Owners have filed 1,796 complaints on the Chevrolet Volt, covering 2011–2019. The system named most often is Electrical System (515 reports). Worst years by volume: 2017, 2013, 2012; cleanest: 2019, 2015, 2011. 36 reports describe a crash, 14 a fire. On average the car was 5.4 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Chevrolet Volt
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 1,796 Volt complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Electrical System 515 Read
Was approaching an intersection with a stoplight that was red. Another car stopped at light. Applied brakes, but car slowed down only slightly, no matter how hard the brake pedal was applied. It was like braking on black ice, even though the cars wheels were still going around. Rear ended the car at the light. Suspect…
This car has a failed EGR valve which first became evident in March of 2024. There are no parts available, this in an emissions issue but the failure causes blown fuses which can cause the car to completely stop running which is a safety issue. Reduced propulsion is a symptom which is dangerous and this has been…
My car has had electrical problems since almost the first day of ownership. My car has had constant electrical problems. I contacted gm and even showed them a video that showed what my car was doing as far as not turning off when I pressed the button to shut the vehicle off. I would appear to shut off only to turn…
Power Train 416 Read
Vehicle lost propulsion and all power mid turn at approximately 45mph. Powe steering and assisted brakes were gone. Conditions were rainy, resulting in single car crash. Car did not restart. No codes present. Occurred again after repairs at 70mph on highway. Codes P0AC4 and P0C0E indicating Drive Motor Power Inverter…
Brand new car suddenly stalled while driving - still had about 10 EV miles left and a full tank of gas when it happened, traveling straight at around 45mph. Messages displayed on dash telling me "propulsion power reduced to 0" and "shift to park", giving me about 30 seconds to pull over before it completely stopped.…
2018 chevrolet volt. Consumer writes in regards to transmission failure. *ld the consumer stated while driving the freeway, the vehicle experienced sudden loss of acceleration. The dealer was made aware of the failure
Air Bags 280 Read
I ran into a vehicle in front of me during normal traffic on my way home from work, two months to the day of picking up my 2018 volt. The vehicle ahead of me may have stopped quickly, but it was not a stop the volt shouldn't have been able to handle. I was on a street in my neighborhood I drive every day in traffic. I…
When pulling into my garage, the car suddenly accelerated unexpectedly and collided with the front wall of the garage (photo 08); when I shifted to reverse, the car careened out of the garage, across the driveway, and collided with my neighbor's home (photo 09), leaving skid marks (photos 06 & 07) on the garage floor.…
My volt was t-boned on the passenger side of the car by a red light runner. I had just started to enter into the intersection a second or so after my light turned green, so not going very fast. The other car was going 25-35 mph (approx.). This was on a city street, both one ways streets so that driver was able to…
Fuel/propulsion System 130 Read
The contact owns a 2013 chevrolet volt. While driving for more than two hours over 75 mph, the "propulsion power low decrease speed" message displayed and the speed decreased to 55 mph. When the failure occurred, smoke was present inside and outside the vehicle and the odor of fuel was present. The contact indicated…
Although the battery showed fully charged, the vehicle was not using battery power. At various points I would receive a "propulsion power reduced warning" and the car would lose power. I was driving on 2-lane windy country roads with no passing zones and lots of hills. At one particularly steep hill, I received the…
There is a good chance my battery energy control module will fail on the highway creating a dangerous situation. Why has a recall not been issued?
Engine 121 Read
While driving on the highway, the EGR valve in my car malfunctioned, initially causing my dashboard to read "Propulsion Power is Reduced". After continuing to drive the car, the dashboard read 'Engine not available, service soon', where it stalled and we had to restart the car. After restarting, the car went into EV…
Failed EGR Valve. While I was driving, I got a "Propulsion Power Reduced" message and "Engine Unavailable." My car slowly began losing power, leaving me with about 30 seconds to safely pull over. I had it towed to the dealer and they diagnosed a faulty EGR valve. This seems to be a widespread problem with the…
The Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) value has failed after only 20,000 miles of engine usage in my hybrid car. This is a highly-common part that fails and when it fails it shuts the engine down while driving; which leaves the driver stranded. General Motors does not have the part available to purchase and has been on…
Service Brakes 57 Read
I was in stop and go traffic; when the car in front of me stopped suddenly, I tried to brake. I was far enough back that I should have been able to stop in plenty of time. My brake pedal froze and would not depress (brake pump failure). There were no warning light prior. The car has less than 28,000 miles and…
Collision occurred on e denny way in seattle, approx 3:20 pm on a downhill slope in stop-and-go traffic after about 20 minutes of constant brake use to hold back the car. About 2/3 of the way downhill the brakes failed, no resistance whatsoever and the car rolled into the vehicle in front, a distance of about 15 feet.…
I exited the vehicle and it rolled backward. I was struck by the door and crushed between the car and an adjacent brick wall
Steering 41 Read
The contact owned a 2016 chevrolet volt. The contact stated that while driving approximately 35 mph, the message service stabilitrak suddenly displayed. The brake pedal was still and the steering wheel failed to respond when turned as a result control of the vehicle was lost and the contact crashed into a bluff. The…
The contact owns a 2016 Chevrolet Volt. The contact stated that while the daughter was driving in reverse the warning message "Reduced Propulsion" had displayed and suddenly the power steering failed and the vehicle lurched backward and crashed into a utility pole. During the incident, the driver pressed the brake…
Oct 24th morning murrieta, ca , it was raining and big thunders and lighting. My wife started for work , the car was fully charged. She made her usual right turn from " murrietta hotsprings rd " to " butterfield stage road" in city of murrieta / temecula ca. She put the car in "regeneration mode" as the road was down…
Vehicle Speed Control 28 Read
After fully charged my car, I pulled out of the parking garage and into an available parking stall at work on friday january 24th 2020 at approximately 1:50pm. I let my car cruise into the stall while my foot is covering the brakes. Halfway into the parking stall, the car accelerated on its own. I applied the brakes…
I purchased a new 2017 chevrolet volt equipment with automatic parking assist. On november 1, 2017, I was driving on bath street in santa barbara. I decided to park on bath at pueblo street. The first time, I engaged the apa feature to assist with parallel parking, I followed the instructions on the dashboard. After…
I was getting on the I15 freeway. After I entered, I set the cruise control and it immediately began to accelerate the vehicle to maximum speed. I was unable to turn it off and had to repeatedly push the brakes to keep the speed below 70 + mph. Smoke from the brakes began to fill the passenger compartment. I got off…
Volt years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Electrical System | 3 | — | |
| 2018 | Air Bags,structure,service Brakes | 4 | — | |
| 2017 | Air Bags | 8 | 8 | |
| 2016 | Air Bags | 2 | 1 | |
| 2015 | Air Bags | 1 | 1 | |
| 2014 | Air Bags | 5 | 1 | |
| 2013 | Air Bags | 7 | 2 | |
| 2012 | Air Bags | 4 | 1 | |
| 2011 | Air Bags | 2 | — |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 360 |
| Average complaints per series | 5 |
| Worst single series | 34 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 5.4 years |
A model average of 5 hides a worst series at 34. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
- The original window sticker and factory options
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How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the Volt?
By complaint volume, 2017, 2013, 2012 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which Volt years are the cleanest?
2019, 2015, 2011 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Chevrolet Volt have?
1,796 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2011–2019. Of those, 36 describe a crash and 14 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.