The Story of When the Bolt Broke Down

Bad luck on that brake actuator. I've had my Bolt EV for 4 1/2 years and 53,000 miles, with zero problems. Most trouble free and maintenance free car I've ever had!😊

I had this happen to me with my 2022 Bolt EV. I did try disconnecting the battery and it didn't help me. What I had to do was press the power button without my foot on the brake which turned it off, then walk 25 feet from the car with the key in hand, and wait until the count of 30. I came back to the car, stepped in, and turned the car on like normal! I was so relieved when it turned back on and shifted into gear.

Thanks for all your information on the Bolt breakdown and how it was resolved. Kind of scary that a parking brake actuator would disable the entire car from operating. Must be kind of a closed loop electronic system. Plan on getting a Bolt EV 2LT this coming Spring 2023. I guess things happen. Good luck with your Bolt from here on out. Take care.

I had this exact same issue one day randomly when I went to go move my car to another parking spot at my workplace; displayed the same message and wouldn't turn off. Eventually, I opened the door, then closed it, then held the power button and it shut off, then I turned it back on and it shifted into gear without issue - hasn't happened since. It seemingly happened when I turned the car on and tried to shift into drive prior to the car being completely on (I tried putting it in drive before the screens were displaying everything)

You are a very patient man. One day I think I will buy a Bolt. I presently have a Dodge Neon that I am nudging along for as long as I can. I don't drive much as I am retired. But I do admire your attitude.

This definitely doesn't seem like an EV problem to me, and as much as I want to say it's a GM problem, this really seems like something that just happens on any car. Things go wrong sometimes; it's not because it's an EV and it's not because it's a GM. Glad you were able to get it figured out and keep faith in your car.

This happened to me, too. I couldn't find anything on line about this issue. After waiting several hours for a tow truck, my husband brought me a sandwich and coffee. When he cancelled an online meeting, a friend suggested getting far enough away so the key fob couldn't communicate with the car and then waiting until it (hopefully) shut itself down. I had been inside because it was cold and some of the time of the time was apparently far enough away so that happened. I got in the car, found it was off, turned it on and shifted into drive. I took it to the dealership. They ran diagnostics on it and couldn't find anything wrong. That friend suggested putting a piece of foil in the car so if it happened again, I could wrap the key fob and wait in the car. As I am a white-haired old lady, I can only imagine what the guys in the service department would have thought had a tow truck brought them a car which started up just fine. BTW, the car had 502 miles on it.

There is usually a mechanical microswitch attached to the brake pedal assembly as well as the conventional hydraulic brake pressure switch for brake lights etc. The mechanical switch can often sense even very mild deflection and is used for power on & transmission selection while the hydraulic pressure sensor is for actual braking control. Failure of the mechanical switch will cause failure to boot up and failure to shift to/from park to drive/reverse (if already booted).

Thank you. I now have a 10mm wrench in the glove box, and the next time I get a recall for software update I will not put it off. One thought, if you live in an area where the parking brake is not used much, I'd exercise it every so often.

One of my take aways from this is to refer to the Bolt forum (or your particular car forum) for problems and simple fixes. Also videos like this.

My emergency brake also got stuck on before. Dealer had it a couple days before they found and fixed it.

You handled this as professionally as you could. Thanks for reliving this experience on video as it will give me a point of reference should something like this happen. Love the part of the video 10:55 where the love of the car showed up. lol. Thanks again for the video.

Good video! Like an ICE vehicle has never had a problem...the reality is it has nothing to do EV vs ICE....any vehicle can have a breakdown. No biggie! Thanks for doing the video! Mike 🇨🇦 🍁

Loving my 22 Bolt EUV. Thanks for the information!

You were very nice in dealing with the whole affair. Def more patient than I worked have been.

Like you, I have a Bolt, and I love it. The thing I prefer is to be able to coast, so especially I like that regen paddle on the steering wheel.

The 12 volt battery thing saved me when I couldn't plug the car in with our J1772. It's totally safe to do.

Last summer the left rear brake actuator on my 2021 Bolt locked up. Dealer provided a rental car and replaced the actuator under warranty. It did take a week for the parts to arrive. With the locked rear wheel I didn't want a flatbed truck and took AAA three tries before they got me a tow truck with wheel dollies.

When I took my Bolt EUV into the dealership to get a software update to correct a message that was getting thrown; I was told that it would be a couple of days before they could get to it because only 2 of the dealership's mechanics were certified to work on EVs. They went on to explain that even for something as simple as plugging in a cable and clicking "update software" on a computer; if the mechanic was not certified to work on EVs, they are not allowed to do any work on EVs. I took my car in on a Saturday and was told that neither of the EV certified mechanics would be in until Wednesday. With the Equinox, Blazer, and Sliverado EVs due to start hitting dealership lots within the next year; I hope Chevy dealerships are making plans to get all of their mechanics trained and certified to work on EVs in the not-too-distant future.

Love the color. Hope you got it worked out.