2018 Chevrolet Volt Electrical Problems

Your Volt's battery module stopped working, and you saw an 'Engine Unavailable - Service Soon' message when you tried to start it, leaving you unable to drive the car. You also noticed your tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) warning light turned on. The dealer and manufacturer weren't able to diagnose or repair the issue, and your vehicle isn't covered by any recall.

Your 2018 Chevy Volt experienced a critical failure of the Battery Energy Control Module (BECM) that caused the vehicle to lose power and enter limp mode while being driven. Most seriously, the brakes failed to respond properly even when fully engaged, causing the car to continue moving forward at a red light—a dangerous safety situation that was only resolved when the driver manually steered the vehicle into a parking lot to stop. This BECM defect is a known issue affecting 2016-2018 Chevy Volts, but your vehicle was denied coverage under the manufacturer's service bulletin despite having the same faulty part number as recalled vehicles. Replacing the faulty BECM battery control module will likely be necessary to restore proper braking and power management.

Your 2018 Chevrolet Volt won't start properly and won't charge when plugged in. A check engine light stays on even after your dealer reset the battery/electrical control module (BECM), and you're seeing a "Reduced Power" message on the dashboard. Your dealer identified that the BECM itself needs to be replaced to fix the issue. The repair involves replacing the battery electrical control module (BECM) that manages your vehicle's electrical and charging systems.

While driving, your car is unexpectedly shifting into Park and reducing engine power on its own. This could leave you stranded or unable to maintain speed while on the road. The issue involves both the electrical and fuel/propulsion systems working together incorrectly. A technician will need to diagnose the transmission control module and engine management system to identify what's triggering these automatic shutdowns.

Your dashboard keeps showing a "Shift to Park" warning even though your shifter is already in the Park position. You're unable to fully turn off the vehicle until you manually shift to Drive and back to Park multiple times. This suggests an issue with the shift position sensor or electrical connection that monitors where your shifter actually is.

Your car's shift lever may not properly register when moved to Park, preventing you from shutting down the engine. You might need to repeatedly move the selector in and out of Park before the car recognizes it's parked, and in some cases the engine could run for extended periods while you're away. This issue appears to be related to a faulty micro switch in the shift mechanism, which could lead to battery drain and leave you stranded. The repair will likely involve replacing the shift lever micro switch assembly.

When you put your car in Park and try to turn it off by pressing the ignition button, the dashboard displays an error message saying "Shift to Park" even though the car is already in Park. This prevents you from turning off the engine. The vehicle's computer isn't recognizing that the transmission is actually in Park. The fix will likely involve diagnosing the park position sensor or the transmission shift linkage to ensure the car properly detects when it's in Park.

On May 26, the car was running in electric mode and switched to gas because the power batteries were depleted. Shortly after switching to gas mode, lights came on the dash board saying Engine Not Available Get Service Immediately. I was on a highway at the time and fortunately had just enough left to get off and the car would not move any further. Turning the car on and off did not resolve the problem. It had to be towed to a Chevy dealer. Even after an hour, the messages would come on when trying to start the car. The next day, the dealer called and said they could find no problems with the car and it works fine. This happened once before, but that time there was enough charge in the battery to get home and then later it would start without the message.

Reduction of power , impossible to charge the kilometre says 21 kkm drops from 21 to 0 and the mountain settings dont run, I drive on maintenance , when charging at paying station does not charge,

EGR valve clogged and failed on a long trip, bricked the car and had to tow many miles back to home shop. now have been waiting 9 months and still no idea when the part will be available from Chevrolet. My shop and I have claims to Chevrolet for the part for service but still nothing and is getting so we are inconvenienced in travel.

When putting my car in park and shutting it off the dash board tells me to shift to park, and car does not fully shut off.

