What 83 owners told NHTSA about the 2015 Chevrolet Spark

MY RADIO DASH AND AUDIO INDICATORS BLACKOUT WITHOUT WARNING THIS WEEKEND WHEN I TURNED MY CAR ON. NO BLINKER SOUND, NO RADIO, NO KEYS IN IGNITION WARNING. NOTHING. IT'S THE SAME CHARACTERISTICS OF THE 2016 RECALL THAT WAS ISSUED BUT GM WILL NOT FIX IT BECAUSE MY VIN DOES NOT APPEAR ON THE RECALL LIST

NHTSA ODI 11210340

CONTEXT: IT WAS A WET EVENING HERE IN PORTLAND, OR (8:15PM PDT, APRIL 13TH) AND I WAS GETTING NEW TIRES THE FOLLOWING WEEK, SO I DIDN'T CARE ABOUT THE LONGEVITY OF THE TIRES. ALSO, WHAT I EXPERIENCED WAS SOMETHING I READ ONLINE BEFORE BUYING THE SPARK. I MADE A LEGAL U-TURN TO GET TO THE ENTRANCE OF FRED MEYER (A KROGER STORE) AND HIT THE ACCELERATOR HARD ENOUGH (~60% THROTTLE) TO SPIN THE TIRES AND THE TRACTION CONTROL ACTIVATED. I THEN SAW THE SEMI-HIDDEN ENTRANCE AND HIT THE BRAKES HARD MAKE A RIGHTHAND TURN INTO FRED MEYER. THE BRAKES ENGAGED (W/ ABS) THEN DISENGAGED AFTER ~.3 SECONDS. IT FELT LIKE THE MOTOR WAS REGEN'ING SLIGHTLY BUT THE MECHANICAL BRAKES WERE NOT ENGAGED. I STARTED TO PUMP THE BRAKES. ABOUT 4 PUMPS AND ~60 FEET LATER, THE BRAKES ENGAGED. I DID NOT MAKE MY TURN AND NO ONE GOT HURT. HERE'S A NOTE I RECEIVED FROM A LADY ON A CHEVY SPARK EV FACEBOOK GROUP: MY HUSBAND (AND AUTOMOTIVE ELECTRICAL ENGINEER) EXPLAINS HOW THIS IS PISS-POOR SOFTWARE PROGRAMMING ON GM'S PART. THIS ALL HAS TO DO WITH WHAT THE SYSTEM DOES WHEN PRESSING THE BRAKE PEDAL IF SOMETHING LIKE THE ABS MODULE OR OTHER HARDWARE ISN'T FUNCTIONING. WHAT HE EXPLAINS IS HAPPENING IS INSTEAD OF ALLOWING THE NORMAL BRAKING SYSTEM TO CONTINUE TO MODULATE AND FUNCTION, IT JUST SHUTS DOWN. NISSAN EVEN HAD ISSUES WITH BRAKING GOING INTO SOMETHING KNOWN AS 'ICE MODE' AND FAILING. (NOT WIDELY KNOWN OUTSIDE OF THE INDUSTRY) HE ALSO COMPARED THIS TO THE BOEING PLANE CRASH SOFTWARE ISSUE THERE (IN THAT CASE THE SOFTWARE KEPT THINKING THERE WAS ABOUT TO BE A STALL AND WOULD NOSE DIVE TO AVOID IT WHICH IN ITSELF ULTIMATELY CAUSING A CRASH). ESSENTIALLY ALL SPARK EVS HAVE THIS SAME POTENTIAL BUT ONLY SOME SEEM TO BE AFFECTED (ALL DEPENDS ON IF A COMPONENT IN THE SYSTEM FAILS OR NOT--- THAT'S WHEN THE TROUBLE STARTS BECAUSE WHOEVER DID THAT SOFTWARE CODING AND TESTING DID A CRAP JOB OF IT).

NHTSA ODI 11204223

ON STATIONARY CAR START, SIMULTANEOUSLY RECEIVED A SERVICE AIRBAG WARNING AND SERVICE STABILITRAK WARNING.

NHTSA ODI 11194322

WHILE DRIVING NORMALLY, THE "SERVICE STABILITRAC" WARNING APPEARS FOLLOWED IMMEDIATELY BY A "SERVICE BRAKE ASSIST" WARNING. THEN THE BRAKE PEDAL REQUIRES EXTREME EFFORT TO SLOW OR STOP THE CAR. THE REGENERATIVE BRAKING IS ALSO DISABLED. AFTER STOPPING THE CAR, THE CAR CAN BE TURNED OFF AND THEN BACK ON WHEREUPON THE BRAKES WILL BE WORKING NORMALLY. THE WARNINGS AND LOSS OF BRAKING ASSIST MAY STAY AWAY FOR A PERIOD OF 1 MINUTE OR UP TO 1 WEEK OR MORE. IT APPEARS TO BE VERY RANDOM. FORTUNATELY, NONE OF THE OCCURRENCES HAVE RESULTED IN A CRASH, BUT THERE HAVE BEEN SCARED DRIVERS AND PASSENGERS. THIS IS THE SECOND TIME THIS PART (THE DEALER BLAMES THE BPMV AND IS NOW PUTTING THE FOURTH ONE ON MY CAR) HAS BEEN AT THE DEALER. THE SECOND ONE WAS APPARENTLY LEAKING WHEN INSTALLED. THIS WORK WAS PERFORMED AT MOMENTUM CHEVROLET IN SAN JOSE, CA. THE PROBLEM OCCURS WHEN THE CAR IS IN MOTION, TYPICALLY AT 20-50 MPH, AS THAT IS WHAT MOST OF MY DRIVING CONSISTS OF. THERE IS A FORUM THREAD ON THIS SUBJECT AT CHEVY SPARK EV FORUM. OTHER DRIVERS HAVE DESCRIBED MULTIPLE EVENTS IDENTICAL TO MINE. [XXX] PARTS OF THIS DOCUMENT HAVE BEEN REDACTED TO PROTECT PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).*CC

NHTSA ODI 11076657

VEHICLE WAS IN MOTION ON STREET, GOING STRAIGHT, WHEN STEERING LOCKED UP AND CAR COULD NOT BE CONTROLLED. THIS RESULTED IN CAR GOING OFF IN A DITCH. SPEED WAS APPROXIMATELY 35MPH. RIGHT FRONT WHEEL LOCKED IN POSITION, AND NO CONTROL WAS POSSIBLE. THIS WAS APPROX. ONE-EIGHTH OF A MILE FROM HOME. CAR WAS BACKED OUT OF DITCH, AND VERY CAREFULLY AND SLOWLY DRIVEN HOME. FROM THERE IT WAS TOWED TO SAPAUGH CHEVROLET IN HERCULANEUM, MISSOURI. INSPECTION RESULTS HAVE BEEN INCONCLUSIVE. REPORTED TO GENERAL MOTORS. WE ARE NOW AFRAID TO DRIVE THE VEHICLE.

NHTSA ODI 10916542