Tap a category to read its complaints. One report may name several components.
When problems were reported
Mileage at the reported incident
110–25K
2625–50K
1050–75K
775–100K
3100–150K
3150K+
60 reports with mileage · 109 unknown
NHTSA’s mileage field refers to the reported incident, not necessarily the filing date. This shows report counts, not the likelihood of a failure.
What to inspect
Issues worth paying extra attention to based on owner reports.
Electrical System. Review the 77 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
Fuel/propulsion System. Review the 63 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
Power Train. Review the 51 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.
2 crash reports1 fire reports1 injury reports
What owners actually said
169 reports
Mileage unknown · Sep 12, 2024
Fuel/propulsion System
Vehicle has been to dealership numerous times starting in 2021 to address issue with loss of power between ev and gas. No results were found, but I believe the BECM was failing for awhile. Vehicle has continued to lose power until this year check engine light came on. 12V battery was changed and no change. Dealership said vehicl…
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Vehicle has been to dealership numerous times starting in 2021 to address issue with loss of power between ev and gas. No results were found, but I believe the BECM was failing for awhile. Vehicle has continued to lose power until this year check engine light came on. 12V battery was changed and no change. Dealership said vehicle was fixed. It barely made it home and light came back on. Loss of propulsion message. Vehicle loses all ev charge, will not go over 35 miles per hour, barely makes it up a hill. Brakes and steering are hard to control. Vehicle is not included by VIN for the BECM replacement. Dealership is now saying that is the problem. Dealership is quoting $2500 for the fix. This is very dangerous to drive this vehicle. You have no warning of when car is going to stop or lose power. This is a vehicle that was supposed to be for my teenagers to drive and it is not safe at all. This has been discussed numerous times at the dealership with no solution.
NHTSA ODI #11614212
Mileage unknown · Sep 6, 2024
Engine
Car displayed a lower power mode on dashboard. Approximately 20 miles later car switched from gas mode to electrical battery mode. Fortunately there was some charge remaining in the battery that I was able to get off freeway and charge car for 3 hours to make the 30 miles home. Dealer thinks problem is a defective EGR valve a…
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Car displayed a lower power mode on dashboard. Approximately 20 miles later car switched from gas mode to electrical battery mode. Fortunately there was some charge remaining in the battery that I was able to get off freeway and charge car for 3 hours to make the 30 miles home. Dealer thinks problem is a defective EGR valve and I am awaiting a part for this repair for 37 days and counting. The low power mode states it is limited to 35 KW of power but I was surprised when the engine cut off to battery mode. If I had used up the battery charge on the first portion of this trip I do not know how suddenly the car would have stopped on freeway.
NHTSA ODI #11613145
Mileage unknown · Sep 3, 2024
Fuel/propulsion System
While on the freeway, the instrument screen displayed a message about reduced propulsion power, then the check engine lit up. I pressed the gas pedal, but nothing happened. I took precautions and let it rolled over to the side of the road. I turned off the car and turned it back on, and I was able to put it in drive mode, but it…
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While on the freeway, the instrument screen displayed a message about reduced propulsion power, then the check engine lit up. I pressed the gas pedal, but nothing happened. I took precautions and let it rolled over to the side of the road. I turned off the car and turned it back on, and I was able to put it in drive mode, but it still wouldn't move. I also tried reverse, but nothing happened there either. The car was completely disabled, so I had to call a tow truck to take it home.
NHTSA ODI #11612253
143,000 miles · Aug 29, 2024
Electrical SystemEngineFuel/propulsion System
The car has experienced a ‘BECM’ failure, which is very common on the Chevy volt. When it fails the car becomes undrivable and will slow down into reduced propulsion mode. It will not start and required us to have it towed to the dealer. The 2016-2019 Chevy volt BECM issue has been investigated by the nhtsa and gm. It is a commo…
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The car has experienced a ‘BECM’ failure, which is very common on the Chevy volt. When it fails the car becomes undrivable and will slow down into reduced propulsion mode. It will not start and required us to have it towed to the dealer. The 2016-2019 Chevy volt BECM issue has been investigated by the nhtsa and gm. It is a common enough issue that gm has voluntarily issued ‘special coverage N232432680’. This covers the becm failure on 2016-2019 volts for free for up to 150k miles 10 years. We have a 2016 volt with 144k miles so we assumed it would be covered. The dealer said it wasn’t covered based on my vin but they didn’t know why our vin was left out of the coverage. Obviously if they thought our car didn’t have a suspect becm, they were wrong because it failed during the special coverage time. The repair is $2600 and gm will not assist us with this repair. I have attached a copy of gm special coverage and the bill. This seems to be a clerical error that our vin and maybe others were missed despite the fact our car falls right in the special coverage criteria. I believe this should be a full recall or 2016-2019 volts, especially if the becm has failed.