Driving on gas on the highway, the adaptive cruise control suddenly disabled with a "Reduced Propulsion" message on the dash and a check engine light. The car started struggling in its propulsion. We found an AutoZone and scanned the codes, and multiple were returned. A Google search pointed us to the "walk home" fuse, which indeed had been blown. Replacing that fuse and disconnecting/reconnecting the battery eliminated the errors. Less than a week later during highway driving (the next time the battery charge was used up and it switched to the ICE) I got another check engine light, but this time without the "reduced propulsion" message. Scanning at AutoZone again revealed a P0404 message referencing the EGR valve. Due to the limited availability of the part I have called into Covert Bastrop (Bastrop, TX) and am waiting to hear back on their ability to fix the car.

The issue started with a forward push while lowering my speed while coming to a stop. It then progressed to a trembling engine. Then it progressed to the car struggling to effectively switch from electric to gas and back. It then would only be usable on electric range and the engine would not start and would be greyed out. Now, it only works on engine mode, it uses fuel like a pick up truck, it loses power while driving due to trying to switch to electric mode and back, and it struggles to accelerate. It will do it while idle as well as while driving 45mph and up. It barely has any propulsion power and I have to turn my hazards on any time I am going to accelerate. If I brake hard the engine will shake violently and then shut off. I then have to switch gears from drive to park or neutral to park to drive to reengage the engine. Recently it has turned on all the accessories but the ev and the gas is greyed out and there is zero propulsion power. I replaced the 12v battery thinking it might have been dying and it still has the same issue. I read about the class action lawsuit for the BCEM and have made an appointment the dealership but when I told them what was wrong with it the said we need to wait for the diagnostics.

Took my 2018 chey volt to the dealer after trying to start the car and shifting into reverse a Action Required and shift to park massage appears. Towed the car to the Chevy dealership of on 11-19-2024 and on 12-17-2024 after the dealership has been talking with GM they tell me the car needs a new battery pack and there are none to be found. Car is still under GM warranty! Service adviser recommends calling GM to buy back or get a Lemon law Attorney

The contact owns a 2018 Chevrolet Bolt. The contact stated while driving at a moderate speed, the check engine warning light illuminated, and the “Propulsion Power” message was displayed. The contact pulled over and upon an attempting to restart the vehicle, the vehicle failed to restart. Due to the failure, the vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it was discovered that the BECM (Battery Engine Control Module) was defective. The mechanic discovered that the vehicle was under warranty and contacted that the local dealer for assistance. The mechanic drove the vehicle to the dealer who acknowledged the failure; however, the dealer stated that the failure was not covered under warranty. The manufacturer was also notified of the failure and the contact was provided a case number. The vehicle was not repaired and remained in the possession of the dealer. The failure mileage was approximately 100,000.

While driving our 2018 Chevy Volt, dashboard warning message “Propulsion Power Reduced” displayed. Vehicle performance was not otherwise affected. Subsequent diagnosis from our Chevy Dealer was, among other things, a faulty Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) valve. We were informed that our vehicle was “no longer safe to drive in this condition” and the vehicle has been sitting on the Dealer’s lot awaiting a replacement part for 2 months and counting, with no expectation of near-term resolution of our problem. We are aware that this is a widespread problem on 2017-18 Volt models, with many dissatisfied owners.

Car has shift to park error where the shifter is in park but the car not does not recognize and refuses to shut off. Chevrolet has issued multiple service bulletins in regards to fix but dealership is not adhering to bulletin. Chevrolet then provides no support to the consumer in regards to correcting and places warranty information within service bulletin which is not standard procedure as told by multiple reps

Our Volt EGR valve has gone bad and car not drivable. They claim these have been on back order (very expensive) for a year! They also say it's NOT part of emissions! WTH? Car gas 36k HELP!!

The contact owns a 2018 Chevrolet Volt. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the message "Engine Not Available" was displayed and the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was not able to be restarted and was towed to a local dealer where a reset of the engine code was performed. The contact stated that the failure reoccurred, and the vehicle hesitated while accelerating. The contact was able to pull the vehicle to the side of the road, and the vehicle was towed to the local dealer where it was advised that the battery of the engine control module needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact related the failure with the Technical Service Bulletin: 18-NA-261 (Malfunction Indicator Lamp Illuminated and/or Intermittent No Start with Battery Circuit DTCs Set); however, the vehicle was not included. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure; however, no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 150,000.

