Last month my 2015 Chevrolet Volt Hybrid surprised me with an error message that read: “charging override, interruption occurred.” From now on, I’ll refer to this error as COIO.
My car had a fully-charged battery pack, ready to drive 34 miles, so I cleared the message from my dashboard and continued my day. Later that evening, with my battery depleted, I connected my Level 2-240V charger to prepare for the following day.
To my surprise, the charging status indicator, shaped like a bubble, did not light up. It’s supposed to turn green for charging. Puzzled, I looked to clear out possible debris and tried plugging the cord back in a few times but there was no change.
I began leafing through the owner’s manual, looking for a solution to my problem. I found references to COIO, but nothing on how to fix the issue myself. I needed to contact the car dealership.
Hybrid car batteries are expensive
The service department at the nearest dealership looked over my car and told me the bad news: it would be a week before they could make an assessment and then likely up to a month before I’d have my car back. That’s far too long to go without a car. I’d have to contact my insurance or borrow a car to make up for it.
I needed a second opinion.
The second dealership offered an appointment the following day. However, I had a scheduling conflict. That’s when I discovered something that made me hold my breath. I didn’t ask for a battery replacement, but that’s what the dealership planned to do. A whopping $5,000 to replace a battery. I was horrified.
I immediately contacted customer support. They informed me a battery replacement costs $169. It turns out the dealership misidentified the battery replacement. She was not aware the electric vehicle battery cost $5,000.
Dealerships need to have more technicians certified to work with EV battery packs and educational training for their staff. Otherwise they will be lost in the next transportation technology shift from fossil fuels to electrification.
My car was perfectly fine just the other day. What happened between then and now? I needed to do more research.
I Googled my car’s issue. “How much does it cost to replace a Chevrolet Volt battery pack,” I typed. I discovered a company named Greentec Auto.
GreenTec Auto
When I called Greentec Auto, a representative named Chad from Kansas City patiently walked me through my warranty and the battery repair process. He confirmed I needed to travel to Nashville to replace my car’s battery. Since the Chevrolet Volt stopped production in 2019, the usual mobile installation process wasn’t available for me. Chad shared the available batteries and let me know that they would need to be shipped to my region. He described the installation process as “intensive” and requiring an additional two weeks for assessment. Clearly, Chad was an expert with electric vehicles and their batteries.
Chad explained that Volt batteries usually need replacement at either 100,000 miles or around their 8th birthday, regardless of owner. My Volt? Only 78,000 miles and just 6 years of age. At least we were able to eliminate that the problem was not with the battery pack.
Chad was so impressive. He lived up to Greentec Auto’s mission: to make the auto repair industry transparent. Chad was clear and direct in describing the installation process and the scarcity of a battery pack for the Volt.
Greentec Auto is closing the loop by not letting these hybrid batteries go to landfills but instead refurbishing them to be reused. They will even buy your old battery. This is the heart of being zero waste and why they are one-of-a-kind in the auto repair industry.
A shocking turn of events
I returned to the second dealership that offered an inspection. The certified technician couldn’t replicate any of the initial charging issues I experienced.
I was baffled. The dealership ruled out any potential problems with the vehicle and determined everything was in working order.
Since my battery pack functioned at expected performance standards, I did not need to use Greentec Auto’s repair services. That doesn’t mean I won’t call Greentec Auto in the future. I know who to call when it’s time to replace my car battery.
I’m always so pleased to learn about organizations focused on closed-loop thinking within their business practices. Over 3 billion non-electric vehicle batteries, including car batteries, are thrown away by Americans every year. It feels good to support businesses committed to reducing that number and the zero waste mission: rethink, refuse, reduce, reuse, and recycle.
Was anything wrong with my car?
Hypothesis: Despite the green operation button lighting up, the Level 2 - 240V charging cord is not functioning properly and needs to be replaced.
It’s time to review what I had done and see what I missed. I began by reviewing each possible pain point:
- Circuit breaker reset
- GFCI outlet reset
- Car battery pack charged at the dealership
- Level 1-110V cord charged battery pack successfully at home
Conclusion: My hypothesis was correct. The car manufacturer’s Level 1-110V cord charged the battery pack, but my Level 2- 240V wouldn’t. I breathed a sigh of relief. All I needed was a new charging cable.
Problem solved
I contacted the charging cord manufacturer, MUSTART, by text and email along with my order number. Their customer support team directed me to video record my problem. I quickly sent MUSTART a video of my EV charging box data and vehicle status. In about an hour I received a phone call that my cable replacement was approved. Thank goodness for manufacturer warranties!
I was pleased with MUSTART’s customer service but disappointed there was no avenue to repair my old charger. I’ll be calling Greentec Auto for any recommendations on sustainable, closed-loop charging options.