2014 Chevrolet Volt Engine Problems

I was slowly maneuvering my car into my garage when the vehicle suddenly and unexpectedly surged forward, despite only lightly tapping the brake and not touching the accelerator. The car had been displaying the warning, “Propulsion Power is Reduced” and was not holding an electric charge in the days before the incident. No malfunction indicator lamp ever turned on. Per the owner’s manual, the vehicle did not need to be serviced because the malfunction indicator light never came on at the same time as the propulsion power reduced message. This led me to believe the vehicle was safe to drive. The unexpected surge caused the car to strike and cause considerable damage to the garage wall. Fortunately there was no one in the garage at the time and I, myself, was not injured. My car was deemed a total loss by the insurance company.

NHTSA ID

11677327

Incident

Apr 5, 2025

I bought my car and I had no idea about a known issue that this car has. Unsuspecting and trusting, I noticed my car had a reduced propulsion and it would like lose power and just slowly jerk and then really drastically reduce speed without anyway to fix it and on the freeway I got scared as I have never in my life has this happen in any car. So it happen a couple more times and I took a picture of it and took it to the dealership where I purchased it. They told me they couldn’t do l as they can’t repeat the issue. Well that only usually happens when I’m driving but now it’s more. The propulsion thing loses power and I as a driver going up a hill or anywhere now will lose speed and it’s dangerous, I feel like I may not make it home and I took it to the dealership many times and they told me there’s no issue. I took it again recently now that I’m out of warranty because it also had some high voltage issue and a sensor coolant issue that misreads. I like the car but very unhappy about dealership and manu not fixing this issue that every volt owner I talk to has, read about. I lose power, my car randomly heads up when it’s been cold all night and not driven now I have the same issues. I have the same issues and I use 91 gas, I have inspected my car and I had to learn about cars or more than I ever did which was like zero all because of this car. I even took it to the dealership 3-4 times (documented) to get it fixed and they just said there isn’t anything wrong nor did they say there’s a known issue and watch out for this or that. I had to look up the issue and learn about it on my own. Very dangerous date happening this is happening now almost everyday but was frequent 1.5 years ago but last 8 months it’s like the standard. I’m afraid my car will lose power on freeway, which it does and I have to take toll to stay away from others for everyone’s safety

NHTSA ID

11562870

Incident

May 15, 2023

Vehicle stopped when changing from battery power to gasoline. Unable to drive. Not charging the Lithium battery therefore, I experienced 3 similar incidents with this vehicle. The first one on 02/15/22. The vehicle was towed to Bommin Chevrolet in Florida City, FL. This time it was under warranty. The second time 01/02/23 while on the road similar thing happened, again was towed to Tropical Chevrolet in North Miami, FL; a diagnostic was performed the error code was cleared and started charging again. This time same issue when the main battery was depleted the vehicle stalled. I had to towed to my home where is still sitting. Not operational.

NHTSA ID

11534639

Incident

Jun 27, 2023

A SIMILAR ISSUE IS CURRENTLY LISTED UNDER THE 2013 VOLT HERE BUT I EXPERIENCED IT ON A 2014 VOLT & IT LED TO COMPLETE ENGINE FAILURE WHILE DRIVING, VERY DIFFERENT THAN JUST "REDUCED PROPULSION POWER". I WAS DRIVING MY VOLT ON ITS EXTENDED RANGE MODE WITH THE GAS ENGINE (DAYS EARLIER, I HAD TAKEN THE CAR TO A REPAIR SHOP & GOTTEN A GREEN LIGHT ON IT) & I GOT AN ERROR MESSAGE "SERVICE POWER STEERING--DRIVE WITH CAUTION". THAT ERROR MESSAGE THEN TURNED TO "SERVICE PARKING ASSIST" & THEN "SERVICE STABILITRAK", BUT IT WAS DRIVING FINE & I INTENDED TO TAKE IT TO THE DEALERSHIP THE NEXT DAY. THEN BEFORE I COULD GET HOME, THE MESSAGE CHANGED TO "PROPULSION POWER IS REDUCED", SO THE CAR COULDN'T DRIVE AS FAST AS BEFORE. I STILL NEEDED TO DRIVE HOME SO I TURNED ON MY HAZARDS & THEN THAT ERROR MESSAGE MORPHED INTO "ENGINE NOT AVAILABLE, SERVICE SOON". NOW IT'S STILL DRIVING OKAY BUT THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN IT DECELERATES COMPLETELY AND STOPS MOVING IN THE MEDIAN ON THE HIGHWAY. I WAS LUCKY TO BE ALIVE. I WAS NEVER INFORMED OF ANY RECALL ON ANY VOLT & I PREVIOUSLY OWNED TWO OTHER 2013 VOLTS.