Lost propulsion power went from doing 75mph to 35mph on the fast lane with no warning vehicles swerving to avoid hitting me..very scary and dangerous 3rd time this happens I now try to avoid fast traffic.. please look into this someone going to get hurt if no action taken..

My 2018 Chevy Volt has experienced the GM knows BECM issue. There are several Volt Owners that have experienced this issue. I would like to bring this to the attention for GM to post a recall/mandatory service repair as my car stopped working, would not start, was displaying false information on the electrical module, etc. Issue: 1. Car would not start 2. Battery stated fully charged with solid green light but display showed only 1 electric mile available 3. Tried to shift car to Reverse press gas nothing happened 4. Tried to shift car to Drive press gas nothing happened. 5. Car engine light is on 6. Utter confusion as stress as I’m stranded with no way to get my car working 7. Chevy dealership has had my car for one week now with the only update of ordered BECM module. No ETA on when this will be fixed 8. No indication of what caused the issue

After recent repair of hybrid transmission, experienced a loss of power, MIL, and several trouble codes related to the battery control module (BECM). This affects safety as the loss of propulsion unexpectedly causes deviations in speed from typical traffic flow. The problem was confirmed by OnStar and a manufacturer representative was advised with a dealer appointment scheduled when they next open. There were no lamps or other symptoms prior to this MIL and loss of power. Restarts after shut down have not been attempted until able to take the vehicle to the dealership.

My 2018 Chevy Volt was at a Chevrolet dealership in Burbank and they have been running tests on my car to re-create the problem which they have not been able to do. On [XXX] my car suddenly stopped and shakes violently after I turned it on after about driving 15 feet, and my screen was telling me “engine not available, service needed soon” so I got it towed to the dealership (no prior warning signs on dash or anything). On [XXX] they told me they were not able to find the fix or recreate it and also said “This is definitely very rare. Drive it around and bring it back in if it happens again” which felt like they really didn’t care for my safety at all. On [XXX], the same exact problem happened with my car, “engine not available, service needed soon” and shook violently (my girlfriend witnessed it) after 100 yards of driving it and then towed my car back to the dealership. On [XXX], 23 DAYS LATER, the Chevy dealership calls to tell me they still haven’t been able to recreate the problem or find a solution again. I haven’t been able to drive my car this whole time. I have had a case open with GM this whole time where they have been extremely spotty on communication and pretty much just ignoring me the alot of the time. They called me on Saturday, [XXX] (when they’re “closed”) to tell me their solution but I missed the call, I called Monday and Tuesday but can’t get in contact with my advisor until finally Wednesday, I call and they are able to connect me and they gave me a final solution on [XXX] of $1500 off a New GM brand car so they weren’t in any rush to contact me about the final solution. They should repurchase the car from me and pay for damages. Car feels extremely unsafe and there should at least be some type of diagnosis… CHEVROLET CANT FIX THEIR OWN CARS, UNREAL!!!! INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

My BECM failed pulling in to my grandpas house. I was able to park the car, but unable to start it afterwords. Prior to failure, the engine would switch between electric, then back to gas, then back to electric This is a very common issue on these vehicles. I am fortunate this did not occur on the highway, as I had just exited I 94

"Propulsion power reduced" message along with check engine light, loss of propulsion power from battery, loss of ability to charge battery. OBD2 scanner reveals P1E00, and 12 U26xx fault codes relating to Battery Energy Control Module failure.

In June of 2023 the car experienced propulsion power reduction. The car was at the dealer awaiting repair for 3 weeks. On Dec. 14,2023 the same thing happened again. The car was also unable to accelerate once mobile. The car has about 90k miles on it.

Car died while driving down road. Has engine codes to service high voltage system although It showed a full battery it only had 1 mile range and the gas motor wouldn't run.

