2013 Chevrolet Volt
Safety record from NHTSA: recalls, owner complaints, investigations and service bulletins.
Vehicles › Chevrolet › Volt › 2013
Safety record from NHTSA: recalls, owner complaints, investigations and service bulletins.
These records cover every 2013 Chevrolet Volt. To see whether one car still needs a recall repair, decode its VIN or check it with NHTSA.
3 recalls name the 2013 Chevrolet Volt. Newest first.
General Motors, LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2013 Buick Verano, Chevrolet Camero, Sonic, and Volt vehicles. The driver-side air bag inflator may explode during deployment due to a manufacturing defect.
An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants, resulting in serious injury or death.
Dealers will replace the driver-side air bag module, free of charge. On some 2013 Volt vehicles, the steering wheel will be replaced as well, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed October 23, 2023. Owners may contact Buick customer service at 1-800-521-7300 and Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is N232413120.
General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2013 Chevrolet Volt vehicles. An update to the Hybrid Powertrain Control Module 2 (HPCM2) may have disabled the cell balancing function causing a low-voltage condition.
If the voltage drops, the vehicle may lose propulsion, increasing the risk of crash.
GM will notify owners, and dealers will reprogram the HPCM2, free of charge. The recall began July 24, 2018. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is 18215.
General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2011-2013 Volt vehicles manufactured August 25, 2010, to June 26, 2013. If the driver exits the vehicle without turning off the electrical system, the battery may drain low enough that the gasoline engine will automatically start itself to recharge the electric battery.
If the engine runs for an extended period of time in an enclosed space, there may be a build up of carbon monoxide, increasing the risk of personal injury.
GM will notify owners, and dealers will update the engine management software to limit the time that the stationary vehicle can be left in the ON position, free of charge. The recall began April 15, 2015. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020. GM's number for this recall is 14617.
Fully charged. Goes from electric to generator/gas propulsion and abruptly slowes about 1/2 speed. Very dangerous.
The passenger presence sensor is failing or failed because every time someone sit in there the airbag turns on and off repeatedly every 2-3 mins and gives a service airbag warning and if no one is sitting in the passenger seat then it just stays on. Could be really dangerous if a wreck happens while it’s glitching in the off mode and could cause death. Multiple people have had this problem with the volts and there is even a thing you can by to completely bypass the airbag going off which shows how common the problem is if there is a solution to eliminate it in an unsafe/not factory manner
I received the "Propulsion Power is Reduced" Alert engine light while driving in "Normal" mode on the freeway at around 60mph with 8-9 miles of Battery capacity, it showed 0 miles of Battery forcing the Gas Engine on and the vehicle hesitated upon applying the accelerator for the remainder of the drive. My safety and that was others was at risk because the acceleration dropped quickly and I was on a busy freeway at the time when the Alert happened causing further hesitation. Upon stopping I could not get the vehicle to take a charge nor would it start up until a mechanic arrived and was able to confirm the problem.
The contact owns a 2013 Chevrolet Volt. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 45 MPH, the vehicle stalled. The Check Engine warning light was flashing, and the messages "No Propulsion Power" and "No Power To Engine" were displayed. The contact stated that two individuals pulled over and assisted the contact in pushing the vehicle to the side of the road to prevent a crash. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, who made the contact aware of an unknown NHTSA Campaign Number; however, the VIN was not included. The vehicle was towed to a dealer, but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact requested vehicle rental assistance, but the dealer was unable to provide assistance. The manufacturer was contacted and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance in initiating a recall. The failure mileage was approximately 141,323.
The passenger occupancy sensor gives a false positive. The only way I can get rid of the beeping is plug in the seatbelt. I have read on Reddit forums that this is a very common problem with 2013 volts, but for some reason there isn't a recall. This is a safety issue. Thank you!
Propulsion power reduced error has happened many times but the recall lookup shows that there are no active recalls on our car. There was a recall on this problem in 2018 so I think it may have been done my the last owner but it is still having this problem.
The drivers side front seatbelt pretensioner assembly contains a braided steel cable. The cable, through normal use, has become damaged to the point that individual wires have broken free from the crimped connector. The damaged wires of the cable have penetrated through the plastic sheath covering the cable causing a needle sharp poking hazard when reaching one’s hand toward the seat back adjustment lever. My wife had a minor laceration to her finger and I was also poked when trying to identify the cause. Upon further inspection I found that approximately 80 percent of the diameter of the pretensioner cable had broken free from the crimped connector. In the event of a collision, the cable would likely break free from the seatbelt, possibly causing serious injury to the driver. I tried to obtain a replacement part through the GM dealer parts network, but the part is listed as discontinued and unavailable. This leaves the vehicle unsafe in the event of an accident. The damaged components are available for inspection. The vehicle has not been inspected by anyone but myself. There were no warning lamps or symptoms of the problem prior the the injury. I am the original owner of the vehicle and it has never been involved in a collision. The vehicle has been properly maintained and is used only for personal transportation.
Fuel leaking from fuel tank at filler inlet. Defect in fuel tank assembly. Large puddle of gasoline formed under car after refueling causing buildup of fumes in closed garage. Vehicle has not been inspected by anyone other than owner. There were no warning lamps prior to failure.
Front passenger seat sensor intermittently fails, causing the Passenger Airbag indicator to switch to OFF (even if a passenger is present) with an accompanying "Service Airbag" message on the dashboard and illumination of the service airbag light. This occurs usually driving above 25mph, but can happen stationary, and lasts for anywhere from 5 seconds to a minute (more commonly shorter). The issue appears some weeks more than others, usually activating most days a week but sometimes have a week or two where it does not happen.
The contact owns a 2013 Chevrolet Volt. The contact stated while driving approximately 76-77 MPH, the vehicle experienced reduced power. The message "Low Propulsion" was displayed, and the engine revved significantly. The contact moved over to the far-right lane to pull over to the side of the road as needed. The contact stated that the failure had been recurring temporarily. The contact had researched the failure online and became aware that the release of the accelerator pedal while the failure was occurring could temporarily correct the failure. The dealer and the manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 61,000.
Passenger presence does not detect people in it and makes it unsafe for passenger without airbags. This got closed and was state that there was a Chevy program to fix this as cited in the closing . I have called all over Chevy and there is no one who knows anything about this at all. If you know it or if they just started it to make it go away, please tell with with whom I can contact within Chevy to start the process
This is a reoccurring problem that is worsening. It is difficult to replicate (but becoming easier to replicate as the problem worsens). The problem conditions are as follows: -The car is fully charged The following drive conditions are required: - The beginning of a drive, with the car in the fully charged state, is driven in the “L” mode (aggressive regenerative braking), AND the beginning (first mile or two) of the trip includes some conditions that would NORMALLY engage regenerative breaking and redirect energy flow back to the high voltage battery. (E.g.: Beginning a drive by going up a small incline; then proceeding to drive down a decline.) OR - The beginning of a drive, with the car in the fully charged state, is driven in the “D” mode, AND the beginning (first mile or two) of the trip includes almost exclusively conditions that would NORMALLY trigger regenerative breaking and redirect flow back to the high voltage battery. IN BOTH cases: the instrument cluster, during conditions that would reflect regenerative breaking and energy flow back into the high voltage battery, instead reflects suddenly INCREASED electrical OUTPUT despite there being no increased demand for output from the driver. Expected behavior in these conditions would reflect a negative power output while the car is driven in regenerative conditions (e.g.: going down hill). In either of these cases, the final condition is that you fully stop the vehicle (via brake) during the regenerative conditions. DESPITE full depression of the brake, the car jerks forward violently and erratically, attempting to accelerate. Engaging the emergency brake does not cure the condition while the car is still in L or D driving mode, and it will continue to attempt to accelerate while held in place. Shifting in to neutral does stop the behavior. Shifting back to L or D from neutral will cause the vehicle to continue to attempt to accelerate. There are no error codes/lamps and sensors appear normal.
Vehicle went into reduced propulsion mode and then shut-off while driving down the highway. Same issue as recall 18V397000 that was not applied to my VIN number as part of that recall. Please apply recall 18V39000 to my vehicle VIN. Chevy Volt owners also need the NHTSA to issue an edict to GM/ that the reset codes for the ECM/HPCM2 being given to the OBD2 bi-directional scanner companies so owners don't have to pay a ransom to the dealerships and GM to get there cars back up and running.
