Chevy Volts Catch Fire

[nissangirl74]

http://content.usatoday.com/communities ... sh-fires/1

General Motors will buy a Chevrolet Volt back from any owner who is afraid the plug-in extended-range electric car will catch fire, the company's CEO told the Associated Press today....Volts crash-tested by the government later caught fire in post-crash storage while in government hands.

As of right now, no one knows for sure why the cars caught on fire. I wonder what kind of impact this will have on how people view electric cars and their place on the open road. Do you think this will influence anyone's decision to buy one or do you think they'll just blow it off?

Your thoughts?

[IanS]

Hmmmmm

Interesting. I dont think we are getting the whole story here. A car catching fire after a crash isn't abnormal for any car, it not like gasolene is flamable or anything......

I can only imagine these were battery related fires. IIRC the volt is one of the first cars to carry a Lithium big battery, as apposed to the Nickle ones found in the Prius or Insight.

There is a reason for that. Has anyone ever heard of a Runaway Thermal Event? Let me explain. No no, there is too much. Let me sum up. Unlike Nickle batteries, lithium batteries can fail in a certain manner that causes them to spontaniously catch fire. Chemical fire. The kind of fire you dont put out. The kind that burns holes in metal. Its a very rare occurance, but has been recorded in small devices, eg; cameras, phones, flashlights. The amount of energy released from such small batteries is impressive. I wouldnt want to see what the big battery in a hybrid might be capable of. A serious car accident might just help to trigger something like this.

I cant see why gm would make such a bold statement unless there was something bigger like this going on behing the scenes. Maybe I am just crazy.

[Dattebayo]

Similar things are happening with the new iPhones, too...

[alms24sebring]

Yeah I heard about this. There are supposedly lots of Volts catching fire while charging. Obviously its something with the batteries getting too much voltage and/or batteries are underrated

[PapaSmurf2k3]

There are supposedly lots of Volts catching fire while charging.

HUH?! That's the first I've heard of that. Do you have a link to said story/data?

[Bubba1]

There are supposedly lots of Volts catching fire while charging.

HUH?! That's the first I've heard of that. Do you have a link to said story/data?

Untrue from what I've read. It's not a case of hundreds of exploding Pinto's. What's being hyped is one particular fire that happened to a Volt 3 weeks after a government performed side impact test. Lithium burns very hot and had this occurred in a mall parking lot, the fire was serious enough that it could have engulfed anything parked beside it as well.

According to NHTSA who performed the test, they discovered a coolant leak after the test, which, over time, somehow reacted with the batteries, (which may or may not have been damaged in the crashtest) triggering the fire. Volts are not being recalled, though it appears special instructions are being developed by NHTSA on how to deal with modern electric cars, for things like crash inspections, towing, recovery, repair, salvage. And GM has some homework to do on how to better protect the batteries they use in the event of a crash.

GM's buy back offer is simply to nip the bad press in the bud.

[Jesda]

Truth is somewhere in the middle on this one. They drain fuel for crash tests because of ignition. Batteries cannot be physically drained.

[float_6969]

This is interseting. I wonder if the batteries had been left in a charged state after the the crash. If so, I could see that being an issue. I suspect discharging of batteries after an impact becoming standard protocol.

[300ZXttZMAN]

Dang thats the first time I have heard of that..

[AZhitman]

Normally, I wouldn't rush to GM's defense.

But this is much ado about nothing. I've not seen any reports of fires occurring after a crash, with the exception of the one that was left unattended after the crash and proper precautions weren't taken.

Even in a traditional vehicle, the first order of business after a serious crash is to disconnect the battery. Common sense.

[AZhitman]

Similar things are happening with the new iPhones, too...

So far, one documented report (still under investigation).

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/11/ ... ty-bureau/

[300ZXttZMAN]

Seems like they should have a electrical cut off when the airbags deploy just like some gas powered vehicles have fuel cut offs when the vehicle is in a wreck...

So do yall think that would help?

[Razi]

So.
Volts are part Ferrari?

[Bubba1]

I think more like a Ford Pinto

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dT0J0rcJTLo[/youtube]

[IanS]

Seems like they should have a electrical cut off when the airbags deploy just like some gas powered vehicles have fuel cut offs when the vehicle is in a wreck...

So do yall think that would help?

They do, and no it would not likely help much. All hybrid and electric vehicles have a master disconnect switch. AFAIK, most if not all of them will auto disconnect in the event of a percieved issue. I know with the Prius you could hack into the HV cable and the system should lock out automaticly before you feel anything more then a tingle. Its a saftey risk to have it any other way. Imagine if you got in a wreck and the cable got severd. The car would become charged with 600 or so volts of juice. The problem is, the switch cant help if the battery itself is damaged. You can shut the fuel pump off, but if the tank has a big hole, its going to leak.

To greg. the iphone is uncertain, but there have been many reports out of china about other devices experiencing thermal runaway. Granted, we all know the quality of chinese crap. I must agree that this is most likely being blown out of proportion. Look at how people reacted when the Prius started selling well. there were a lot of people freaking out about being electricuted. There were even chain emails about a friend of a friend of a friend who died trying to rescue somone from a wrecked Prius. I was at a hybrid training seminar not long ago, and according to Toyota, the NTHSB, or DOT, no deaths have been attributed to a Hybrid HV system to date.

[Encryptshun]

Wow. I was just talking about the Volt with a buddy of mine and said "Kill it. Kill it with fire."


Ahem. GIVE ME A HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS.

*cross fingers and waits*

[alms24sebring]

I thought I heard in a radio news station they were catching fire while charging. Regardless, fire bad.

Correction, Lambo is more of a fire hazard than Ferrari

[Dattebayo]

Regardless, fire bad.

ha!

[AZhitman]

UPDATE:

General Motors Co. is close to deciding on a package of fixes to make the lithium-ion battery in the Chevrolet Volt extended-range hybrid sedan more resistant to post-crash fires, Reuters reports.

The news service cites two unidentified sources who say the repairs being considered include reinforcing the battery’s case, laminating its circuitry and strengthening battery coolant lines to make them more resistant to leakage.

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration launched an investigation of the Volt late last month after fires ignited in two of the cars a week or more after the agency conducted crash tests.

GM reportedly believes that a battery coolant line broke during the crash and that leaking coolant crystallized on internal battery wiring, causing a short circuit.

Reuter’s sources say GM might be able to head off a costly recall by quickly making the repairs to the 6,300 Volts now on the road. They estimate the fixes could cost less than $9 million but caution the expense could rise if NHTSA insists on a more complicated solution or demands a recall.