The Battery Energy Control Module needs to be replaced (BECM). The car is available to be inspected at Key Chevrolet in South Burlington, VT. The car was parked when it failed. The car wouldn't start (lights on the dashboard came on) and it wouldn't turn off. I got a "shift to park" error message, regardless of which gear I was in. The car wouldn't go into Drive to go forward with either the drive battery or the gas generator. I had the car was towed to the dealership. It was inspected and diagnosed by them. When they did the diagnosis, they said the BECM had failed and there were cells in the drive battery that needed to be replaced. The BECM failure is a common problem with Chevrolet Volts and is covered by the Voltec warranty. There were no warning lights or other warnings (e.g., reduced propulsion) whatsoever. The car had shut off like normal but would not start or turn completely off. I was fortunate to have had the BECM fail while the car was parked. My understanding is that BECMs can fail while the car is moving and the power will stop and you won't have any control.

While Driving my 2018 Chevy Volt from Payson Utah to Provo Utah going north on the I-15 Freeway the car Lost Power and came to a stop. Luckily I was in the outside lane and was able to coast to a stop on the shoulder and wait for a tow truck to take the car to the nearest dealer in Spanish Fork Utah. My safety could have been seriously affected if I had remained stalled on the freeway. The car would no longer start or Turn off. The display only showed that the car should be shifted to park even though I had already completed that request. The car has been inspected by the Dealer for GM. No one else that I know of has inspected the car. No Previous warnings or messages appeared before the incident occured.. The Dealer is Telling me the car’s battery energy control module needs to be replaced and that it could take months to get a part. This is way to long for a car to wait to get repaired if the manufacturer claims to still be making the part.

2018 Volt will not shut off. Shift to Park displayed on console. Problem has been diagnosed at dealer. Problem is under Service Bulletin 19-NA-206, Voltec (Electric and Hybrid Vehicle) Warranty. Dealer and GM refuses to repair. Problem has been occuring for several weeks.

A Shift to Park message displayed while the vehicle is in park. The car will not turn off and continues to run. The issue is well documented through GM/Chevrolet, as they have a service bulletin (19-NA-206) for it. That document specifically states that the Voltec Warranty covers this issue, but Chevrolet is refusing to service my car based on its VIN number, despite identifying it as the same issue. And for the last question, no lights initially came on but then the check engine light came back on. When the car was finally turned off at the dealership, it turned back on with no issue lights or messages.

Car is stopped and shifted into park. When ignition switch is hit to turn vehicle off display reads "shift to park." Car does not register that car is already in park and cannot turn car off.

The vehicle frequently has an 'Action Required - Shift to Park' display on the dashboard even though the shift lever is in park. This means that the car cannot be powered off and you cannot leave the vehicle. It is a problem that GMC is aware of, but refuses to fix under warranty unless the vehicle actively shows the problem while at a GMC dealership.

To begin, I will set the scene of my experience. I was traveling east bound on 84 in northeast PA on my way to Long Island for work meetings that day. I was about one hour and a half away from my home at roughly 6am. I was traveling at apx. 70 mph when my car suddenly says "engine unavailable, reduced propulsion." and the fueld tank turned yellow in color on my dashboard. Then a sign said "service soon." My car then COMPLETELY STOPPED WORKING. My speed fell from 75 mph or so to 0 in a matter of a minute, I had no idea what was happening because there were no appropriate warnings such as, "Pull over immediately" or "SAFETY CONCERN PLEASE GET OFF THE HIGHWAY" -I would have taken anything to know that this was an actual emergency and I needed to at least get to a shoulder. I luckily was able to come to a stop mostly off the highway in a shoulder. I was located around a bend, in the pitch black, unable to stay in my car out of fear I would be smashed by a tractor trailer or car that did not see my car suddenly stopped. The car would not go in neutral or anything other than park and I left the hazards on (they eventually failed). I called my husband who drove to me while I stood on the side of the highway for an hour and a half in 30 degree weather. I called the police who were eventually able to put up flares and mark me as a hazard on the road. If there was a car traveling behind me, I would have been killed or seriously injured because I slowed so suddenly and had no way of knowing that this was an absolute emergency. The worst part is that this is the second BECM failure in my volt and I have driven less than 1000miles since it was repaired the first time (which took >5 months). The first time this happened my car was on a quiet town road and my brother who was driving just parked and had it towed. He hadn't thought there were any warnings but he wasn't sure. This time, I could have been smashed on the hwy with little to no warning. I can't believe Im alive.