NHTSA ODI #11611721
Mileage unknown · Aug 26, 2024
Fuel/propulsion System
I'm driving a 2016 Chevy Volt in California that I bought in 2022 from Carmax. In the middle of driving on the highway, the error "Propulsion Power is reduced" alongside the check engine light. In the middle of driving on a highway at 65mi/h, I could not accelerate even though I floored the gas pedal and the car quickly decelera…
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I'm driving a 2016 Chevy Volt in California that I bought in 2022 from Carmax. In the middle of driving on the highway, the error "Propulsion Power is reduced" alongside the check engine light. In the middle of driving on a highway at 65mi/h, I could not accelerate even though I floored the gas pedal and the car quickly decelerated. This is extremely dangerous especially in the middle of the highway. I had an auto shop look at it and they replaced a fuse and told me it was good to go. When I got it back, I though the problem was fixed but the issue came up again after only 1 week and had to take it to a different shop where I originally bought the car used at ~49k miles (CarMax). It took ~3 weeks before they were able to get it diagnosed at another auto shop. I received this email from them after diagnosis (attached file). A quick search on the internet and it seems a lot of people with this car is having the same issue. Everyone is also having issue with the EGR valve being backordered that is taking a couple months to over a year to get the parts in. Those people are resorting to unplugging the valve and driving as is. I don't want to have to do this either. Please see attached file for inspection report.
NHTSA ODI #11611029
Mileage unknown · Aug 15, 2024
Unknown Or Other
I was driving on the highway when suddenly the car lost power, it was very dangerous. I had to glide to the side of the road. The car will not move forward or back after I stopped, it had to be towed.
NHTSA ODI #11608817
Mileage unknown · Jul 30, 2024
Engine
The EGR valve failed, blew up a fuse, and the internal combustion engine started to overheat and run very roughly and unsteady. I almost lost control
NHTSA ODI #11605328
Mileage unknown · Jul 26, 2024
Electrical SystemEngine
The EGR valve in the 2016 Chevy volt will fail blowing fuse 3 which will also take out the engine oil pressure control solenoid, the evap emission purge solenoid valve, the engine coolant thermostat heater, and the oxygen sensor 1 as they all share the same fuse. The car will tell you that the engine is unavailable and, if you a…
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The EGR valve in the 2016 Chevy volt will fail blowing fuse 3 which will also take out the engine oil pressure control solenoid, the evap emission purge solenoid valve, the engine coolant thermostat heater, and the oxygen sensor 1 as they all share the same fuse. The car will tell you that the engine is unavailable and, if you are out of hybrid battery power, will leave you unable to move the vehicle. In my particular situation it left me stranded blocking one lane on a two lane s-bend road on a 5-9% grade mountainside with no cellphone reception. Thankfully the car stopped far enough away from the previous bend that people had time to see me and I didn't get rear-ended. If I had stopped 20 feet sooner that likely would not have been the case. The replacement part for the EGR valve is impossible to find as it is back ordered everywhere and places that will let you back order it will try to charge $1927 just for the part (no installation service included). If you live in a state without emission checks then you can unplug the EGR valve and replace the fuse but that means your producing more pollutants. Until GM gets their act together and offers affordable replacement parts I don't see another alternative.
NHTSA ODI #11604830
Mileage unknown · Jul 25, 2024
EngineFuel/propulsion System
EGR valve failed. When switched from Battery to gas car stalled and we were stuck. Dealer said it needs a new EGR valve. But it was on back order. This was a year ago and Chevy still claims the part is on back order! Now the car is ready to renew registration. But it cannot pass inspection because it must have been driven on gas…
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EGR valve failed. When switched from Battery to gas car stalled and we were stuck. Dealer said it needs a new EGR valve. But it was on back order. This was a year ago and Chevy still claims the part is on back order! Now the car is ready to renew registration. But it cannot pass inspection because it must have been driven on gas for many miles for the inspection to work! The part is obviously no longer available and Chevy has not offered a solution.
NHTSA ODI #11604439
Mileage unknown · Jul 11, 2024
Electrical System
Fuse #3 shorts out every time the engine changes from electric power to gas. We have been told this can be dangerous because this fuse controls several important systems in the car.
General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2015-2016 GMC Canyon and Chevrolet Colorado, and 2016 Chevrolet Volt vehicles. The driver's frontal air bag may improperly inflate during second-stage deployment in the event of a high speed crash.
Consequence & remedy
Consequence: An improperly inflated air bag increases the risk of injury in a crash.
Remedy: GM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver's frontal air bag module, free of charge. The recall began November 8, 2017. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, or GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is 17387.
