Chevy Volt Catches Fire After Crash Testing

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Chevy Volt Catches Fire After Crash Testing

The federal government is now investigating the safety of electric cars, and specifically, lithium-ion batteries, after a Chevy Volt caught fire three weeks after a side-impact crash test.

The wrecked Volt apparently caught fire in the parking lot of NHTSA's crash test facility in Wisconsin a full three weeks after the initial crash test. According to the exclusive Bloomberg story, the fire was large enough to burn vehicles parked in the vicinity of the car.

NHTSA is also apparently probing an incident involving a Volt catching on fire while charging.
http://9thcivic.com/forum/threads/garage-fire-claims-chevy-volt-and-homebuilt-ev.453/
chevy_volt_garage_fire.png


But the scope is not merely limited to General Motors. Regulators have approached all automakers, including GM, Nissan, and Ford — any that sell or have plans to sell vehicles with lithium-ion batteries — with questions about the batteries' fire risk, four people familiar with the inquiry said to Bloomberg.

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Vehicle was used in a side-impact crash test three weeks earlier.​

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has contacted all manufacturers of vehicles using a lithium-ion battery pack after a Chevy Volt caught fire in a NHTSA test-center parking lot in Wisconsin three weeks after a side-impact crash test. Some vehicles close to the Volt caught fire as well, according to the report. NHTSA's further investigation into the safety of lithium-ion batteries "isn’t public" according to Bloomberg, which cited unnamed sources within the agency.​

Greg Martin, a General Motors spokesman, said he doesn't believe the Volt is any more of a safety risk than a conventional car, noting that GM has spent nearly 300,000 hours testing the vehicle. NHTSA, in an unrelated statement, pointed out that every car -- battery- or gasoline-powered -- is a potential safety hazard after a crash:​

Based on the available data, NHTSA does not believe the Volt or other electric vehicles are at a greater risk of fire than gasoline-powered vehicles. In fact, all vehicles -- both electric and gasoline-powered -- have some risk of fire in the event of a serious crash.​
 
California Volt Owners Can Get HOV Pass:

The new Volt's owner will be "eligible to apply for one of 40,000 available HOV lane stickers" handed out on a first-apply, first-served basis.
 
Yes, at the end of april they had a report concerning that..

CA Prius Hybrid Owners to Lose Carpool Lane Privileges

We knew it was coming, but now it’s official: The Department of Motor Vehicles announced Friday that it is mailing 85,000 letters to owners of hybrid vehicles, letting them know that their special rights to use carpool lanes ends June 30th.


The yellow decals for HOV lane access were originally intended to expire in 2009. That date was extended to January 1, 2011, and then again to July 1, 2011. But it looks like this time there will be no further reprieves.

If you drive a hybrid in a carpool lane on July 1st, you could get pulled over and given a pricey ticket. That means that on July 1st, drivers of some 85,000 vehicles will be forced back into stop-and-go traffic lanes, and they aren’t going to be happy about it.

Current list of cars allowed :
http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/carpool/carpool.htm
their site hasn't been updated to show the Volt yet, but those are the current models that qualify.
 
More post-crash battery fires involving Chevy Volt​

By JOAN LOWY​

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updated 41 minutes ago​

WASHINGTON — A safety investigation of the lithium-ion batteries in General Motors Co.'s Chevrolet Volt is under way to assess the risk of fire in the electric car after a serious crash, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Friday.

One Volt battery pack that was being closely monitored following a government crash test caught fire Thursday, the safety administration said in a statement. Another crash-tested battery emitted smoke and sparks, the statement said.

GM, which was informed of the investigation on Friday, said in a statement that the Volt "is safe and does not present undue risk as part of normal operation or immediately after a severe crash."
The fires are in addition to a battery fire in a crash-tested Volt six months ago. NHTSA learned of a possible fire risk involving damaged Volt batteries in June when a fire erupted in a Volt that was being stored in a parking lot a test facility in Burlington, Wis. The fire was severe enough to cause several other vehicles parked nearby to catch fire as well.

