Chalk this up to unforeseen issues upon owning a Chevrolet Volt. Cars.com has penned a brief piece on a strange issue surrounding the extended-range, plug-in vehicle; critters love to call the car home.
Even worse, they like to snack on some essential components. The report tells of personal and fleet Chevrolet Volts experiencing the same issues. Specifically, in 2011, rats decided to make a home in the wiring harness and munch down on components, costing $600 in repairs not covered under warranty.
Additionally, in personal usage, the same incident occurred in 2013 when a Volt began throwing error codes and refused to charge. After dealer inspection, two rodents nests were found, and the wiring harness had once again become a meal. In 2015, another problem, after a Volt was stranded on the side of the highway
The report goes on to state the Volt’s electric nature may create an inviting home for critters. While the Volt’s battery takes three to eight hours to charge, the warmth given off by the liquid thermal management system creates a very homely environment for small animals. In a gasoline powered car, the vehicle is cool normally within an hour, making it far less appropriate.
Cars.com reached out for comment on the matter, and Chevrolet responded stating warranty data showed no other complaints and fixes to chewed up wiring harnesses.
“Volt’s battery is heavily insulated to maintain optimal temperature and prevent cold soak,” said Michelle Malcho of Chevrolet’s communications team. “This would ensure that there is very little radiant heat coming off the pack. Most likely, the heat is from the engine, which is nothing different than a conventional vehicle.”
Coincidental? Possibly. Tell us, do you have a similar story? We’re curious to hear.
Comments
I have a 1970 corvette which became the home for small rodents. Once I notice the problem, I gave the cat full reign of the garage, problem solved.
To pin this on the fact that the car is electric/hybrid is rather ignorant.
We have a 2012 Volt with 38000 rodent free miles.
I agree with Chris above. I’m pretty sure this is only getting publicity because it is the Volt. I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to know there are many cases of the same thing happening to ICE vehicles. A cat had crawled into my father’s radiator shroud one night. When he drove into town the following morning, the resultant mess destroyed the radiator and fan. I’ve also heard plenty of stories of rats chewing wiring of abandoned cars which discounts the battery warmth angle.
I finally sealed off my garage as much as possible. I have 2 ICE automobiles and mice are a problem.
I took care of it though
Years ago my parents had a similar thing happen, A cat under the hood of the car got scared when it was started and resultant reflex sucked it between the fan belt and pulley. It suffered a broken back and had to be put down.
I’ve had rodents in two of my cars, a Pontiac 6000 and a Chevy Cavalier. Coincidentally, when I moved away from my parents farm, I never had another rodent in any of my cars. I now own a rodent-free Chevy Volt.
The lessons here are that a sample size of 2 isn’t a trend, and that if you park in a place that has a lot of rodents (e.g., a farm), then you are likely to have rodents in your engine.
On a related note, I was t-boned in a Nissan Sentra once. Is that a coincidence, or do Nissan Sentras attract t-boning somehow?
My mom was also t-boned in a Nissan Sentra. Clearly this is a pattern that should be explored. 🙂
I have a 2015 Volt and had a problem with ants. I live in Florida and I am not sure if they were getting in while parked outside charging or if there was an actual nets. They were taken care of by placing ant bait in the car.
This is really reaching for a story.
I read about this in 2011.
What I am hearing is the 2nd gen Volt owners are thrilled with their cars.
Anybody ever heard of buying a new car where a rodent had already done damage to the car at the car dealer lot? I bought a 2018 Chevy Tahoe in January and shortly after purchase we noticed the air vent in the back wasn’t working that great. Not enough to make the inconvenient trip to the car dealer but noticeable. Once the screen in the front started having a flickering problem, we took the car in and said, “since it is here, please fix the vent issue too since air comes out, just not that strong”.
Car was taken in 5 months after initial purchase. Screen was replaced under warranty but dealer told me the vent problem was due to a rat or mouse chewing the headliner and dealer is saying I will need to pay $2500 to replace. My argument is that if the vent really is not working because of rats and it wasn’t working from the beginning, then the rat did the damage on the car lot and not at my house.
Thoughts? Insight?