The federal government this year has ordered a probe into the crash reports of the car model Chevrolet Volt as part of a defect investigation into whether the car’s lithium ion batteries pose a fire risk after a wreck. General Motors engineers along with the government agency are trying to establish the grounds of a fire involving Chevy Volt that occurred in June.
Upon completing the side-impact testing post three weeks, the hybrid plug-in car caught fire. Chevrolet Volt caught fire while parked in the storage facility, the flames spread to three adjacent parked automobiles. Further the tests conducted during the week of Nov14 produced yet another spark, smoke and fire. NHTSA announced opening a safety investigation procedure the following week.
The federal government has probed an investigation into the matter to assess the fire risk involved in the case of electric car Chevrolet Volt. According to reports there was one battery out of the lot that the government took into consideration for testing.
In response to these findings, General Motors commented that Chevrolet Volt is safe and does not pose life threat. The findings were a part of normal test procedure. The fires which occurred lately emerged during the crash test which was conducted six months ago.
NHTSA discovered a potential fire risk involving the damaged Volt batteries, when a Volt was parked in the test facility of Burlington that caught fire. The harshness of the fire was at optimum levels that may have caused the nearby parked vehicles to burn as well. Subsequently, safety parameters are first addressed and recognized in the electric vehicles henceforth, suggests the agency.
The agency is asking electric car manufacturers to furnish detailed information regarding their battery testing procedures. The manufacturers must provide details on how they will handle the batteries, the discharging process, and recommendations for reducing fire risks. As per NHTSA, should the car manufacturers seeking to launch their products in the market, furnishing a detailed report on battery testing is crucial.
General Motors and NHTSA have emphasized that the Chevy Volt is secure. So far, neither of them has received reports of actual fires from the car owners. NHTSA that ordained GM with five-star crash test rating on Volt has no plans of changing it.
Greg Martin, the spokesperson of General Motors has commented that the testing was a slice of regular evaluation process and nothing else.
