[NostraD]

I saw this pop-up int he MyCadillac app last night and just confirmed its presence on the MyCadillac web site. Has anyone else seen this and/or had this issue addressed?

Program Title: Loss of Propulsion Due to Low Cell Voltage

Program Description: Certain 2013 model year Chevrolet Volt vehicles equipped with a high voltage battery, 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.

Repair Description: Dealers are to update the Hybrid Powertrain Control Module 2 (HPCM2). This software update is intended to increase the amount of warning time provided.

 

[m_eaton53]

So, do they actually do something about this "condition" or are they just going to tell you that it's going to happen?
Something should be done about it before the long battery warranty expires.

I've already decided that if I get one of these things, it's going to be a '16, which is not part of this.
I go to a lot of a car shows and an ELR would be a fine car to take if it looks like it might rain.
As rare as the '16's are, there are many times more of them than mint original Merkur XR4Ti's, which are nearly extinct.

 

[Deafsoundguy]

Somewhere I was reading about cell 3 failing on the T-battery. Is this the same issue? I may have been on the volt forum briefly researching something or rather... so I may have seen it there. But it seemed from what I saw that it's always cell 3. However that and your post could be 2 different things I dunno... please keep us updated!!! Good luck sir.

 

[globuslive]

Hi Nostrad, Did you get any additional info? I got 2016 model and got the same warning message just now.... Should we leave it alone until it works, sometimes dealers can ruin perfectly working vehicle trying to fix it lol

 

[thehighat]

Hi Nostrad, Did you get any additional info? I got 2016 model and got the same warning message just now.... Should we leave it alone until it works, sometimes dealers can ruin perfectly working vehicle trying to fix it lol

this^^^

I have a 2016 ELR that seems great for the most part. It was built/sold at the end of 2015, so I don't know if CSP this applies or not.

And I don't want to take it in for service and somehow get a software flash that ends up with an inadvertent downgrade into gen1 Volt performance instead of '16 ELR performance.

('16 ELR is a very nice sporty experience)

Anyone have any experience with this?

 

[hightech-guy]

So, do they actually do something about this "condition" or are they just going to tell you that it's going to happen?
Something should be done about it before the long battery warranty expires.
...
I've already decided that if I get one of these things, it's going to be a '16, which is not part of this.

The 2016 ELRs are all now included. Started with Volts, added 2014 ELRs, just added 2016 ELRs. Its just an early warning if there is a problem, the update doesn't do anything regarding battery health or range. Pretty harmless either way.

 

[Deafsoundguy]

And I don't want to take it in for service and somehow get a software flash that ends up with an inadvertent downgrade into gen1 Volt performance instead of '16 ELR performance.

Hat, as far as I know, you can't get an inadvertent downgrade into Gen1 because the ELR operates at Gen1. Gen2 performance came out for just newer Volts. However the Gen1 performance on a 2016 was tweaked hard for a little more performance. If you punch it in Tour mode, look at the difference at how fast the right hand side kW meter goes up compared to punching it Sport mode. It appears to suck more current and you feel a little more oomph even before the engine kicks in to give you every last drop. I don't think it's this way on 2014 models but someone correct me if I'm wrong. Regardless, all ELRs operate in Gen1. ?

 

[hightech-guy]

The 2016 ELR is neither Gen 1 or Gen 2 Volt - somewhere in between. Bigger battery than the Gen 1 Volt, and the combo sport mode that was mentioned. Both the 2014 and 2016 ELRs are closer to the Gen 1 Volt platform than Gen 2, but the 2016 is more unique with its own attributes - with certain hardware being 2016 ELR only, and dedicated software builds as well. Zero chance of reverting to Volt performance after this reflash.

 

[JohnnyRockit]

I took my 2016 ELR to the dealer yesterday for a tire pressure sensor replacement (2nd one) and this recall popped up as needing to be done on the service advisor's computer. I got the car back about 2 hours later and will report in if I notice any differences.

 

[jayoldschool]

The 2016 ELR is neither Gen 1 or Gen 2 Volt - somewhere in between. Bigger battery than the Gen 1 Volt, and the combo sport mode that was mentioned. Both the 2014 and 2016 ELRs are closer to the Gen 1 Volt platform than Gen 2, but the 2016 is more unique with its own attributes - with certain hardware being 2016 ELR only, and dedicated software builds as well. Zero chance of reverting to Volt performance after this reflash.

2015 Volts also got the larger capacity battery, that is exactly where the 2016 ELR got the tech from. The 2016 is still G1 Volt tech.

 

[thehighat]

I ... will report in if I notice any differences.

So how does it look so far?

I just had this done. I didn't ask for it, but while the car was in for another service, the dealer just did it automatically.

I am actually having some issues like the car is gen1 volt, not 2016 elr. The usable charge does not go above 9.5. It seems stuck around 9.1, even after a couple full charge/discharge cycles.

 

[thehighat]

Hat, as far as I know, you can't get an inadvertent downgrade into Gen1 ...

I'm still kind of wondering about this.

