Powerless or unresponsive car

Updated 09/11/2024

If your car is unresponsive or appears to have no power, the cause could be a flat battery or something affecting its electrical systems.

If the car's batteries are flat, the car will not respond to some of your actions. This includes trying to unlock or start it.

If the car doesn't respond due to low power, there are several recovery options depending on the situation.

The following situations can lead to both batteries in the car going flat:

The car is left with a low battery level. If not plugged in for charging, the battery level drops further as the car uses a small amount of power while parked.
The car is left without being charged for a long time, which allows the battery level to drop.
Low temperatures temporarily reducing battery capacity below the required level to keep the car powered.

Examples of conditions or uses that increase power consumption, resulting in a faster-than-expected drop in battery level:

Use of accessories or power-consuming car functions.
Low temperatures temporarily reducing battery capacity below the required level to keep the car powered.
High temperatures triggering battery cooling.

Recovery from a flat traction battery

If only the traction battery is flat, the car's systems have power but it can only be driven using the engine. When this happens, the car shows that the battery level is at 0%. In this situation, the 12 V battery can power the systems needed to initiate charging of the traction battery. It's important to conserve energy in the 12 V battery so that you can access and charge the car.

Recovery from a flat 12 V battery

If the 12 V battery goes flat, the car will be completely unresponsive. This can happen if something prevents the 12 V battery from being charged while driving.

Suggested recovery actions are:

Try charging the 12 V battery using an external charger or jump start the car with an external battery.
Contact an authorised Volvo workshop or a recovery and roadside assistance service.

Other no-power scenarios

There may be cases where you are fairly sure that the battery level is not low. In these cases, a lack of power indicates that the 12 V battery isn't being charged with power from the traction battery or can’t deliver power to the car.

Possible scenarios that affect the 12 V power delivery are:

A fuse has blown and needs to be replaced.
The 12 V battery is defective.
There is an electrical, hardware or software fault preventing the car from turning on.

If you can't identify the cause of the problem or solve it by referring to the manual, contact an authorised Volvo workshop.