When placing in park it doesn't trigger the switch and car will not shut down.

BECM failed upon startup. Pressed start and vehicle appeared to turn on. Shifted into reverse but there was no motor power and I began to roll backwards down the driveway. Started the vehicle again and then the engine came on and a reduced propulsion message appeared.

After turning off the car, I get a "shift to park" error. I am not able to lock the car and it does not power down.

Vehicle displays "shift to park" when it is already in park, and will not shut off. I had to leave it on, and despite nothing apparently on (electric vehicle, no motor running), it drained the12 volt battery and would not start up the next day.

When car is stopped and shifted to park a message comes onto the dashboard telling me to Shift To Park. The car does not completely shut off nor do the lights, and you can not lock the car.

When attempting to turn the vehicle off after parking, the driver's console displayed the message "Action required: Shift to Parlk". The shifter was already firmly in the "Park" position. Moving the shifter back to "D" and then back to "P" did not resolve the issue. Pressing the power button twice more resolved the issue this time without further moving the shifter. This is a well-known and well-documented issue with "Gen 2" Chevy Volts.

When shifting car into park, car sometimes does not detect car is already shifted into park. The car will then not shut off until I have to turn the car completely on and shift into drive and then park a few times so the car can detect that it is in park. Give message on car's to shift the car into park.

Shift to park defect. When I try to turn my car off it won’t completely shut off, a notification on my dash says “Shift to park” but my gear shift is in park already. It takes 5-10 times of me cutting car off and on for it to finally completely shut off.

After I put the car in park, the car dashboard doesnt reflect this change, essentially assumes the car is not in park and I am unable to lock the car and the lights will stay on for a while. After jiggling the shift handle just the right way I could get it to recognize the car was indeed in park.

When trying to turn car off, "shift to park" error message appears on console, but car is in park as observed by gear shift and console display. Order of events: car stopped in parking spot or garage; shifted to park; parking brake set; hit power button to shut down; "shift to park" error message appears; car will not shutdown. Need to hit power button again in order to shift out of park to any other position (N, R, D, etc.), then shift back to Park and hit power button again. Sometimes 1 try works, but often the error message will appear again and multiple power button - shift to gear - shift back to park and power button again - sequences must be tried in order to turn the car off. Please issue recall.

I put the car in park and try to shut it off but it says I need to put the vehicle in park. It is in park but will not shut off.

NTSB SHOULD REQUIRE A RECALL OF CERTAIN CHEVROLET VOLTS. AS AN OWNER I RECEIVED A LETTER FROM CHEVROLET STATING THAT MY VOLT '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.' LOSING PROPULSION WHILE DRIVING IS A SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE, AND WARRANTS A RECALL. [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

'SHIFT TO PARK' PROBLEM THE CAR WON'T SHUTDOWN

THE VEHICLE HAS MORE CONSISTENTLY FAILED TO TURN OFF THE DISPLAY KEEP SEEING SHIFT TO PARK AND IT'S HAPPENING WITH MORE FREQUENCY.