When I got the car two months ago, it was 38-43 range and probably 12.5kwh usable (17.1kwh 2016 pack @ ~75% usable)

What if the change hard cuts performance by reporting to the system to draw current differently, like a Gen1/Volt 16.5 kwh pack at 65% usable? Then it turns into a Gen1/Volt just like that.

And this is what I am experiencing out of the blue. Like an incorrect flash after I took it to the dealer the other day.

What do you all see for usable kwh on 2016? or even on 2014 kwh?

 

[JohnnyRockit]

Ok, first day's report...after a full overnight charge the range was estimated to be 42 miles. weather was ideal for EV, 56 in the morning and about 75 on the way home. I ended up covering 49.8 miles on the charge with 12.0 kWh used.
the kWh may be slightly lower than before, usually I'd get more like 12.4, but the miles covered were no less than typical.

I'll update as needed.

 

[thehighat]

Ok, first day's report...after a full overnight charge the range was estimated to be 42 miles. weather was ideal for EV, 56 in the morning and about 75 on the way home. I ended up covering 49.8 miles on the charge with 12.0 kWh used. the kWh may be slightly lower than before, usually I'd get more like 12.4, but the miles covered were no less than typical. I'll update as needed.

nice.

not so lucky over here. it has gotten better than the low 9.1-9.5, and now is typically only 10.5 kWh.

similarly, range is down to 25-28, and as low as 17 if I'm in stop & go in traffic

 

[JohnnyRockit]

Has the ambient temp dropped? if so, it's pretty tough making a comparison since the range on these ELRs drops dramatically when the temp starts to drop.

 

[Deafsoundguy]

nice.

not so lucky over here. it has gotten better than the low 9.1-9.5, and now is typically only 10.5 kWh.

similarly, range is down to 25-28, and as low as 17 if I'm in stop & go in traffic

So I know you were just in the dealer for your other stuff, but have you been able to go back and discuss your lack of juice issue? Sure seems like that one would be somewhat easier to start seeing codes or whatever from the dealers test instruments. They should be able to measure a current pull and see what's what, I know they can do that with the heater.

On another note, are you really juicing it on take offs? In stop and go traffic my ELR seems to hardly use any power, like a gas engine just easing forward on idle power. Sometimes in heavy traffic and slow speeds my range meter may only go down a mile after 10 miles. In the summer I was seeing 47 to 51 electric range and recently I got my first fall 35mile range guessamation but it was 30 degrees out and have been using the AC mode to get heat, although it's rare I ever use the MAX AC setting (only when I have to get fog off the windshield quick). All that being said, I never gun the pedal unless I have to blast out in traffic, and use more gentle acceleration to maximize my range.... seems to work. It also seems like the ELR is very well insulated - once I get some heat I turn it off and he car doesn't seem to cool quickly unlike my i3 which turned into a meat locker almost instantly when you turned off the heat.

I can't remember if the Volt/ELR uses a battery warmer being generated by the battery itself. I know my i3's had that. Drops it's own range for putting a scarf on itself.?That surely uses some power and Guess-o-meter range drops.

Sounds like one of your squirrels has died in your battery cage! ? Let us know if you take it in!

 

[thehighat]

no luck lately.

usable kWh is a little better, ,10.8 - 10.9 mostly.

hesitation with throttle happens frequently. oddly enough the service center could not reproduce, so no fix.

range is low, but I guess that is also b/c of usage patterns

 

[globuslive]

I'm still kind of wondering about this.

When I got the car two months ago, it was 38-43 range and probably 12.5kwh usable (17.1kwh 2016 pack @ ~75% usable)

What if the change hard cuts performance by reporting to the system to draw current differently, like a Gen1/Volt 16.5 kwh pack at 65% usable? Then it turns into a Gen1/Volt just like that.

And this is what I am experiencing out of the blue. Like an incorrect flash after I took it to the dealer the other day.

What do you all see for usable kwh on 2016? or even on 2014 kwh?

I believe it's either 11.5 or 12.5 on mine, but I got lead foot, so just as an experiment I got 37.7 range. Usually it's 32.

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

 

[thehighat]

I believe it's either 11.5 or 12.5 on mine, but I got lead foot, so just as an experiment I got 37.7 range. Usually it's 32.

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

hypothetical question. Could I have gotten an incorrect flash/update during the recall campaign? like the wrong version so now the balancing / charging is limiting to 16.5 instead of 17.1 ELR battery specs? Or even weirder, a misconfiguration to Gen1 Volt specs?

the service ppl won't even consider looking at it. they hair say it is expected loss. only 28k miles. even today I only got 10.2 kwh used.

 

[globuslive]

hypothetical question. Could I have gotten an incorrect flash/update during the recall campaign? like the wrong version so now the balancing / charging is limiting to 16.5 instead of 17.1 ELR battery specs? Or even weirder, a misconfiguration to Gen1 Volt specs?

the service ppl won't even consider looking at it. they hair say it is expected loss. only 28k miles. even today I only got 10.2 kwh used.

Here is snapshot of my test run, and it used 12kw, 38 mpc, as book claims

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk