Electrical system failure: Stop!

[Michelle00]

Hello everyone,
A few days ago I experienced this error "Electrical system failure: Stop!". I was in Hayward on the 880 freeway in rush hour traffic, in the HOV lane going about 40 MPH, and the car just shut down and showed the error above. I had enough momentum to coast 5 feet over to the left side (center divider) I could not make it completely out of the lane. Cars were laying on their horn and speeding past me while my bumper hung out a foot into the lane. It was terrifying. I called the CHP and a officer came out to protect me and the car until a tow truck came. The car is 3 months old. It has been towed to Oakland VW and they gave me a loaner. They do not know what happened. I contacted VW Corp and let them know, I wanted to make sure they are aware of the issue and do a recall if necessary. It had a charge of 86 miles when it happened. I do not feel comfortable getting back into that car even if they can fix it, I will never put my kids in that car either. I don't know what options I have. Anyone have any ideas?

- Michelle

 

[miimura]

I am very sorry this happened to you and I'm sure it is very frightening when it happens. This kind of event happens in almost every EV in very small numbers. It also happens in gas cars, but people don't talk about it much.

There have been reports from European and American vehicle owners that have had this happen to their e-Golf and VW has replaced the main "Power Electronics (JX1)".

After the repair is complete, you should file a complaint with NHTSA here: http://www.safercar.gov/Vehicle+Owners and select "File A Vehicle Complaint Now". That is the only way to push manufacturers to issue recalls for this kind of issue.

 

[cove3]

Give the dealer a chance to work it out. You don't know that it's a recall issue. We've got to give the manufacturers all the support we can. They have an uphill battle with a new technology and if they see poor sales or overly vocal complaints, they might conclude it's just not worth it. To me, VW has done a herculean job getting out a car of the year winner (5 times) at a very reasonable price

Ron

 

[miimura]

Give the dealer a chance to work it out. You don't know that it's a recall issue. We've got to give the manufacturers all the support we can. They have an uphill battle with a new technology and if they see poor sales or overly vocal complaints, they might conclude it's just not worth it. To me, VW has done a herculean job getting out a car of the year winner (5 times) at a very reasonable price

Ron

Clearly, the dealer has to work it out in any case and we have no idea if it is a recall issue. That is for VW and NHTSA to decide. While I understand and share your sentiment to support EV manufacturers, any time a car loses power in that manner it should be reported. VW is still in the low volume EV phase and attaining compliance with CAFE and CARB is a significant factor. They would prefer to do that with the least possible cost, so it's in their interest to avoid recalls and service campaigns that involve the full population of vehicles. There is no turning back from electrification for a manufacturer as large as the VW group. In addition, I feel all manufacturers need to be prepared to withstand the scrutiny of government regulators looking into safety issues and do the right thing for the safety of their customers.

 

[bobk2824]

Hi Michelle - any update? As you might guess, we are all waiting to hear the diagnosis, fix, excuses, etc.

Thanks,
Bob

 

[tom]

Michelle:

Thank you for your post. I too hope you will come back soon and give us an update.

I am glad you put your post under this thread (Buying/Leasing), because I was about to lease an e-Golf in the next couple weeks. Now I am going to wait until we hear back from you what VW is doing about this.

I would also suggest you re-post your experience under "Technical Discussions" where both VW and existing owners are more likely to see it. Generally, people read Buying/Leasing when they are shopping for the car, but once purchased they only read other sections of this website.

I also suspect VW personnel reads the "Technical Discussions" section much more frequently than "Buying/Leasing".

 

[user 241]

Topic moved to Technical as it does not have any questions or comments related to a lease or purchase of the E-Golf.

Sorry to hear about your situation. I wish you a happy resolution on it.

 

[tom]

Given this was Michelle00's only post on this website (16 days ago), until we hear back from her, I suspect she no longer owns the car & VW probably took it back. At this point, I suspect this was an isolated incident or else others would have commented as well.

The e-Golf is still a pretty new product on the road. There are 308 members on this e-Golf forum today, of which I suspect 220 to 250 are owners. I haven't lease my yet but I will in the next 3 to 9 months. Seems like a great product at this price point vs. the Nissan LEAF.

 

[seang002]

same thing happened to me two days earlier. I googled then found this thread. I was driving at local road and the error "error:electrical system. Stop!" appeared. car stopped and blocked the lane. I had to call 911 to help me pulling the car to the roadside then waited for one hour to tow my car to the dealer. The dealer is nice and got me a car to use temporarily. scared but lucky i was not on the freeway. car is about 4 months old and is at dealer's place for 2 days now. i'm waiting for their inspection result. I do like the car, it feels good when driving. just worry late similar thing happen. Will keep posted whenever have a solution. thanks.

