NHTSA Complaint #10978960 — 2014 CHEVROLET VOLT

I SUDDENLY TOTALLY LOST BRAKING POWER AT A STOP SIGN. WAS AT ABOUT 30MPH WHEN I TRIED TO APPLY BRAKES. I CROSS THE STREET AT GOOD SPEED AND CAR FINALLY STOPS ABOUT 100 METERS AWAY. DISPLAY MESSAGES: REGENERATIVE BRAKING DISABLE, SERVICE YOUR BRAKES, SERVICE STABILITRACK. WARNING LIGHT: ABS, STABILITRACK AND MAYBE OTHERS. I THEN DRIVE THIS CAR VERY SLOWLY IN THIS CONDITION FOR 5 KM. THE BRAKE PEDAL WAS UP AND VERY FIRM. AT HOME, I SHOT OFF CAR AND PLUG IT. ONE HOUR LATER, IT WAS BACK IN PERFECTLY NORMAL CONDITION, NO WARNING LIGHT AND NO MESSAGE. TEST DRIVE SHOW GOOD BRAKES. I BRING THE CAR TO THE DEALER ON MONDAY. THEY FOUND ONE HIDDEN TO CUSTOMER (NO CHECK ENGINE) CODE, C12E6. THEY FOLLOW INSTRUCTION AND REPLACE ABS MODULE. THEY TOLD ME THAT IF I GET SAME PROBLEM AGAIN THEY WILL REPLACE ABS PUMP. I ARGUE WITH NO LUCK THAT I CANNOT GO AWAY DRIVING A CAR WITH POSSIBLE SUDDEN BRAKE LOST ISSUE. I THEN CONTACTED GM (VOLT ADVISOR) WITH NO BETTER RESULTS. GM APPARENTLY STUDY MY CASE FOR 3 MONTHS. AFTER THAT, ADVISOR CALL ME AND ASK IF I HAVE LOST BRAKES AGAIN. SHE SAID SINCE YOU HAVEN'T LOST BRAKES FOR 3 MONTHS, WE CONSIDER YOUR CAR TO BE WELL FIX, CASE IS CLOSE. I PERSONNALY BELIEVE THAT THE CODE IS NOT RELATED TO THE TOTAL BRAKE LOST. AN ABS MODULE CAN NOT SHUT OFF BRAKES. THE ELECTRIC BRAKE BOOSTER MAY HAVE A DESIGN FLAW. NISSAN HAD SIMILAR PROBLEM WITH THE LEAF AT LOW TEMPERATURE, THEY MADE A SAFETY RECALL. VOLT AND LEAF HAVE SIMILAR ELECTRIC BRAKE BOOSTER. TEMPERATURE WAS 18 DEG F, ROAD WAS COVERED WITH PACKED SNOW, TRACTION WAS FAIR. I WAS GETTING THE USUAL LOW TRACTION MESSAGE WHEN APPLYING BRAKES TOO HARD BEFORE THE TOTAL BRAKE LOST EVENT. VOLT BRAKE SYSTEM INVOLVE COMPUTER IN ORDER TO BLEND REGENERATIVE BRAKING AND FRICTION BRAKES. THE BRAKE BOOSTER IS ELECTRIC (NO VACUM) AND COMPUTER DRIVEN. I HAPPEN TO BE THE ACTUAL BRAKE ENGINEER FOR SKI-DOO SNOWMOBILES!!!