Model-level recall history does not show whether a particular VIN is affected or has received a repair. Check a VIN with NHTSA ↗
NHTSA investigations
2
PE23022 · Loss Of Motive Power Due To The Battery Energy Control Module
Opened Nov 29, 2023 · Closed Mar 3, 2025
Status: closed (inferred from source dates) · Electrical System; Electrical System:propulsion System; Electrical System:propulsion System:traction Battery:management System/energy Control Module (bms/becm)
On November 29, 2023, the Office of Defects Investigations (ODI) opened PE23022 to investigate allegations of a loss of motive power, including a stall, reduced power state, and/or a no start condition due to the Battery Energy Control Module (BECM) in model year (MY) 2016-2019 Chevrolet Volt passenger car vehicles manufactured by General Motors (GM). The BECM is located within the high voltage electric vehicle (EV) battery pack and monitors the temperature, current, and voltage of the high voltage battery cell groups. GM stated that the root cause was identified as an internal failure leading to a loss of communication within the BECM and does not pose a risk to motor vehicle safety. GM further stated that the failure cannot result in a complete stall, only a reduced power mode, no start condition, or a no charge condition. GM additionally stated that if these conditions occur, the driver will be warned via a Malfunction Indicator Lamp (MIL) and/or a reduced-propulsion message in the Driver Information Center (DIC). Data received and analyzed by ODI from all sources indicates that nearly all related BECM failures caused conditions aligning with GM’s predicted outcomes. Despite the large number of warranty claims, nearly all failures were not safety-related, i.e., not a stall or reduced power mode. ODI isaware of a single minor crash and no injuries or deaths. In March 2024, GM issued Special Coverage N232432680, which was mailed to consumers, addressing BECM failures in certain MY 2016-2018 Chevrolet Volt vehicles. This special coverage provides an extension of the warranty coverage for the BECM from 8 years / 100,000 miles to 15 years / 150,000 miles for all 2016-2018 Chevrolet Volts. Additionally, GM stated that replacement components are sourced from a different supplier and not susceptible to the failure. In view of the Special Coverage issued by GM, the existing warranty coverage already in place, and the low number of safety-related occurrences, ODI is closing this Preliminary Evaluation (PE). The closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by NHTSA that a safety-related defect does not exist. The Agency reserves the right to take additional action if warranted by future circumstances. To review the ODI reports cited in the Closing Resume ODI Report Identification Number document, go to NHTSA.gov.
Additional source detail variants (3)
Electrical System
On November 29, 2023, the Office of Defects Investigations (ODI) opened PE23022 to investigate allegations of a loss of motive power, including a stall, reduced power state, and/or a no start condition due to the Battery Energy Control Module (BECM) in model year (MY) 2016-2019 Chevrolet Volt passenger car vehicles manufactured by General Motors (GM). The BECM is located within the high voltage electric vehicle (EV) battery pack and monitors the temperature, current, and voltage of the high voltage battery cell groups. GM stated that the root cause was identified as an internal failure leading to a loss of communication within the BECM and does not pose a risk to motor vehicle safety. GM further stated that the failure cannot result in a complete stall, only a reduced power mode, no start condition, or a no charge condition. GM additionally stated that if these conditions occur, the driver will be warned via a Malfunction Indicator Lamp (MIL) and/or a reduced-propulsion message in the Driver Information Center (DIC). Data received and analyzed by ODI from all sources indicates that nearly all related BECM failures caused conditions aligning with GM’s predicted outcomes. Despite the large number of warranty claims, nearly all failures were not safety-related, i.e., not a stall or reduced power mode. ODI isaware of a single minor crash and no injuries or deaths. In March 2024, GM issued Special Coverage N232432680, which was mailed to consumers, addressing BECM failures in certain MY 2016-2018 Chevrolet Volt vehicles. This special coverage provides an extension of the warranty coverage for the BECM from 8 years / 100,000 miles to 15 years / 150,000 miles for all 2016-2018 Chevrolet Volts. Additionally, GM stated that replacement components are sourced from a different supplier and not susceptible to the failure. In view of the Special Coverage issued by GM, the existing warranty coverage already in place, and the low number of safety-related occurrences, ODI is closing this Preliminary Evaluation (PE). The closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by NHTSA that a safety-related defect does not exist. The Agency reserves the right to take additional action if warranted by future circumstances. To review the ODI reports cited in the Closing Resume ODI Report Identification Number document, go to NHTSA.gov.