 

[calabresim]

seang002,
Several eGolf owners have had the same problem. See the email thread aggregating and discussing this worrying phenomenon here:
http://www.myvwegolf.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=422
Previous posters have urged those who have this dangerous problem to post their complaint to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration here:
https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/
NHTSA is responsible for investigating dangerous failures of this sort, and for eliciting answers from manufacturers. Posting there will help ensure that VW focuses attention and resources on discovering the source of the problem and getting it fixed before anyone gets hurt.
Thanks.

 

[seang002]

Thanks a lot. will check and submit my case for their attention. hopefully can get improved later.

seang002,
Several eGolf owners have had the same problem. See the email thread aggregating and discussing this worrying phenomenon here:
http://www.myvwegolf.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=422
Previous posters have urged those who have this dangerous problem to post their complaint to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration here:
https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/
NHTSA is responsible for investigating dangerous failures of this sort, and for eliciting answers from manufacturers. Posting there will help ensure that VW focuses attention and resources on discovering the source of the problem and getting it fixed before anyone gets hurt.
Thanks.

 

[stryker1969]

the same thing happened to me And it seems to me that if VW is only selling 300 of so cars a year in the US this is a crazy amount of failures

 

[JoulesThief]

the same thing happened to me And it seems to me that if VW is only selling 300 of so cars a year in the US this is a crazy amount of failures

They sold 596 e-golfs last month, in October.

 

[avi]

My wife experienced the same issue yesterday with complete Electrical failure on Freeway while driving 55-60 MPH. The Car has been towed and waiting for their diagnosis. Luckily, there wasn't any car behind her else she may have been hit. This is scary and a big safety issue.

 

[sfsoundguy]

I just experienced this error "Electrical system failure: Stop!" on the way home form San Francisco to Oakland thankfully I was already over the bay bridge. After the car stopped I put on the hazards put on the break and turned the car off I had to do about 5 attempts to turn the car off, while still in the car I locked the car then re opened it with the key fob and pushed the start button the car came back to life and the dash read "READY" in green. I was then able to drive the car home. I called VW of Oakland and will drop it off tomorrow they said they don't give out loaners which
sucks :-(

Update: I decided to take it to the dealer today instead of waiting until tomorrow no point in wasting a day. The error "Electrical system failure: Stop!" happened again 3 times each time I was able to turn of the car wait and turn it back on again althought it drove it definitely felt wrong and I kept it under 25mph.

VW of Oakland said they have not seen this issue which is strange since one person here mentions taking their car to them with the same issue.....

 

[miimura]

I just experienced this error "Electrical system failure: Stop!" on the way home form San Francisco to Oakland thankfully I was already over the bay bridge. After the car stopped I put on the hazards put on the break and turned the car off I had to do about 5 attempts to turn the car off, while still in the car I locked the car then re opened it with the key fob and pushed the start button the car came back to life and the dash read "READY" in green. I was then able to drive the car home. I called VW of Oakland and will drop it off tomorrow they said they don't give out loaners which
sucks :-(

Update: I decided to take it to the dealer today instead of waiting until tomorrow no point in wasting a day. The error "Electrical system failure: Stop!" happened again 3 times each time I was able to turn of the car wait and turn it back on again althought it drove it definitely felt wrong and I kept it under 25mph.

VW of Oakland said they have not seen this issue which is strange since one person here mentions taking their car to them with the same issue.....

Insist on a loaner, even if they have to get one from Enterprise or something. VW USA will pay for it. Also, call VW Customer Service at 800-822-8987 and open a case. An e-Golf specialist can expedite the process and make sure the dealership has the resources they need to get your car fixed.

 

[sfsoundguy]

I did call VW and report the issue they said they would pass it along. The also said it is VW policy not to give out loaners that they let the dealer decide if they want to give out loaner cars during repairs. They also said they would have a senior engineer call VW of Oakland to check the status.

 

[avi]

I have received my car back after they kept overnight for testing. Their diagnosis is that after erasing all faults more than 20 from the memory, the system was set to go. At this point, they opened ticket with tech line. As per the tech line, since the vehicle is in ready mode after clearing all faults, it appears that the start/stop button was hit. They test drove it for 90 miles with no problem found.

I know that there was no button hit during driving.

 

[JoulesThief]

I have received my car back after they kept overnight for testing. Their diagnosis is that after erasing all faults more than 20 from the memory, the system was set to go. At this point, they opened ticket with tech line. As per the tech line, since the vehicle is in ready mode after clearing all faults, it appears that the start/stop button was hit. They test drove it for 90 miles with no problem found.

I know that there was no button hit during driving.

Tell them, then, that you want that start stop button relocated and mounted in the dash, in a location where it can't be hit by accident.

 

[sfsoundguy]

Update: Dealer called and after talking to VW it needed a part replaced which they should have by Friday. Hopefully that will fix the issue. They also offered to give me a rental car.












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