Repeats constantly..."service airbag". Appears to stop for somewhat variable lengths of time with passenger in front seat. Seems to be related to presence sensor.
Engine shuts off randomly...message "Engine not available". Car shut off on freeway at 60 mph. Got to shoulder, cycled start button...Engine started then resumed driving. Has now happened a few times since. Also code related to reduced propulsion... Used OBDII to clear codes but makes no difference. Sometimes the car starts and drives without problem. Other times, Engine rpm very erratic.
While driving, the car developed a brake malfunction. when the brake pedal is depressed you can feel the pedal pulsating and was not slowing down until you pressed harder then the brakes apply abruptly causing risk of rear ending. Upon pulling over to the hard shoulder the pedal pulsating/drumming continued to happen even though the car is completely stopped and is in parking gear. The symptom is similar to the service bulletin PIC5734A. [XXX] The car was driven to the nearest dealership 'Dublin Chevorlet' in Dublin CA and the car has been there for 4 weeks since GM is unable to help resolve the problem. I have reached out to GM and opened a support case. Case number [XXX] ]. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
The contact owns a 2013 Chevrolet Volt. The contact stated while driving 50 MPH, the vehicle lost motive power with the check engine warning light and low oil pressure warning light illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where a diagnostic test result was undisclosed; however, the contact was informed that the vehicle needed an ASC high-voltage battery to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired after the ASC battery was replaced. The contact stated that the propulsion system warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 100,000.
This report is in general for EV batteries and low propulsion, BMW also. When system moves to low propulsion the break lights do not eliminate so the vehicle slows very fast as if it is breaking but no break lights turn on, this creates a risk for other drivers, this occurs on steep mountain climbs when mountain mode was not engaged. What I want to happen is when low propulsion mode engages the break lights come on so that other drives can keep safe distance as I pull to the side for battery to recharge. This does not happen that often but when it does occur it creates a scary situation. A electric BMW also did this today. Please request a break light adaption for future EV batteries/Gas Powered vehicles. Keep in mind this is generally for electric cars that have a backup gas engine that powers after battery is depleted, they most often have issues on steep mountain climbs at freeway speeds and or in some cases as I witnessed today when behind a BMW cars slowing very quickly without alarms to other drivers. If the system can generate a low propulsion error warning drivers it can turn the break lights on also in if software is coded correctly. System should turn on break lights when this occurs for BMW and or other electric cars
The contact owns a 2013 Chevrolet Volt. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 45 MPH, the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was able to be restarted. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact stated that the failure persisted, and the propulsion system warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnosed and determined that the battery needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 186,000.
When starting the vehicle, which had some charge on the batteries, the engine immediately started and a message appeared on the speedometer screen which stated, "Propulsion Power Reduced,” and another message said, “speed limited to 25mph.” I was in a very busy part of Hollywood running errands for my job when this happened. I felt very unsafe driving under these circumstances as I often need to drive above 25mph to keep up with traffic and cross busy streets to avoid other cars. The vehicle is available for inspection. It has not been taken to a dealership or anywhere else to have the issue looked at. The problem has occurred a few other times. The vehicle has not been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others. There were no warnings or other symptoms whatsoever prior to this issue occurring.
Sudden loss of power. Driving on freeway. Speed decreased by 25 mph. Just about avoided a rear end accident. Have seen that 2016 onwards Volts have experienced this malfunction. Request that it be noted that this is a 2013 model with less than 60,000 miles. Have already had the latest programming done by Chevy.
I have a 2013 Volt. Passenger Presence pad in the passenger front seat caused the "Airbag Service" warning light. It is very common. So many people have suffered from it. It cost over $1000. But it is not a recall.