I LEASED A CHEVY VOLT 2018, ABOUT 3 MONTHS AFTER THE FIRST FEW CHARGE, USING THE CABLE THAT CAME WITH THE VEHICLE THE CAR DO NOT CHARGE ANYMORE, AIR CONDITIONING NOT WAS WORKING, I REPOSTED THE ISSUES TO THE SALES AGENT. HE RESPONDED THAT THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE VEHICLE, THAT I NEED TO LEARN HOW TO USE IT. A COUPLE OF MONTHS LATER WHEN I WAS DRIVING THE THE VEHICLE STARTED TO SAKE AND THE CONTROL PANNEL WENT CRAZY, I CALL AGAIN TO THE DEALER. THEY TELL ME THIS TIME TO BRING THE CAR INN. AFTER THE KEEP IT FOR A DAY, THEY CALL ME TO SAID THAT THEY HAVE TO KEEP THE CAR BECAUSE THE CAR HAVE A DIFECTEC BATTERY CELL, THEY TELL ME THAT THEY NEED TO ORDER THIS CELD AND INSTALL IT. THEY KEEP THE CAR FOR A WEEK. AFTER THE CAR WORK OK FOR A COUPLE OF MONTHS AND AFTER THE AIR CONDITIONING NO NOT WORK, I CALL AGEING TO REPORT THE PROBLEM, BUT THEY GIVE ME THE SAME ANSWER. AFTER I RECEIVED A NOTICE OF A RECALL FOR THE AIR CONDITIONING, I TOOK THE CAR FOR SERVICE AND I NOTICED THAT THEY NEVER ROTATED THE TIRES AS THEY CLAIMED. THE PROBLEM WITH THE AIR CONTINUE, SO I TOOK THE CAR TO A DEALER CLOSER TO MY HOME, THEY TELL ME THAT THE CAR HAVE A PROBLEM AND THEY NEED TO KEED THE VEHICLE. AFTER THEY TELL ME THAT I HAVE TO PAID BECAUSE FOR THE REPAIRS ABOUT 1600.00 BECAUSE OF THIS PROBLEM I DON'T HAVE A CAR AND I'M ABOUT TO LOSS MY JOB. THIS CAR HAS BEEN A NIGHTMARE. I ASK THE DEALER TO PLEASE TO TAKE BACK THE CAR. I ALSO ASK CHEVROLET CORPORATION BUT NOT ANSWER HAS BEEN TAKEN, THIS CAUSE ME TO LOSS MY JOD SND CREATED MANY PROBLEM TO ME AND MY FAMILY. THE VEHICLE STILL ON THE SHOP FOR THE LAST TWO WEEKS AND THEY TRLL MR THAT MAYBE TAKE LONGER. CAUSE THEY DON'T HAVE THE PART AND THAT IS ON BACK ORDER.

WHEN THE CAR IS SHIFTED TO PARK AND TURNED OFF, A "SHIFT TO PARK" MESSAGE APPEARS. THE CARE HAS TO BE RESTARTED, SHIFTED OUT OF PARK, AND BACK TO PARK AGAIN IN ORDER TO TURN THE CAR OFF. THE PROBLEM IS CURRENTLY SPORADIC.ABOUT 8 OCCURRENCES SINCE EARLY JUNE, 2020.

AFTER SHIFTING TO PARK AND PUSHING THE POWER BUTTON TO TURN THE CAR OFF, I GET THE MESSAGE "SHIFT TO PARK.", AND THE CAR WILL NOT TURN OFF. IT DOES NOT RECOGNIZE THAT THE CAR IS IN PARK. THE CAR WAS STATIONARY. THE CHEVY DEALER FIXED THE PROBLEM IN OCTOBER OF 2019 AND IT WORKED UNTIL RECENTLY. *TR

"SHIFT TO PARK" WARNING ALERT ISSUED WHEN SHIFTER IS ALREADY IN PARK. THIS ISSUE OCCURS INTERMITTENTLY AT LEAST 3X A DAY. WIGGLING AND/OR RESHIFTING TO PARK SOMETIMES RESOLVES THE ISSUE. MORE EFFORT AND TIME TO "PLAY" WITH THE SHIFTER IS REQUIRED IN THE LAST MONTH TO MAKE THE WARNING GO AWAY. ONLINE RESEARCH RESULTED IN MULTIPLE REPORTS INCLUDING VIDEOS ON THE ISSUE WITH THE SHIFTER ASSY. THIS ISSUE STARTED OCCURRING WHEN THE CAR WAS 1.5YEARS OLD. THIS ISSUE SEEMS TO BE SYSTEMIC WITH OTHER SIMILAR GM MODELS. PLEASE CONSIDER ISSUING RECALL TO FIX THIS ISSUE. THANK YOU. *TR