NHTSA ID

11353764

Incident

Sep 4, 2020

Mileage

91,195 mi

WHILE DRIVING IN GAS MODE, WHILE COMING TO A STOP THE ENGINE FEELS LIKE IT IS RATTLING LOUDLY AND VIBRATES THE STEERING WHEEL. WHEN ACCELERATING, THE ENGINE FEELS LIKE IT IS RATTLING THE CAR, SHAKING THE CAR, AND THE STEERING WHEEL IS SHAKING.

NHTSA ID

11176667

Incident

Feb 10, 2019

Mileage

42,000 mi

STARTING UP THE CAR IN THE MORNING, THE DISPLAY PANEL WENT DARK. I TURNED OFF THE VEHICLE AND TRIED STARTING UP THE VEHICLE AGAIN WITH NO CHANGE. THE DISPLAY PANEL IS DARK. I AM NOT ABLE TO SEE GAS INFORMATION, BATTERY INFORMATION, SPEED, AND TURN SIGNALS.

NHTSA ID

11176666

Incident

Feb 10, 2019

Mileage

42,000 mi

THE WATERHEATER PUMP ON THE CAR IS OUT AT JUST 53L MILES AND CHEVY STATES THAT THIS IS NOT THEIR PROBLEM EVEN THOUGH WE CANT GET THE PART BECAUSE IT IS BACK ORDERED DUE TO SO MANY INDIVIDUALS WITH THE SAME PROBLEM. THE REASON THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE IS THAT THE CAR CAN NOT DEFROST THE WINDOW FOR VISIBILITY. THIS IS AN ISSUE AND THERE ARE SEVERAL VOLT OWNERS THAT ARE HAVING THE SAME PROBLEM DUE TO THEIR FAULT WATERPUMP SYSTEM. *TR

NHTSA ID

10935519

Incident

Nov 14, 2016

Mileage

53,000 mi

CAR IS A 2014 VOLT WITH 1900 MILES. I BOUGHT IT NEW RECENTLY AS A DEALER DISPLAY MODEL WITH 100ISH MILES ON IT. LAST NIGHT (10/22/15) ON OUR TRIP TO VISIT FAMILY AND FRIENDS OUT OF TOWN, I WAS DRIVING THE CAR IN HOLD MODE (CRUISING AT HIGHWAY SPEED) AND L. IT HAD ABOUT 20 MILES OF CHARGE LEFT. SPEED WAS APPROXIMATELY 65MPH CRUISING. I SUDDENLY GET A DASH INDICATOR INDICATING THAT I AM IN REDUCED PROPULSION MODE. THE CAR'S POWER IS REDUCED, THROTTLE INPUT IS DECREASED, AND I AM NOT ABLE TO ACCELERATE AS BEFORE. I MOVE OVER THE THE SLOWEST LANE ASAP. THE INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE WAS NOW OFF AND I HAD SWITCHED TO USING THE REMAINING CHARGE. I THEN CALLED ONSTAR. THEY RAN A DIAGNOSTIC AND CAME UP WITH TWO CODES (THESE ARE AS DETAILED AS MY PASSENGER COULD WRITE DOWN): 1. P0700 TRANSMISSION NOT PREFORMING AS EXPECTED. 2. P0777 POWER TRANS? SYSTEM DETECTED MALFUNCTION WITH TRANSMISSION CONTROL SYSTEM. MAY AFFECT VEHICLE PERFORMANCE INCLUDING SHIFTING BEHAVIOR. LUCKILY WE WERE ABLE DRIVE TO THE NEAREST DEALER AND HAVE A FAMILY MEMBER PICK US UP. THE DEALER VERIFIED THE CODES, CLEARED THEM, BUT WAS UNABLE TO "REPRODUCE" THE PROBLEM. THEREFORE THEY MADE NO CHANGE AND RETURNED THE CAR TO ME. MULTIPLE OTHER OWNERS HAVE ALSO HAD THIS PROBLEM AND HAS NOT BEEN SYSTEMICALLY TROUBLESHOOTED BY CHEVY AS THE LOCAL DEALER'S HAD NO IDEA HOW TO SERVICE.