1)A diagnostic inspection performed by Terry Labonte Chevrolet in Greensboro, N.C., during the week of Feb. 5-9 found that the car’s propulsion system suffered “catastrophic failure” and was a “total loss.” 2)My wife and I were in convoy when we drove off the used-car lot in Pittsboro, N.C., on [XXX], heading for my sister’s home in Greensboro. By the time we reached [XXX], the Volt would not reach highway speeds as heavy traffic sped past. As NHTSA has reported in another Volt investigation, “the problem could pose a safety risk if vehicles can’t move with the flow of surrounding traffic and is more serious if a stalled vehicle is unable to restart.” 3) On Tuesday, [XXX], a Terry Labonte Chevrolet service representative in Greensboro reported that the main battery had experienced “catastrophic” failure and the “major malfunction” represented a “total loss." 4) Factory dealer Terry Labonte Chevrolet in Greensboro performed the diagnostics. 5) An instrument-panel message appeared about 15 minutes after I drove the Volt off the used-car lot in Pittsboro. The message read “propulsion power is reduced.” The owner manual (Page 5-48) read: “The vehicle may be driven at a reduced speed while this message is on, but maximum acceleration and speed may be reduced.” INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
The passenger side seat airbag sensor is malfunctioning. A message displaying “Service Airbag” comes up and the airbag light comes on. This happens numerous times during a typical drive (around 20 minutes) The airbag is turned off while the message and light is displayed. This issue has been occurring for about a year or two now. Starting around 90k miles, currently has 111k miles. I’ve done my research on this issue and many other Volt owners have this issue. Which is caused by a defect in the passenger side sensor mat in the seat that can fold over itself with normal use, causing the issue.
I was driving my plugin hybrid Volt on a highway when the engine stalled and the engine light turned on. I tap the throttle a few times to get it to stay on. It worked, but I had to continue to tap the throttle to keep it going. It also revved up sharply when it was in low gear. The vehicle was out of battery, so it was as running on engine.
NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened these reviews into vehicles including this one.
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.
In September 2019, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened PE19-013 to assess the potential safety related effects of a malfunction of the Passenger Sensing System (PSS) in 2012-2013 Model Year (MY) Chevrolet Volt vehicles. Consumers reported that due to a malfunction of the PSS, the air bag system malfunction indicator light (MIL) was activated. Many of the complaints noted the malfunction occurred after the warranty period expired and mentioned high repair costs as a major deterrent to the repair of the vehicle.The PSS sensor mat is embedded in the front passenger seat cushion and is intended to detect child seats and small statured occupants who could be harmed by deployment of the frontal passenger air bag. The PSS may develop a malfunction due to bunching of the sensor mat in the seat trench. The bunching of the sensor mat could cause the mat to repeatedly fold in the same location. Over time, the repeated folding can cause an increased resistance in the sensor mat. An increased resistance in the PSS sensor mat is detected as a fault in the air bag system diagnostic. If this fault is detected, a diagnostic trouble code will be stored in the air bag control unit and the air bag MIL will illuminate.Further, if the fault is detected, the passenger frontal and knee air bags will be suppressed in a crash of sufficient severity to warrant a commanded deployment regardless of the nature of size of the occupant of the front passenger seat.The report counts shown above include only those reports that specifically address the issue covered by this investigation, failure of the PSS sensor mat. Reports alleging only that the air bag light is on with no cause stated, or where a different cause was otherwise identified, were excluded as the air bag light could be illuminated for system faults other than a PSS malfunction.The subject vehicles have been in service for approximately ten (10) years. An analysis of General Motors (GM) warranty data for the subject vehicles, including a comparison with other agency and manufacturer data pertaining to similar occupant detection system failure investigations, indicates the subject vehicles experience a comparatively low complaint rate for this issue given the number of years the vehicles have been in service.GM has instituted a cost reduction program for the repair/replacement of the PSS in the subject vehicles. Based on this cost reduction program as well as:1) a comparatively low warranty rate; 2) no reported injuries, deaths or asymmetric deployments; and 3) the age of the vehicles; ODI is closing this Preliminary Evaluation. 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 new circumstances.The ODI complaints cited above can be viewed at www.nhtsa.gov under the following ODI identification numbers in a separate attachment.
Technical service bulletins and other communications the manufacturer sent dealers about this vehicle. Ask a dealer for the full document by its number.
Bars are owner complaints, dots mark years with recalls. Select a year to open its report.