Chevy Volt Battery fire update - Volt is safe says GM.......................

I have been following this story as closely as possible and can assure readers that GM is all over this thing with every resource available.  I understand that a preliminary report suggests that a cooling cell in the battery pack may have ruptured and oxidized resulting in the fire at a later time.  I do not know if NHTSA followed the GM battery "depower" protocol following the crash tests.  The amount of research and testing that went into these lithium-ion batteries made by GM before production was massive. I expect they will work very hard to very quickly get an answer to the cause and any fixes, if necessary, handled promptly...............................

The Story:

GM announced this week that they will be willing to purchase a Volt back from any owner who is afraid that their vehicle will catch fire.  This latest customer satisfaction effort by GM came from CEO Daniel Akerson in response to continuing concerns regarding the safety of the Volt.  Details of the buyback program have not been provided.

This latest response is in addition to the previously announced policy of providing a loaner car to any Volt owner who requests it while the investigation into the causes and fixes that may be required continues.  Any Volt owner wishing to be provided a loaner should contact their Volt advisor according to GM.

The fires have occurred in the lithium-ion battery packs that power the Volt following a vehicle side impact crash.  NHTSA safety officials say that there is no evidence that electric cars are at any greater risk than gasoline powered cars following crashes.  When the cause of the fires is fully determined, GM will recall all 6,000 of the Volts now in service in the US and, if necessary, fix them for the consumers.

There have been three incidents and have been in vehicles that a federal safety agency had subjected to side-impact crash tests.  These fires followed numerous crash tests performed on this vehicle by the safety agency. These fires occurred in those vehicles some several days to three weeks following the tests while they were stored following the tests. No Volts that have been in actual real world crashes have had any fire problems resulting.

GM continues to stand by their claim that the Volt is safe.  No fires have occurred in Volts in use by consumers on US roads, only in these three vehicles subjected to severe side impact crash test and only several days following the crash.

 Jim Frederico, GM chief engineer for electric vehicles said  “First and foremost, I want to  make this very clear: the Volt is a safe car. We are working cooperatively with the NHTSA as it completes its investigation”.

Frederico went on to say, “Safety protocols for electric vehicles are clearly an industry concern. At GM, we have safety protocols to depower the battery of an electric vehicle after a significant crash.  We are working with other vehicle manufacturers, first responders, tow truck operators and salvage associations the goal of implementing industry wide protocols”. 

It was not reported if the NHTSA was aware of or had followed those protocols following their testing and before storing the vehicles.