2013 Chevrolet Volt — Known Issues & Recalls

Gasoline is leaking from your fuel tank at the filler inlet (where you add gas), creating large puddles under your car after refueling. This causes dangerous fume buildup, especially in enclosed spaces like a garage. The fuel tank assembly appears to have a defect that needs immediate attention.

Your car has displayed a "propulsion power reduced" error message multiple times. Although a recall was issued for this problem in 2018 and may have been completed on your car by the previous owner, the issue continues to happen. The recall fix might involve updating the vehicle's software, replacing faulty sensors, or servicing the hybrid propulsion control system.

When you start a fully charged drive in L or D mode on terrain with downhill sections, your instrument cluster shows unexpected increased electrical output instead of the normal negative power output you'd expect during regenerative braking. When you come to a complete stop during these conditions, your car jerks forward violently and tries to accelerate on its own, even with full brake pressure applied—the emergency brake doesn't stop this behavior either. Shifting to neutral stops the jerking, but shifting back to L or D mode causes it to resume. The fix will likely involve diagnosing and recalibrating the regenerative braking system, battery management software, or related electrical components.

Your Volt unexpectedly entered reduced power mode and then shut off while you were driving on the highway. You believe this is the same issue covered by recall 18V397000, which wasn't applied to your vehicle. The problem may require clearing fault codes with a specialized diagnostic scanner at a dealership, which can be costly.

Your Volt's engine is shutting off unexpectedly while driving, including once at 60 mph on the freeway, and you're seeing an "Engine not available" message. Restarting the car temporarily fixes the problem, but it has happened multiple times, and you're also getting codes related to reduced propulsion. The engine RPM runs erratically at times, and clearing the diagnostic codes doesn't resolve the issue.

When your Volt's battery runs low and the car switches to low-power mode on steep hills, it slows down significantly but the brake lights don't turn on to warn other drivers behind you. This creates a safety risk because drivers won't realize you're slowing and may follow too closely. The fix would involve updating the car's software to automatically activate the brake lights whenever the low-power mode engages.

Your Volt's passenger airbag system isn't detecting when someone is sitting in the front passenger seat, which means the airbag won't deploy if there's a crash. You've been told there's a Chevy service program to fix this, but you're having trouble finding a dealer or technician who knows about it. Getting this resolved will likely involve contacting Chevy directly or visiting a dealer to access the service bulletin or recall program for the passenger presence detection system.

Your passenger occupancy sensor is triggering a false alarm, causing continuous beeping even when no one is sitting in the passenger seat. The beeping only stops when you plug in the passenger seatbelt. This issue appears to be common in 2013 Volts but hasn't been recalled. The fix will likely involve diagnosing and repairing or replacing the occupancy sensor itself.

Your car's dashboard repeatedly displays a "service airbag" warning message. The warning seems to come and go at irregular intervals, especially when someone is sitting in the front passenger seat. This suggests the problem may be with the seat sensor that detects whether a passenger is present.

Your passenger-side airbag is malfunctioning — it turns on and off repeatedly every 2-3 minutes when someone sits in the passenger seat, and stays on continuously when the seat is empty. This causes a service airbag warning light to appear. This is a safety concern because if a crash occurs while the airbag is in the off cycle, the passenger may not be protected.

While driving at 45 mph, your Volt suddenly stalled and displayed warning messages saying "No Propulsion Power" and "No Power To Engine" with a flashing Check Engine light. You had to be pushed to the side of the road to avoid a crash. The dealer was unable to diagnose or repair the issue, and the manufacturer suggested this may be covered under a recall. The underlying problem likely involves the electrical system or engine control unit that needs to be diagnosed and repaired at a dealership.

Your driver's side front seatbelt pretensioner cable has broken down from normal use, with individual wires separating from the connector and poking through the protective covering. This has created a sharp hazard that has caused minor cuts to occupants reaching toward the seat adjustment. More critically, if a collision occurs, the cable could break completely free from the seatbelt, potentially causing serious injury. The repair would require replacing the entire seatbelt pretensioner assembly, though GM has discontinued this part for your vehicle.

Your front passenger airbag sensor is intermittently malfunctioning, causing the passenger airbag to disable even when someone is sitting in that seat. When this happens, you'll see a "Service Airbag" message on your dashboard and a service airbag warning light will come on. The problem typically occurs while driving above 25 mph but can happen while parked, and usually lasts anywhere from a few seconds up to a minute. It happens most days of the week, though it may disappear for a week or two at a time. Fixing this will likely require diagnosing and replacing the front passenger seat occupancy sensor.

Your brake pedal pulses or vibrates when you press it, and the brakes don't respond smoothly — you have to press harder before they suddenly grab, creating a risk of rear-ending another vehicle. The pulsing continues even when the car is stopped and parked. This issue matches a known GM service bulletin (PIC5734A) and has persisted despite a 4-week service visit.

While driving on the freeway, your car suddenly lost power and your speed dropped by 25 mph, nearly causing a rear-end accident. You've noticed that 2016 and newer Volts have reported similar power loss issues. Even though your 2013 model has less than 60,000 miles and you've already had the latest software update from Chevrolet, the problem persists. Diagnosing this may require the dealer to check the transmission control module, engine sensors, or perform additional reprogramming.

While driving on the freeway at 60 mph in Normal mode with 8-9 miles of battery remaining, your car displayed a "Propulsion Power is Reduced" warning light. The battery then dropped to 0 miles, forcing the gas engine to activate, but the car hesitated when you pressed the accelerator for the rest of your drive—creating a safety concern on busy freeway traffic. After you stopped, the car wouldn't accept a charge and wouldn't start again until a mechanic inspected it.

While driving at highway speeds (76-77 mph), your Volt suddenly lost power and displayed a "Low Propulsion" message, causing the engine to rev up unexpectedly. This problem has happened multiple times, though releasing the accelerator pedal temporarily fixes it. The issue has not been diagnosed or repaired by a dealer.

While driving at 50 mph, your Volt suddenly lost power and displayed check engine and low oil pressure warning lights. The dealer diagnosed the issue as a faulty high-voltage battery (ASC battery) and replaced it, but afterward the propulsion system warning light remained on and the vehicle still wasn't fixed. The problem occurred around 100,000 miles, and Chevrolet has been notified of the issue.

Your car stalled while driving at 45 MPH without any warning lights, then restarted on its own. The stalling happened again, and this time the propulsion system warning light came on. The dealer diagnosed the problem as a failing battery that needs replacement.

Your Volt's engine started unexpectedly even though the battery had charge, and your dashboard displayed "Propulsion Power Reduced" with a speed limit of 25 mph. This happened multiple times without any warning signs beforehand, making it unsafe to drive in heavy traffic where you need to go faster. The issue may involve a battery management or propulsion system fault that needs diagnostic testing to identify the root cause.