Government Motors used the stimulus money to create car that people don't want. In fact, there is no reason to own a car that will catch on fire weeks after it's totaled. Americans should understand that we are far from perfecting technology. Currently, the risk with an electric car is greater than that of a gasoline car. With people buying less electric cars, I think Obama and Government Motors should get the hint.
(Detroit Free Press) Following a fire in a Chevrolet Volt several weeks after a crash test, government officials are weighing the need for new safety rules that could require first responders to drain electric vehicles’ batteries after a crash.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said today it had investigated a fire that occurred this spring, after the Volt extended-range electric vehicle underwent a 20 mile-per-hour, side-impact test for its five-star crash safety rating. The crash punctured the Volt’s lithium-ion battery, and after more than three weeks of sitting outside, the vehicle and several cars around it caught fire. No one was hurt.
General Motors believes the fire occurred because NHTSA did not drain the energy from the Volt’s battery following the crash, which is a safety step the automaker recommends, GM spokesman Rob Peterson said. NHTSA had not been told of the safety protocol, Peterson said.
“We don’t want to make it sounds like this one incident could be the general case,” the official said. “We don’t see the risk of electric vehicles as being any greater than that for a gasoline vehicle.”
This is the only crashed Volt ever to catch fire, GM spokesman Greg Martin said.
NHTSA plans more testing of the Volt's battery.
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