The Detroit Free Press reports that a Chevrolet Volt caught fire several weeks after a crash test.
The electric vehicle had been subjected to a low speed (20 mile-per-hour), side-impact test for its crash safety rating.
Apparently, the crash punctured the Volt’s lithium-ion battery, and though it took a couple of weeks, the vehicle eventually self-combusted – i.e. it went up in flames.
General Motors believes the fire occurred because the testers didn’t drain the energy from the Volt’s battery following the crash, which is a safety step the automaker recommends.
Government officials are weighing the need for new safety rules that could require first responders to drain electric vehicles’ batteries after a crash.
Note, they’re not investigating how to make the Volt safer, they’re determining whether fire-fighters have to drain the batteries when they arrive at an accident scene.
Cmon man …
Tags: Electric Cars, fires, Volt
The Homa Files 
November 15, 2011 at 12:16 pm |
By all means, let’s not innovate with automobile propulsion systems. At least with gasoline we know it will ignite right there while our family is still in the car.