This Chevy Equinox EV Was Superb. Then It Dropped To 0% And Bricked

• One Equinox EV was bricked after its state of cost dropped from 46% to 0% and it misplaced all energy.
• The automobile’s app warned of a high-voltage battery fault per week earlier and urged a vendor go to.
• Others report comparable high-voltage battery points; the NHTSA cites a software program error as a possible trigger.

Despite the fact that electrical autos have far fewer shifting components than combustion vehicles and are typically fairly dependable, they’ll nonetheless break down with out discover. Tom Moloughney’s Chevrolet Equinox EV unexpectedly bricked itself just a few days in the past, despite the fact that it had been working problem-free till then and it’s solely carried out round 9,500 miles since new.

Tom posted a video on his channel, State of Costexplaining what occurred. He began up the Equinox after it had been sitting for about six days and it confirmed that it had 46% battery remaining. He started driving the automobile, however it abruptly dropped to 0% and misplaced all energy. The steering didn’t lock up and Tom was in a position to slide down the street and again into his driveway earlier than calling a tow truck to choose the automobile up and take it to the vendor.

When the truck arrived an hour later, they began the automobile again up once more and it was once more exhibiting 46%, and so they have been in a position to drive it underneath its personal energy onto the flatbed.

Tom notes that whereas the automobile had not beforehand exhibited any points, the myChevrolet app on his cellphone alerted him per week earlier that there was an issue with the high-voltage battery. He made an appointment together with his native Chevy vendor however couldn’t hold it for apparent causes.

The automobile sat for six days earlier than Tom drove it and it failed. When he parked it, it had 58% within the battery and on the day it failed, it confirmed 46%. Tom says that dropping 12% whereas sitting is a bit extreme and this too may point out an issue with the battery pack.

He hasn’t heard again from the vendor but, however Tom suggests the issue may even be one thing so simple as a defective 12-volt battery. Despite the fact that EVs have an enormous battery that takes up their whole ground, all nonetheless have a standard 12-volt battery to energy ancillaries and when it fails, it might make the automobile assume it has a much bigger downside. If the 12-volt battery fails, it may disrupt the battery monitoring system and lead the automobile to assume the high-voltage battery is at fault.

Digging round, I discovered a number of experiences from Equinox EV homeowners who stated they obtained the identical high-voltage battery error message, however I didn’t discover one which additionally correlated with the automobile abruptly bricking. I did discover a doc from the Nationwide Freeway Visitors Security Administration (NHTSA) stating that this error additionally happens within the Blazer EV and the Cadillac Lyriq, Optiq and Vistiqand that it’s often only a software program error that may be mounted by clearing error codes.

One Equinox EV proprietor posted in a Fb homeowners’ group to explain a problem similar to what Tom described. They describe the state of cost abruptly going from 65% to 0% and dropping energy whereas in visitors, adopted by a message telling them to “service the lithium-ion battery instantly.” That Equinox additionally ended up on the again of a flatbed truck on its approach to a vendor, and extra customers within the feedback stated they’d skilled it as properly.

Solely one of many commenters stated they heard again from the vendor after experiencing the identical factor and the difficulty stemmed from “a corroded pin on one of many battery cables.” Tom’s automobile may have the identical challenge or it may actually be one thing so simple as the 12-volt battery appearing up.