Chevy Volt Subject of Probe Due to Post-crash Fire Risk

[JMcEntegart]

The NHTSA is conducting an investigation after fires following routine testing.

Chevy Volt Subject of Probe Due to Post-crash Fire Risk : Read more

 

[captaincharisma]

yea fire risk...thats what happens when you plug it into the same power bar as your outdoor xmas lights

 

[CaedenV]

lol, gotta love chevy. A few years late, and then they try setting their customers on fire

 

[td854]

I can't tell if this study or whatever you want to call it is attacking electric vehicle safety or not but I'm pretty sure a tank of gasoline is going to be a bigger concern for fire than batteries. Of course the Volt has both, but, y'know, just sayin'.

 

[Guest]

I thought damn hard about getting a Chevy Volt, but in the end, it was this kind of "Chevy quality" that made me decide to wait until Honda or Toyota came out with a similar concept.

 

[captaincharisma]

from this chevy doesn't have the possibility like toyota where there issues really did turn out to be nothing but bad drivers

 

[stingstang]

It couldn't be more dangerous than a tank full of combustible liquid. (...though it has one of those, too)

 

[jj463rd]

Yep those Lithium Ion batteries are very dangerous.That's been known for quite a long while.Perhaps they should have used the much safer longer lasting Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries instead.Still I view electric cars as highly inefficient because of their heavy mass.Most of what's being transported is a very heavy vehicle rather than the weight of the driver,passengers,cargo and usually it's just a single wasteful occupant.
Electric power makes vastly more sense on lightweight short range vehicles like electric powered bicycles where they get around 1,000 mpg equivalency.

 

[jellico]

[citation][nom]td854[/nom]I can't tell if this study or whatever you want to call it is attacking electric vehicle safety or not but I'm pretty sure a tank of gasoline is going to be a bigger concern for fire than batteries. Of course the Volt has both, but, y'know, just sayin'.[/citation]
We've been making gas tanks a lot longer than we've been making high-capacity lithium-ion batteries. Basically, nothing short of a leaking tank and a fire or spark will ignite the fuel. Conversely, LI batteries are notorious for becoming unstable after even minor damage. And, unfortunately, you will have no indication that your battery has become dangerous until it starts heating up shortly before exploding. Just saying.

 

[sixdegree]

GM should just install an automatic fire extinguisher near the battery array and call it a day. Or goes the extra mile and install some mechanical device to jettison the battery array to the sky in case of severe crash.

 

[house70]

[citation][nom]jellico[/nom]We've been making gas tanks a lot longer than we've been making high-capacity lithium-ion batteries. Basically, nothing short of a leaking tank and a fire or spark will ignite the fuel. Conversely, LI batteries are notorious for becoming unstable after even minor damage. And, unfortunately, you will have no indication that your battery has become dangerous until it starts heating up shortly before exploding. Just saying.[/citation]
Yes, and cars have been blowing up ever since the gas tank has been invented. A leaking tank and a spark are easy to come by in case of a crash and a bit of misfortune. Is not like every crash will result in a fire, but same goes for the Li-Ion batteries (not every time they heated up and caught fire after the crash tests; if every test was followed by an explosion, they would have abandoned the idea long ago). In case of a gas tank, you also have no indication until you smell gasoline, and then a fireball is the norm. Just saying.

 

[SmileyTPB1]

Read closely.

The Administration says that the Volt's battery was damaged during the test, which took place in May of this year, and the coolant line was ruptured. Three weeks later, a fire occurred involving the test vehicle and the NHTSA says the damage done during the crash was what led to the fire.

So basically after they crashed the car and then let it sit around damaged. I'll bet they did nothing to disable the battery after the wreck. The first thing you should do after a wreck is disable the battery. GM spends a lot of money training first responders on the proper way to do it so that no one gets hurt because that battery is extremely dangerous and can kill you. Properly disabled there should be no way for the battery to cause any sort of fire.

Shame on the NHTSB.

 

[oxxfatelostxxo]

im suprised not one of you defend this car at all.

WHO THE HELL, would still be driving a car a week later that just got the SH^T beat out of its side....So overall this info is pointless unless its proven that there are any immediate risks to driving it.

 

[drumsrule786]

Yea who is going to be driving their car 3 weeks after it got totaled? Also isn't getting away from any totaled car kind of a no brainer because of other hazardous materials every car contains...

 

[LuckyDucky7]

Heh- so the old action movie formula of "car goes over cliff and explodes" will still apply to 21st-century technology.

 

[Aionism]

[citation][nom]jj463rd[/nom]Still I view electric cars as highly inefficient because of their heavy mass.Most of what's being transported is a very heavy vehicle rather than the weight of the driver,passengers,cargo and usually it's just a single wasteful occupant.Electric power makes vastly more sense on lightweight short range vehicles like electric powered bicycles where they get around 1,000 mpg equivalency.[/citation]
Is this a real post? Do you live in a world where gas cars would float away into the sky if they didn't have passengers and cargo?

 

[oxxfatelostxxo]

Heh- so the old action movie formula of "car goes over cliff and explodes" will still apply to 21st-century technology.

No, you gotta wait a week for the BOOM =P

 

[husker]

In other news... If you saw 3/4 of the way through a rung on a ladder, it will eventually lead to catastrophic failure and probable injury. Ladders are therefore unsafe and should not be used.

 

[fyasko]

[citation][nom]captaincharisma[/nom]from this chevy doesn't have the possibility like toyota where there issues really did turn out to be nothing but bad drivers[/citation]

you mean a 1998 cavalier that runs on batteries isn't a good idea? chevy has used the same crap designs for years... they need to stick to trucks.

 

[jezus53]

I love how everyone is bashing chevy on this. They left a wrecked car sitting for 3 weeks with a live battery and leaking coolant. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that eventually the coolant will reach the battery and cause a fire.

So what I took away from this, don't take 3 weeks to remove someone from a Chevy Volt that has crashed.

And to those who think this can't happen to Toyota and Honda, get out of your little dream world. I love Honda's, they are easy to work on and cheap, but they can still have the same problem because this isn't a problem with GM, it's a problem with the nature of electricity and coolant.