Chevy Volt catches on fire.

Any car can catch fire after an accident or while running!

Lamborghini Gallardo Super Trofeo Stradale that nice person on fire-Garage Car

 

It must burn pretty deep.

 

Is unfortunate that you have to dig in to the article to figure out it happened 3 weeks after the collision. There are quite a number of things to worry about when driving cars like this, and the Volt also adds gasoline to that equation. People have been so desensitized it seems that they do not think of the dangers of doing their everyday business, and expect everything to be 100% safe.. You have to worry about possible electrocutions, fires, leaking electrolytes, and possibly high voltage igniting the gasoline vapors in an accident if it is severe enough.

In the broader public sense I think this will indeed be a black eye on EV's. Personally I think you have more chances of dying in a SUV rollover crash than from your EV bursting into flames. Granted there are a lot more SUV's on the road than EV's so I guess time will tell with that one. I still wonder about that one garage fire though where it burned down with the Volt, and that home made Suzuki EV... I know my charger for our Volt gets pretty hot at the plug end, and I try to be mindful of the wiring. I actually am going to put in a call to GM about it as I think it is a possible hazard. Especially since it gets hot enough to melt my Kill-A-Watt EZ meter. I simply changed the charge amperage from 12amp to 8, and have not had anymore problems out of it. I really suspect that charger is the reason that guys garage burned down though. Possibly due to it drawing to much current for to long, and melting the jacketing on the wiring.

 

Toyota has said they don't want to be the first but the best. Having the prototypes on the road for two years has proven to be the right strategy.

What would happen to a Volt in a less severe accident? Would GM replace the entire battery pack?

No wonder they were limiting the production very low. They must've known about it back in May.

 

How will the production PiP address the concerns you are expressing here? The PiP battery pack is presumably more prone to damage in a rear collision whereas the Volt battery is centrally located. The NCA cathodes being used in the PiP batteries are at least, if not more, prone to thermal runaway problems than the Manganese Spinel with NMC cathodes used in the Volt.

 

True. They catch fire while the occupants are still inside.

 

I suppose a few million Toyota recalls is part of that "nobody's perfect"

 

Re: GM Volt Fire Said to Prompt U.S. Probe of Lithium Batteries

http://priuschat.com/forums/chevrolet-volt/99997-chevy-volt-catches-fire.html

Already posted ... day late & a dollar short

Yep ... the search tool can be your friend (though it often sucks major butt)

 

Probably already stated, but primetime TV news reported this yesterday. Ouch!!!!!

Hey, I'm still going to test drive the Leaf at the SF auto show next weekend.

Any other PCers going to be there? I'll be there at 10am, Nov 19th, the first group for test drives. Give a shout out!

 

Normal procedures would have pulled the battery before storage. They also repeated the test several times with no issues at all. So nothing to see here keep moving.

 

The fact that they were not able to reproduce it, is an issue. Was it due to manufacturing defect or something else? It is a concern because it may happen while parked at any time.

If it is due to the damage from the crash, it is easier to address because it is reproducable. As of now, they are not sure of the cause.

This plus the potential charger starting fire is still under investigation. I wish they tested with prototypes for at least a year before releasing it to the public.

 

Or let the public test them for two years?

 

I'll be at the SF Auto Show but I'll probably be going sometime between the 21 and 23rd, to avoid the crowds. As for Leaf test drives, I've test driven them before but might sign up and sign up again for the San Jose ones. I don't think test drives around Moscone will be that great from what I recall about the roads around there, unless you get to take it on the freeway.

I'm going to start another thread for a mini-meet at the SF Auto Show and the 2 Leaf drive events.

 

What . . .you think maybe some GM hate'n - disgruntled ex-EV1 leasee's got together and planted a white phospherous granade deep within the core of the Volt battery - 3 weeks after the crash test? Oh yea ... everyone loves a good conspiracy.


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For now I'm left thinking that wrecked cars are vulnerable to electric shorts, and it is a VERY good idea to at least disconnect if not remove the batteries -- both 12v and traction. It it turns out that the battery itself short-circuited and caught fire then GM has a problem.

 

Here's the latest.
Bottom Line - Federal testers may have caused Chevy Volt fire, GM says

 

That report suggests that even if the battery had been removed from the car, it still might have caught fire later if fluid at seeped in to the battery case prior to removal.

 

That report suggests that even if the battery had been removed from the car, it still might have caught fire later had fluid seeped in to the battery case prior to removal.

GM's stance that the energy in the battery should have been removed sounds like garbage to me. First of all, the normal electronics will leave about 5.4 kwh in the case after 'complete' discharge. Second, what of cars put back in service after accidents ? Or sent to regular junkyards ?

I'd like to hear from EEs whether batteries can be designed to handle internal shorts without catching fire or exploding.

 

In the report mentioned above, GM first says procedure not followed, but at the end they say a 'de-energizer' device will be available in 2012. No doubt next time GM will fault whoever did not buy the device.

Typical GM. What a POS company.