2008 Chevrolet HHR - Stuck without electrical activity

My 2008 HHR LT Panel suddenly will not start (battery is fine). There is absolutely no electrical activity at all and I cannot remove the key from the ignition. Needless to say, I can’t even take it out of park to move it. Any ideas?

See if the 40 amp fuse in the BCM fuse holder has blown.

Tester

Another possibility is that the fusible link has blown. But since Tester is an actual mechanic and I’m not he’s probably closer to right.

how do you know?

are the battery cables clean/tight/not corroded?

Clean the battery connections even if they look okay using a battery post cleaning brush. Check to see if power is getting to the main panel under the hood.

As mentioned, how do you know the battery is fine? Actually tested or is that an assumption?

For what it’s worth, I just bought another battery for my Lincoln the other day. The 3rd one since January of 2019. Both of the prior batteries were 3 year batteries. They died suddenly and badly and would not even take a charge and would barely make the dome light glow. The first was warrantied; they refused to warranty the second even though the 2nd died at 11 months of age.

This kind of thing is new to me as I’ve never had batteries go from fine one day to total garbage 2 days later. And yes, the batteries are definitely as bad as can be.

Don’t panic yet. Most things like this have a simple cure.

I had one go complete garbage on me as I walked to the ATM and back…