Electrical System:propulsion System
On November 29, 2023, the Office of Defects Investigations (ODI) opened PE23022 to investigate allegations of a loss of motive power, including a stall, reduced power state, and/or a no start condition due to the Battery Energy Control Module (BECM) in model year (MY) 2016-2019 Chevrolet Volt passenger car vehicles manufactured by General Motors (GM). The BECM is located within the high voltage electric vehicle (EV) battery pack and monitors the temperature, current, and voltage of the high voltage battery cell groups. GM stated that the root cause was identified as an internal failure leading to a loss of communication within the BECM and does not pose a risk to motor vehicle safety. GM further stated that the failure cannot result in a complete stall, only a reduced power mode, no start condition, or a no charge condition. GM additionally stated that if these conditions occur, the driver will be warned via a Malfunction Indicator Lamp (MIL) and/or a reduced-propulsion message in the Driver Information Center (DIC). Data received and analyzed by ODI from all sources indicates that nearly all related BECM failures caused conditions aligning with GM’s predicted outcomes. Despite the large number of warranty claims, nearly all failures were not safety-related, i.e., not a stall or reduced power mode. ODI isaware of a single minor crash and no injuries or deaths. In March 2024, GM issued Special Coverage N232432680, which was mailed to consumers, addressing BECM failures in certain MY 2016-2018 Chevrolet Volt vehicles. This special coverage provides an extension of the warranty coverage for the BECM from 8 years / 100,000 miles to 15 years / 150,000 miles for all 2016-2018 Chevrolet Volts. Additionally, GM stated that replacement components are sourced from a different supplier and not susceptible to the failure. In view of the Special Coverage issued by GM, the existing warranty coverage already in place, and the low number of safety-related occurrences, ODI is closing this Preliminary Evaluation (PE). The closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by NHTSA that a safety-related defect does not exist. The Agency reserves the right to take additional action if warranted by future circumstances. To review the ODI reports cited in the Closing Resume ODI Report Identification Number document, go to NHTSA.gov.
Electrical System:propulsion System:traction Battery:management System/energy Control Module (bms/becm)
On November 29, 2023, the Office of Defects Investigations (ODI) opened PE23022 to investigate allegations of a loss of motive power, including a stall, reduced power state, and/or a no start condition due to the Battery Energy Control Module (BECM) in model year (MY) 2016-2019 Chevrolet Volt passenger car vehicles manufactured by General Motors (GM). The BECM is located within the high voltage electric vehicle (EV) battery pack and monitors the temperature, current, and voltage of the high voltage battery cell groups. GM stated that the root cause was identified as an internal failure leading to a loss of communication within the BECM and does not pose a risk to motor vehicle safety. GM further stated that the failure cannot result in a complete stall, only a reduced power mode, no start condition, or a no charge condition. GM additionally stated that if these conditions occur, the driver will be warned via a Malfunction Indicator Lamp (MIL) and/or a reduced-propulsion message in the Driver Information Center (DIC). Data received and analyzed by ODI from all sources indicates that nearly all related BECM failures caused conditions aligning with GM’s predicted outcomes. Despite the large number of warranty claims, nearly all failures were not safety-related, i.e., not a stall or reduced power mode. ODI isaware of a single minor crash and no injuries or deaths. In March 2024, GM issued Special Coverage N232432680, which was mailed to consumers, addressing BECM failures in certain MY 2016-2018 Chevrolet Volt vehicles. This special coverage provides an extension of the warranty coverage for the BECM from 8 years / 100,000 miles to 15 years / 150,000 miles for all 2016-2018 Chevrolet Volts. Additionally, GM stated that replacement components are sourced from a different supplier and not susceptible to the failure. In view of the Special Coverage issued by GM, the existing warranty coverage already in place, and the low number of safety-related occurrences, ODI is closing this Preliminary Evaluation (PE). The closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by NHTSA that a safety-related defect does not exist. The Agency reserves the right to take additional action if warranted by future circumstances. To review the ODI reports cited in the Closing Resume ODI Report Identification Number document, go to NHTSA.gov.
DP22005 · Pedestrian Alert Sounds
Opened Jan 27, 2023 · Closed Aug 7, 2023
Status: closed (inferred from source dates) · Electrical System:propulsion System
NHTSA received a petition on or about July 18, 2022, requesting that Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 141 be applied to all electric and hybrid vehicles operating in the United States. The petition can be reviewed at NHTSA.gov under ODI Number 11486072. FMVSS 141 establishes performance requirements for pedestrian alert sounds for motor vehicles. The standard applies to hybrid and electric vehicles that have a gross vehicle weight rating of 4,536 KG or less or are defined as low-speed vehicles. The standard became fully applicable to all such vehicles manufactured on or after March 1, 2021.On January 27, 2023, NHTSA opened Defect Petition (DP) 22-005 to evaluate the subject matter described in the petition. On June 24, 2023 and as supplemented on June 25, 2023, the petitioner notified NHTSA he was withdrawing his petition. The petitioner indicated that, based on his review of data, there is no justification for asserting potential benefits that could be derived from actions sought by my petition. Based on the petitioner's withdrawal, DP22-005 is closed. Closure of this DP does not represent a determination by NHTSA regarding the subject matter of the petition.
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