GM has now implemented a post crash procedure that includes the depowering of the battery after a severe crash.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration – NHTSA – said today that it is keeping open its Chevrolet Volt battery fires investigation. The NHTSA confirmation that a safety defect investigation is ongoing about the risk of fires in Volt EVs involved in serious crashes came after General Motors said it would modify the Volt design.
In a phone conference for media this morning, GM said it was changing the Volt design on new Volt models just going into production in Michigan, as well as modifying more than 12,000 older Volt and Opel Ampera models at dealers or in customer’s driveways. The changes involve reinforcing the structure around the Volt’s battery pack, and the addition of a coolant sensor to the battery pack.
GM said this morning that it was “optimistic” that no recall would be required, a politically sensitive issue since the federal government, which NHTSA is part of, still holds a large 27% stake in GM. For GM’s part, a safety recall is arguably more damaging to the reputation of the Volt as a technology leader than the proposed customer service action, which begins in February. Last year Chevrolet sold 7,671 Volt models, which cost more than $40,000 without taxpayer subsidies to its mostly rich buyers, another political controversy in and of itself.
“Based on the work that NHTSA has already completed — under the observation of representatives of General Motors and in close consultation and collaboration with experts from the Department of Energy, and the Department of Defense — it appears that both battery intrusion and coolant leakage must be present to enable post-crash fire in the Volt,” NHTSA said.
The federal safety agency also said it remains unaware of any fires from real-world crashes involving the Volt, with each of the known cases of fire resulting from laboratory crash tests, including ones where the battery was removed from vehicle – an unlikely real word situation, which would require a severe crash involving the battery pack alone.
NHTSA crashed a Chevrolet Volt retro-fitted with GM’s newly designed steel reinforcement device in a side-pole impact test on 22 December. The results showed “no intrusion into the vehicle’s battery compartment, and no coolant leakage.”
NHTSA also said that the preliminary results of the crash test “indicate the remedy proposed by General Motors today should address the issue of battery intrusion.” The re call issue remains, thus far, open. For additional information on the Volt investigation and others, visit www.SaferCar.gov.
See also:
- GM Changes Chevrolet Volt to Protect Battery to Stop Fires
- GM Will Lend Cars to Concerned Chevrolet Volt Owners as NHTSA Volt Battery Fire Investigation Continues
- Chevrolet Volt Earns 5 Stars in Euro NCAP with No Battery Fires. GM Announces Volt Export Plans to China Next Year
