2017 Chevrolet Volt

While driving down highway rapidly slowed to 15mph. "reduced propulsion" was displayed with significant battery and gas left. Caused cars to swerve and pile up behind me. The car was inspected by dealer and received a variety of U26XXX codes. Dealer states its a faulty BECM. There was no warning lights on before the incident and have had no issues till then. We were lucky this was during the day. Nighttime would have been a terrible accident with oncoming traffic. Dealer is not wanting to cover BECM repair from GM Special Coverage Bulletin N232432680 that was investigated by your organization a couple of years ago.

In March 2026, our 2017 Chevrolet Volt (89,300 miles) would not charge nor start, and had to be towed to an authorized Chevrolet dealership in Portland, Oregon. The dealership diagnosed an internal fault in the Battery Energy Control Module (BECM) producing U26XX diagnostic trouble codes, per GM bulletin #18-NA-261, and replaced the BECM under GM Special Coverage N232432680 — GM's field remedy for a known BECM defect affecting 2016–2019 Volts that causes reduced power, no-start, or no-charge conditions (the subject of NHTSA investigation PE23022).The remedy failed immediately. On the day the vehicle was returned to us (March 26, 2026), the check engine light illuminated while driving home on public roads, and the vehicle failed to charge that same night — the identical condition it had before. It was towed back to the dealership. The dealership's second work order confirms in writing that the vehicle "will not start after previous repairs and is having the same issues," and attributes the failure to the high-voltage battery contactor. The dealership informed us the part is no longer produced and cannot be obtained, advising that the vehicle be scrapped. Safety concerns: (1) after the repair, the dealership returned the vehicle to us as fixed, and we drove it approximately 26 miles home on public highways in traffic, unaware the defect was still present — the check engine light illuminated during that drive. This defect is the subject of NHTSA investigation PE23022 into sudden loss of propulsion, we unknowingly operated a defective vehicle in conditions where that failure could have occurred at highway speed; (2) GM's official field remedy for this known defect (Special Coverage N232432680) failed within hours of being performed; and (3) the parts required to complete the remedy are reportedly discontinued, leaving a known safety defect permanently unrepairable. Supporting documents uploaded: dealer repair orders, and the GM warranty history of the N232432680 repair

While driving at highway speeds over 100 miles away from home with my child in the vehicle, the car experienced a sudden, catastrophic loss of propulsion power and entered 'Propulsion Power Reduced' mode, dropping vehicle speed immediately and creating an extreme hazard with high-speed highway traffic. A full computer scan revealed active diagnostic codes U2603 through U2624, confirming an internal hardware communication failure of the Battery Energy Control Module (BECM). This matches GM Technical Service Bulletin 18-NA-261. The vehicle has over 150,000 miles, but I have only owned the car since January. This is a known, systemic manufacturing defect (cracked internal circuit board solder joints) that creates a critical safety liability regardless of vehicle mileage. GM has refused to remedy the safety defect due to the mileage limit.

I was not going to put in a complaint about this failure but after learning about GM creating a special extended warranty program for this issue, I felt it should be addressed and treated as a recall. The battery energy control module (BECM) failed on my 2017 Chevrolet Volt at exactly 170,000 miles in December of 2024, leaving me in a dangerous position on the roadway and almost causing me to be rear ended due to losing the ability to accelerate. I had no choice but to have the vehicle towed to a dealership where it was eventually repaired with an out of pocket cost of $1900. My vehicle was not eligible for the extended warranty program which I find to be unacceptable.

Failure of Battery Energy Control Module (BECM), within the high voltage battery. Vehicle is unable to charge and sets “reduced power” message. GM released special coverage bulletin for this issue (N232432680), but this vehicle is not listed due to which state it was registered. Continued failure of the BECM will lead to inoperability of the vehicle.

Coolant was found inside the Lithium-Ion battery module when the dealership opened it to repair a different issue. They condemned the battery on the spot. There was no damage to the battery module. All PMs were performed at Chevrolet dealerships throughout the life of the car. All recalls were fixed. Including the BECM replacement the car is known have problems with. Car had 127,000 miles on it. One of the service reps even admited that he's seen it on multiple cars and that it is a manufacturing problem. Dealership said the repair is $29,000. The car was $35000 new 10 years ago. Thank God there was no fire, I drove my family around in that car for years. The dealership won't even let me see the diagnosis report online anymore...

Three separate high-voltage battery section failures within one year, each causing complete loss of propulsion. Two occurred at freeway speeds on [XXX]. FAILURE 1 ([XXX]): Vehicle lost propulsion. Dealer diagnosed DTC P0AFA (low voltage), failed cell in Battery Section 3. Section 3 replaced under GM Special Coverage N232432680 (BECM, 15yr/150k). Vehicle out of service approximately six months awaiting GM authorization and parts. FAILURE 2 ([XXX]): Vehicle lost propulsion on [XXX] at night at freeway speeds. Required towing. Dealer diagnosed DTC P0AFA, Cell 85 at 1.85V in Battery Section 1 (different section). Section 1 replaced under same Special Coverage. Vehicle returned Jan 28, 2026. FAILURE 3 ([XXX], ~300 miles after Failure 2 repair): Vehicle again lost propulsion on the freeway with check engine light, then progressed to no-start condition. Towed to dealer. Diagnosed Feb 20, 2026: DTC P0AFA, Cell 57 at 1.5V in Battery Section 2 (GM minimum spec 2.5V). Third distinct section failure. Vehicle remains at dealer awaiting GM repair authorization as of filing date. SAFETY CONCERN: Loss of propulsion at freeway speeds is an immediate safety hazard. During the Nov 2025 event, the vehicle lost power on [XXX] at night in active traffic. The progressive failure pattern (three different sections failing sequentially in the same pack, identical DTC) suggests a systemic defect rather than isolated component failures. Prior section replacements have not resolved the underlying problem. Vehicle has been usable approximately 20 total days in the past 12 months. All repairs performed or pending under GM Special Coverage N232432680. GM Case [XXX]. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Several years ago, when I was driving the vehicle, I got a sudden "reduced propulsion alert" and the onboard coolant temperature gauge showed a significant spike in temperature. To avoid overheating, I had to pull over on the side of the highway. In the onboard fuse box, there was a blown F3 fuse. I replaced the fuse and the same issue happened again last year. After some online research, it is clear that the EGR valve failed. Unplugging the valve and replacing the fuse has returned the vehicle to normal operations, but it's now out of compliance with local emissions regulations. GM has failed to properly produce replacement parts. As of Feb 11, 2026, a local GM dealer in Bloomington, IN quoted a backorder and unclear wait time on a replacement part and quoted me at $2,000+ just for the part. If not for my quick thinking, this part failure could have overheated my vehicle causing extensive damages. GM has failed to produce enough replacement parts and given the safety issues associated with a blown fuse and overheating, NHTSA should order a recall on this part and force GM to replace the parts for owners. This is a widespread problem documented among Volt owners, and the only stopgap issue is to drive the vehicle out of compliance with local emissions rules.