Completely Dead Volt

[Mike 2012 Volt]

This morning I drove to my office as usual. I started off with both a full charge and a full tank of gas. The 9 mile drive to work was uneventful. At the end of the day, I came outside and noticed that the car did not respond when I pushed the remote's door unlock button. I used the key to unlock the door, and found that the car is completely dead. No lights, no dash display, nothing. Of course, it won't start. So now I have a huge "paperweight" in my parking spot. Any ideas on what happened and how to fix it???

[TSquare]

This morning I drove to my office as usual. I started off with both a full charge and a full tank of gas. The 9 mile drive to work was uneventful. At the end of the day, I came outside and noticed that the car did not respond when I pushed the remote's door unlock button. I used the key to unlock the door, and found that the car is completely dead. No lights, no dash display, nothing. Of course, it won't start. So now I have a huge "paperweight" in my parking spot. Any ideas on what happened and how to fix it???

Your 12 volt battery is dead. Jump start it at the contact points under the hood.

[fishmahn]

Jump the 12v (just like a normal car) - possibly a light left on drained it.

[Cord]

WAIT ! YOU POSTED HERE before calling for road service ?

which might have been a good idea as you got an answer 5 mins later ;-)

If still waiting for someone with jumper cables the manual is available in PDF format.

[DonC]

Most likely a dead 12v. Should jump and be fine. Note that when you jump you need to use the connectors under the hood. There are two connectors. One is easy to see. The other is under a plastic flap. It's a bit harder to find but the plastic cover flips up very easily.

Could be many things that caused the battery to run down, including an open Bluetooth connection to a smartphone.

[HOUSTONVOLTAGE]

I killed my 12V battery once - it was caused by a dashcam left plugged in to the cigarette lighter socket. But most of the dead battery stories blame the bluetooth connection. There is one post on this site where a guy notices his radio did not shut off when he turned off the car during a phone call. He takes a bunch of videos of it as he tries to get the car to go back to "normal".

[ClarksonCote]

The Volt is "supposed" to have run down protection that prevents the battery from ever going dead. So to me, a dashcam plugged into the Volt's cigarette lighter socket shouldn't matter, but a Bluetooth bug could cause it.

Regardless, this is a pretty silly problem that Chevrolet should sort out.

[Steverino]

If you are concerned this will be a regular thing, carry a 12V lantern battery and some small alligator wires in the car. The jump only needs to boot the controls, not crank an engine.

12v-Lantern-battery-Jumper.jpg

[Chevrolet Customer Svc]

This morning I drove to my office as usual. I started off with both a full charge and a full tank of gas. The 9 mile drive to work was uneventful. At the end of the day, I came outside and noticed that the car did not respond when I pushed the remote's door unlock button. I used the key to unlock the door, and found that the car is completely dead. No lights, no dash display, nothing. Of course, it won't start. So now I have a huge "paperweight" in my parking spot. Any ideas on what happened and how to fix it???

Mike,

Were you able to get ahold of Roadside? If not please PM me with your information or call the Volt Advisors 877-486-5846 and we will contact them right away for you.

-Ian Chevrolet Volt Customer Service

[DonC]

If you are concerned this will be a regular thing, carry a 12V lantern battery and some small alligator wires in the car. The jump only needs to boot the controls, not crank an engine.

I'm still waiting to see if someone has any luck using the Stanley Battery Booster I bought. I think it puts out 120 watts. This one only has 5 amps.

Why is it that no one who is prepared for the dead 12v ever has one? Very frustrating. LOL