Looks like some more Volt battery fires.

Regarding the Volt's power cord, it's interesting that this news is coming out again now... it's not new, as the Yahoo article points out.

Chevy Volt's 120v charging cable getting too hot? brought this up in July 2011. Cars.com Experiences First Chevy Volt Defect - KickingTires experienced this.

Edmunds back then had issues too:
2011 Chevrolet Volt: Sorry About That, Socket
2011 Chevrolet Volt: New Charge Cord

As a side note, I do wish the Leaf's 120 volt EVSE was switchable to a lower amperage. IIRC, it's not.

 

I thought all the power cords were replaced by GM when the issue/complaints surfaced a few months ago.

 

Chevy Volt charging not likely a cause of NC garage fire By Sebastian Blanco RSS feed
Posted Dec 1st 2011 7:59PM



While the crashed battery issue remains under investigation, the "Chevy Volt fire" that happened in North Carolina recently looks more and more like it was not caused by the car or the EVSE "charger." Representatives of Duke Energy and Progress Energy, which is helping run a test fleet of Volts that the burnt car was a part of, say it is once again safe to plug in. After the fire, the utilities recommended Volt owners not use their chargers while the cause was investigated. Now, a Duke Energy spokesperson told the Charlotte Observer, "We've notified customers they can continue using the charging stations if they want to. We don't believe the charging station caused the fire." In fact, the Siemens charger that was connected to the Volt at the time of the fire, "was charging normally even as the fire was going on. It was sending a warning: It's getting warmer, it's getting warmer," said a Progress Energy spokesman. A final report is due in early January.

What is real is the damage the fire caused – $800,000 to a $1.5-million house – and its effect on the ongoing discussion about the safety of plug-in vehicles. Got something to contribute?


News Source: Charlotte Observer


Chevy Volt charging not likely a cause of NC garage fire

 

What does the return prong on the back of the kill a watt look like? If that's clean it looks like a defective kill a watt front socket connector was the cause assuming your plug prong has no defect. As you say you didn't have a problem with the plug directly in an outlet. A bad connection causing high resistance between the socket on the kill a watt and the prong on your power cord would put heat right there and melt both. I assume the kill a watt didn't open up on the neutral line? You may be able to check that with an ohmmeter.

 

That scorched plug in the Yahoo photo was plugged in to an outlet multiplier and not directly into the wall. You know, the things we all learned in grade school not to make heavy use have or it might overload the outlet and start a fire. The additional male to female connection on the Kill-a-watt or one those plug extensions is enough additional resistance to cause problems with such a long time, high amperage draw.

Perspective buyers need to be aware that using these chargers is like leaving the vacuum running for 3 to 4 hours, and not a table a lamp. After, running for 20 minutes a vacuum's cord will be warm.

 

So, are Volt owners comfortable with charging while they go to sleep?

 

They should be as long as they have it properely wired. I don't understand putting a killowatt inbetween the car and outlet more than once, or not having proper wiring in the garage. The two volt fires were when the volt was crashed in a lab then the battery sat and when a fire damaged battery sat for a long time. The other fires had other problems.

 

Not sure but it was said here before that the charging cord, think it is a J1772, that come with the Volt would get hot and sometimes melt. Apparently, GM did replace some initially but not all.

 

My last GM was an '01 Duramax, never drove it at night, the dimmer switch for the cabin light used to get (RED) hot to the touch when the lights were on, I avoided using it because I didn't want to go up in flames...

Really

Now I pull my horses with a Ford.

Not saying there's anything wrong with a dimmer switch that causes a vehicle to ignite, not saying GM isn't a great company (They got a 50b$ loan for a company worth 15b$, what's wrong with that?) Just saying I'd rather drive a Ford, and survive

 

That is definitely bad if they have defective cords in the field. AFAIK the cords haven't caused fires, but got too hot. A bigger problem seems to be wiring going to the outlet and proper breakers.

 

I don't remember what Gwmort posted on the charging cord issue. Maybe they were all replaced and no longer an issue, but new headlines!

Chevrolet Volt power cord emerges as next fire risk

 

With the potential for plug melting due to heat, perhaps 120 volt EVSEs should have a temperature sensor in the plug itself to temporarily reduce or cut load in the event of overheating. All sorts of cheap consumer electronics, chips and motherboard have temp sensors in them now.

Since this could lead to charging mysteries, it'd be nice if the EVSE had some sort of light or display to indicate that the cut/cutback happened and how many times since it was last plugged in...

It could help prevent a fire and be a signal to replace the wall outlet or remove the cord/device in between the EVSE's plug and the wall.

 

Old news, the GM-volt thread they cite as "recently" was lasted posted to in July. I'm actually the guy that burnt my wrist while winding it up (in like March).

There was a problem with a lot of the very first 120v EVSE's. Everyone that complained of a problem got a new one, but they didn't do a straight recall and reissue. The new ones are more robust and there have been far fewer issues. As far as I know all of the 2012's shipped with the new unit.

Separate note, I've been tripping the breaker a lot at work lately, I think the extra draw when the TMS comes on is more than the circuit can handle (plug was never believed to be very reliable before the Volt). I cut back to 9 amp setting and haven't had any problems.

 

GM Buys Batteries Less Volatile Than Volt

 

That aticle is not changing the volt its about the Spark and its is old new.. GM decided on A123 for new cars back in August and formal stated A123 was the supplier for the Spark back in October (google GM spark A123 Announcement)

Your cited Bloomberg article is just trying to grab attention by linking an older decision to recent headlines.