle. *tr

2012 chevy volt airbag passenger side. light car has been tampered with by the dealerships. have been dealing with this since i bought the car. refusal to fix. issue allows for third party access to my vehicle. using sub language menus. for spanish and french. this is a major problem and no one is doing anything about it. this calls for a major investigation into chevy dealerships, fraud. my car had this right after my first in warranty service at roseville chevy dealership. please help. my vehicle is being illiegaly monitored . and exstorted for money to fix a problem that is related to tailight switching bulbs and antilockout issues with the car.

Tl* the contact owns a 2012 chevrolet volt hybrid. the contact stated the engine started independently without warning. the contact was alerted of the problem and found that the garage had become filled with exhaust. the vehicle was towed to the dealer. the vehicle had not been diagnosed or repaired. the failure mileage was 14,750.

Car was being driven on an interstate highway at the speed limit, approximately 30 miles from home. as the drive battery's charge ends,the vehicle should start the internal combustion engine to take over propulsion from the battery. did not happen. what did happen was a mil illumination,and several messages on the drivers display about the "propulsion system not available" or words to that effect.(spouse was driving car, not submitter.)the driver was immediately forced to negotiate through several lanes of very busy interstate traffic to get to the road shoulder all while dealing with what was eventually a complete loss of drive power. dead by the side of the road, several attempts were made to start the internal combustion engine.no success.roadside assistance notified.i head towards location to offer help (1 hour away from home) and arrive before tow does. manage to start internal combustion engine this time, and cripple car 7 miles into dealership,where mechanic pulls dtc's p0ac4,p1e00,c12fe and updates vehicle software with gm tsb pic5803c-"charge incomplete-charge interrupted and mil with dtcs p0d3e or p0d3f with p1e00" fixing problem.my main complaint with gm on this issue is that this software update was released 6/7/2013 and i had just had this vehicle in dealership for another software update 3 months ago-12/2/13.why didn't gm provide the pic5803c update at the same time as that one, avoiding a dangerous engine failure that occurred in traffic at highway speeds?contact with gm only reveals that software patches are applied if a failure occurs-like ours-and not proactively.i believe this to be a potentially negligent policy in light of the dangerous event that happened to us.updates like these should be pushed to the consumer as a recall or whenever a volt is at a dealer for any service.can gm learn anything from their ignition switch debacle? i hope so... *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2012 chevrolet volt. the contact stated that while driving approximately 30 mph, the check engine and service high volt system warning lights illuminated. the vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the battery needed to be replaced. the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the approximate failure and current mileage was 109,000.