The car had been subjected to a side-impact crash test more than three weeks earlier, on May 12, during which the battery was damaged and its coolant line ruptured. Last week's tests of three battery packs were designed to replicate the May test. In that test, the Volt was subjected to a simulated side-impact collision into a narrow object like a tree or pole followed by a rollover, the agency said.

The first battery tested last week didn't catch fire. But a battery test on Nov. 17 initially experienced a temporary temperature increase, and on Thursday caught fire. Another battery tested on Nov. 18, which was rotated 180 degrees within hours after the test, began to smoke and emit sparks shortly after the rotation.

The tests were conducted by NHTSA and the Energy and Defense departments at a defense facility near Hampton Roads, Va. So far, no fires have been reported in Volts involved in roadway crashes, NHTSA said. More than 5,000 of the vehicles have been sold.

It's too soon to tell whether the investigation will lead to a recall of any vehicles or parts, but the government will ensure consumers are informed promptly if that occurs, the agency said.
With electronic safety systems that are part of the car, "GM knows real time about any crash significant enough to potentially compromise battery integrity," the automaker said. "Since July, GM has implemented a post-crash protocol that includes the depowering of the battery after a severe crash, returning the battery to a safe and low-powered state."

Electric vehicles are critical to President Barack Obama's plans to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil. He has called for putting 1 million of the vehicles on the road by 2015. Safety testing hasn't raised concerns about electric vehicles other than the Volt, NHTSA said. "NHTSA continues to believe that electric vehicles have incredible potential to save consumers money at the pump, help protect the environment, create jobs and strengthen national security by reducing our dependence on oil," the agency said.
 
You think they'll just house the batteries differently to suspend the chance of fire? Black box - airline style
 
Free Loaner Car For Concerned Volt Owners

GM is responding to increased concern amongst Chevy Volt owners that their cars will burst into flames by mostly dismissing the threat of random explosions and then offering Volt owners free loaner cars while GM tries to resolve the issue.

The concerns emerged after a series of Volt fires that occurred in the electric-hybrid cars days and weeks after crashes, including a vehicle in the possession of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Unless you have a car that's been in a massive accident there appears to be little risk, but GM wants its customers to know it isn't going to let them think they're being allowed to burn to a crisp in their cars by lending them other vehicles.

So, how's that work exactly? Do you call up GM and say "Uhh… yeah, I'm afraid my Volt is going to burst into flames and isn't safe. Can I get a Camaro SS please? Or maybe a Corvette ZR1?"
If that's the modus operandi then there's a silver lining to owning Volt, but if it's just a Malibu or a Cruze then you're probably be better off just keeping the car GM's execs call "safer than an internal combustion-engined car," i.e. safer than the car they'll swap it for
 
Corvette Loaners Allowed By GM:
With news of more Chevy Volt battery packs catching fire after NHTSA crash testing, General Motors yesterday made an unprecedented damage-controlling offer: Any Volt owner concerned about safety can request a free GM vehicle loan until the issue's resolved. Yes, any car.

What car would the General be handing out to owners of the automaker's green machine? Any car GM makes? So... could you get a Corvette?
We're not the only ones asking that question. So are several members of some of GM's online fan forums. One forumite at GM-Volt.com said:

"I would temporally take a Corvette during the investigation. Other than that..... They aint takin my Volt!!!!"​
So we called up a couple of folks at GM to find out — can you get a Corvette loaner if you're scared your Chevy Volt will explode into a fireball after sitting in a wet parking lot for three weeks after a car accident?

It turns out the answer is yes. GM will absolutely put you in a Corvette if that's what you so desire.

"Theoretically if you wanted to get into a Corvette, the customer's Volt Advisor will work to get them into one," said GM spokesperson and part-time genie in a bottle, Greg Martin.
"Obviously the intent of this program is not to provide a long-term Corvette test drive, but our priority is to make sure the customer is satisfied." But Martin says that they're not concerned about a rush of owners running to grab a Corvette ZR1 or a Camaro SS for a multi-month green reprieve. Mostly because the type of person who buys a Volt presumably isn't interested in high horsepower for the type of drives they're taking in a Volt.

=====

:confused::shadycorn:
 
get that horrible high horsepower pile of fun away from me!!!!!

(waits for large inventory of used vettes to surface in the coming year)
 
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