Home›Chevrolet›Volt›2016

Chevrolet · Compact car

2016 Chevrolet Volt

Plug-in hybrid

Compact Cars
1 EPA-rated configurations
Data refreshed 2026-09-11

Safety Signal

92 / 100 from the NHTSA recall record

RecallsNHTSA campaigns1

Complaintsowner reports to NHTSA169

Crash ratingNHTSA overall—

Fuel economybest combined, EPA42 mpg

2019 2018 2017 2016

The 2016 Chevrolet Volt is sold in the U.S. as a plug-in hybrid compact car. The most efficient version, the Volt, is EPA-rated at 42 mpg combined. NHTSA lists 1 recall campaign for this model year, which gives it a Safety Signal grade of A. Owners have filed 169 complaints, most often about the electrical system.

Specs & fuel economy

Source: EPA fueleconomy.gov

Configuration	Powertrain	Drive	Engine / motor	City	Hwy	Comb	Range	kWh/100mi	Charge (240V)	Annual fuel*
Volt	Plug-in hybrid	FWD	1.5L 4-cyl + 48 and 87 kW 3-Phase AC	43	42	42 (77 MPGe blended)	53 mi electric	31	4.5 h	$1,500

*EPA estimate at 15,000 miles/year at EPA reference fuel and electricity prices. fueleconomy.gov record ids: 36863.

Affiliate disclosure: some links on this page are affiliate links. If you request a quote or buy through them we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Nothing on this page changes because of it.

Recalls (1)

Source: NHTSA recall database

▲high

Air Bags

17387

16 vehicles

ProblemGeneral Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain 2015-2016 GMC Canyon and Chevrolet Colorado, and 2016 Chevrolet Volt vehicles. The driver's frontal air bag may improperly inflate during second-stage deployment in the event of a high speed crash.RiskAn improperly inflated air bag increases the risk of injury in a crash.FixGM will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver's frontal air bag module, free of charge. The recall began November 8, 2017. Owners may contact Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020, or GMC customer service at 1-800-462-8782. GM's number for this recall is 17387.

NHTSA campaign 17V621000reported Oct 5, 2017General Motors LLC

NHTSA defect investigations

Electrical System:Propulsion System:Traction Battery:Management System/Energy Control Module (Bms/Becm) — Loss of Motive Power due to the Battery Energy Control Module closed

On November 29, 2023, the Office of Defects Investigations (ODI) opened PE23022 to investigate allegations of a loss of motive power, including a stall, reduced power state, and/or a no start condition due to the Battery Energy Control Module (BECM) in model year (MY) 2016-2019 Chevrolet Volt passenger car vehicles manufactured by General Motors (GM). The BECM is located within the high voltage electric vehicle (EV) battery pack and monitors the temperature, current, and voltage of the high voltage battery cell groups. GM stated that the root cause was identified as an internal failure leading to a loss of communication within the BECM and does not pose a risk to motor vehicle safety. GM fur

Opened Nov 29, 2023 · closed Mar 3, 2025 · action PE23022

Electrical System:Propulsion System — Pedestrian alert sounds closed

NHTSA received a petition on or about July 18, 2022, requesting that Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 141 be applied to all electric and hybrid vehicles operating in the United States. The petition can be reviewed at NHTSA.gov under ODI Number 11486072. FMVSS 141 establishes performance requirements for pedestrian alert sounds for motor vehicles. The standard applies to hybrid and electric vehicles that have a gross vehicle weight rating of 4,536 KG or less or are defined as low-speed vehicles. The standard became fully applicable to all such vehicles manufactured on or after March 1, 2021.On January 27, 2023, NHTSA opened Defect Petition (DP) 22-005 to evaluate the subject matt

Opened Jan 27, 2023 · closed Aug 7, 2023 · action DP22005

Owner complaints

Source: NHTSA complaint database

169complaints filed

2 involved a crash · 1 a fire · 1 injuries · 0 deaths reported

Filed per year: 2016: 4 · 2017: 2 · 2018: 3 · 2019: 13 · 2020: 29 · 2021: 15 · 2022: 12 · 2023: 16 · 2024: 51 · 2025: 11 · 2026: 13

Most-cited components

Electrical System77

Fuel/Propulsion System63

Power Train51

Engine48

Unspecified20

Vehicle Speed Control6

What owners describe

“vehicle suddenly stopped while driving , engine light came on and on board charging system maintenance showed on dash display , I was able to restart it and take to the dealer for diagnosis they said that the BECM needs replacement at the cost of $2500.00 and that it is common on this vehicle ,this issue is a safety pr…”Nov 19, 2022 · Electrical System · NHTSA owner report

“While on a road trip, we were traveling on a rural highway at roughly 55 mph. We received a warning message on the dashboard stating that "Propulsion power was reduced" and the engine began running rough, with surging noticeable based on throttle position. We also noted that engine temperature was rising above what was…”Oct 20, 2022 · Engine · NHTSA owner report

“Got a Check Engine light on Aug 26 2022 driving about 5 minutes out of my house. With that light turned on, the EV showed zero miles range (it was fully charged when I left the house), the ICE engine kicked in but it was running very harsh and when I stepped on the gas peddle, it would not accelerate and can only go ab…”Oct 13, 2022 · Engine · NHTSA owner report

Complaint counts are raw owner reports to NHTSA, not verified defects, and scale with how many were sold. Use them to spot patterns, not to rank.

Crash ratings

Source: NHTSA NCAP

NHTSA has not published 5-Star crash ratings for this model year.

Other Volt model years

2019 Chevrolet Volt

2 recalls · 34 complaints

2018 Chevrolet Volt

2 recalls · 222 complaints

2017 Chevrolet Volt

0 recalls · 696 complaints

Sources & method

Safety Signal starts every model-year at 100 and subtracts points per open NHTSA recall campaign by severity: critical 15 (fire risk, park-outside or do-not-drive advisories), high 8 (brakes, steering, airbags, loss of drive power, structure, battery), moderate 6, minor 3 (software, labels, lighting fixed by an update). Floor 35. A ≥ 90, B ≥ 80, C ≥ 70, D ≥ 60, otherwise F. Complaint counts and NHTSA crash ratings are shown separately and are not blended into the grade.

EPA figures come from fueleconomy.gov vehicle records. Recalls, complaints, investigations and crash ratings come from NHTSA's public flat files, refreshed weekly.

JSON for this page · API