NHTSA ID

10788156

Incident

Oct 23, 2015

Mileage

2,000 mi

MY CAR STALLED ON THE FREEWAY RAMP WITH ENGINE WARNING REPORTED ON THE DASHBOARD. THE ISSUE WAS IDENTIFIED TO BE DUE TO ENGINE PROPULSION AND TRANSMISSION FAILURE AND THEY WOULD HAVE FACTORY TECHNICIAN REPLACE/REBUILD ALL RELATED COMPONENTS AS A PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE/REPAIR. LATER THEY SAID THAT THEY FOUND THAT THE REPLACED PART HAD AGAIN FAILED DURING OVERNIGHT TEST AND THEY WERE REPAIRING THE CAR AGAIN. I AM CONCERNED THAT THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE WITH THE CAR STALLING IN THE FREEWAY AND THE COMPONENT SEEMS TO FAIL EASILY AS DEMONSTRATED BY THE REPAIR THAT FAILED AGAIN IN THE DEALERS SHOP FLOOR. THIS ISSUE WITH VOLT NEEDS TO BE INVESTIGATED BEFORE LIVES ARE LOST DUE TO IMPROPER DESIGN/COMPONENT.

NHTSA ID

10716661

Incident

Apr 23, 2015

Mileage

23,000 mi

2014 CHEVROLET VOLT. CONSUMER WRITES IN REGARDS TO ELECTRIC DRIVE MALFUNCTION. *SMD THE CONSUMER RECEIVED TWO ERROR MESSAGES ON THE DASHBOARD THAT READ PROPULSION POWER IS REDUCED AND ENGINE NOT AVAILABLE, SERVICE SOON. THE VEHICLE STALLED WITHIN MINUTES. THE CONSUMER TRIED TO RE-START THE VEHICLE, BUT IT STALLED AGAIN WITHIN SECONDS. *JB

NHTSA ID

10683318

Incident

Mar 2, 2015

I RECEIVED THE CHEVY VOLT 2/20/14 AT AROUND 10:45 AM. MY PARTNER AND I HAD A VERY IMPORTANT MEETING AT 12:30 P.M. IN JERSEY CITY, NJ SO WE LEFT DIRECTLY FROM THE DEALERSHIP IN THE BRAND NEW VOLT, 7 MILES ON THE ODOMETER. AT APPROXIMATELY 12:00 P.M. THE CAR ALARMED WITH TWO MESSAGES: 1. ENGINE NOT AVAILABLE AND 2. PROPULSION POWER REDUCED. THE ALARMS/ENGINE FAILURE CAME AT THE MOST INOPPORTUNE TIME---WHILE ON THE NEW JERSEY TURNPIKE IN A CONSTRUCTION ZONE AND NO AVAILABLE SHOULDER. WITH SEMI-TRUCKS BEARING DOWN ON US, WE LUCKILY MADE IT TO A CONSTRUCTION PULL OFF AREA AND CALLED ON STAR. ON STAR INFORMED US THE TURNPIKE IS A RESTRICTED ZONE SO THEY COULD NOT SEND ANYONE, THEY WERE HELPFUL AND GOT IN TOUCH WITH THE TURNPIKE AUTHORITY WHICH SENT A TOW TRUCK. WHILE I WAS ON THE PHONE WITH ON STAR MY PARTNER CALLED THE DEALERSHIP WHERE WE GOT THE CAR. THEY WERE HELPFUL AND CONTACTED THE DEALERSHIP WHERE THE CAR WOULD BE TOWED?MALOUF CHEVROLET. AFTER WAITING OVER 30 MIN FOR A TOW TRUCK TO ARRIVE, ALL THE WHILE FEARING I WAS GOING TO BE MOWED DOWN BY A SEMI-TRUCK ON THE SHOULDER, THE BRAND NEW VOLT, MY PARTNER AND I WERE OFF THE TURNPIKE. UPON ARRIVAL TO MALOUF WE WERE GREETED BY A MEMBER OF THEIR SERVICE TEAM, HE ASKED ME HOW MANY MILES WERE ON THE CAR. I SAID?66?, HE ASKED ?6600?, I RESPONDED ?NO! 66, THE CAR ONLY RAN FOR A LITTLE OVER AN HOUR AFTER DELIVERY!? WE NOW HAVE A LOANER FROM MALOUF AND HAVE NOT HEARD ANYTHING ABOUT WHAT CAUSED THIS CATASTROPHIC FAILURE OF THE BRAND NEW CHEVROLET VOLT. *TR

NHTSA ID

10565236

Incident

Feb 20, 2014

Mileage

66 mi