GM to Volt owners: We’ll make it right.

[ChargedEVsMag]

You can say what you will about GM, but there’s no question that the company has been offering exemplary customer service (or is it damage control?) since the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) launched a safety investigation into the Volt’s lithium-ion batteries... http://www.chargedevs.com/content/news-wire/post/gm-volt-owners-we%E2%80%99ll-make-it-right" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[GPowers]

GM has agreed to loan Volt drivers a different car or buy back their Volt, if the Volt owner so desires.

Strange there is so much concern over a battery fire that happens seven days after a crash test. Opposed to the every day gasoline car that carry 10 or more gallons of flammable liquid that can burst into flame right after a crash.

Who is concerned about making gasoline tanks safer? I think there is something like 200,000 plus car crashes that also burn.

 

[TomT]

I'm curious where that number came from... Modern car gas tanks, fuel systems, and where they are placed are actually quite safe and fuel fires in a collision are exceedingly rare. Most car fires that do occur are much older cars where the fuel line or a component in the engine compartment have failed from old age or lack of maintenance.

Who is concerned about making gasoline tanks safer? I think there is something like 200,000 plus car crashes that also burn.

 

[edatoakrun]

I'm curious where that number came from... Modern car gas tanks, fuel systems, and where they are placed are actually quite safe and fuel fires in a collision are exceedingly rare. Most car fires that do occur are much older cars where the fuel line or a component in the engine compartment have failed from old age or lack of maintenance.

Who is concerned about making gasoline tanks safer? I think there is something like 200,000 plus car crashes that also burn.

Gasoline fires following collisions are quite common. I found several other reports of local vehicle fires, while looking for the horrific story below, (see photo at the link) which occurred several hundred yards from my home, two years ago.

If we had not embraced the ICEV before motor vehicle safety standards were developed, we would never have allowed the damned Molotov-cocktails-on-wheels on the public roads.

OAK RUN - A teenage boy was killed Sunday afternoon after the SUV he was riding in hit a tree and caught fire at Oak Run and Lookout Mountain roads.

Three other teenage boys were also in the SUV, with the driver suffering moderate injuries in the wreck just after 4 p.m., said officer Chris Enriquez of the California Highway Patrol. Two of the boys were uninjured.

The names and ages of the boys were not immediately available.

The vehicle had been headed south on Oak Run Road when it left the roadway at a curve and hit a tree, Enriquez said. He said speed was a factor in the wreck, but did not elaborate.

After the crash, the front-seat passenger was pinned inside the wreckage, Enriquez said. As the other boys tried to free him, fire started from the bottom of the vehicle and flames began to fill the SUV.

Passers-by also tried to help free the boy, but to no avail.

"All attempts failed and he succumbed to the fire," Enriquez said...

http://www.redding.com/news/2009/aug/10/teen-dies-in-suv-crash-near-oak-run/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

Gasoline fires following collisions are quite common.

Yes, but those events (usually) don't occur while you are sleeping.

If we had not embraced the ICEV before motor vehicle safety standards were developed, we would never have allowed the damned Molotov-cocktails-on-wheels on the public roads.

I've thought the same thing. No way lawyers would ever let you ship a product that has the consumer handling a flammable liquid.

 

[bturner]

I don't understand all this concern about the Volts battery either. Here in Phoenix gas cars catch on fire all the time, even when just driving down the road. It happens so often that we have a word for it : CarBQue.

 

[Volt3939]

I don't understand all this concern about the Volts battery either. Here in Phoenix gas cars catch on fire all the time, even when just driving down the road. It happens so often that we have a word for it : CarBQue.

CarBQue, love it!

Caught a few snippets of a traffic report on the car radio today: "engulfed in flames on the center divide" was all I heard before punching the channel changer button...

 

[edatoakrun]

...The site GM-Volt takes a more data-driven approach, with a post by Bill Destler, president of the Rochester Institute of Technology, evaluating the fire risk in a Volt based on the low sample size and limited number of events to date.

His conclusion: "Volt owners have [no] more reason to be concerned about the safety of their vehicles than do the drivers of other vehicles."

Kramer, meanwhile, cites data from the National Fire Protection Association showing that during 2010, there were 184,500 fires, mostly from liquid fuel tanks, among all U.S. vehicles. They resulted in 285 civilian deaths, an additional 1,440 injuries, and a total of $1 billion in property damage.

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1070126_todays-volt-update-gm-buyback-owners-rally-sales-goal-unmet" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"Volt owners have [no] more reason to be concerned about the safety of their vehicles than do the drivers of other vehicles."

Should be corrected to read: "Volt owners have [no] more reason to be concerned about the safety of their vehicles than do the drivers of other Gas-fueled vehicles."

IMO, increased safety, as well as the lower operating and environmental costs, will all be major factors in the replacement of ICEVs by BEVs in the near future.

 

[edatoakrun]

Not Backing Off
GM also said the Volt is still safe enough to promote its image as a technology leader. Chevrolet features the Volt as a centerpiece in its advertising and has no plans to back off, Ewanick said.

“We have been advertising the Volt heavily and we’re not going to change anything with regard to spending,” he said on the conference call...

‘Larger Than the Volt’

No Leafs have caught fire, said Brian Brockman, a Nissan spokesman. Ricardo Reyes, a Tesla Motors Inc. spokesman, said that 10 of the company’s cars have been in accidents and no fires have been reported. The Leaf and Tesla’s models use lithium-ion batteries.

The Volt’s fires may scare consumers away from lithium-ion batteries, said Harmon, the “Feeding Frenzy” author.

“This issue is really larger than the Volt,” Harmon said. “This could cast a pall over whether customers will trust one of their vehicles to be electric. A crisis like this can have a big impact on eroding confidence in the new technology.” ...

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-12-01/gm-s-volt-battery-fires-threaten-to-disrupt-moon-shot-cars.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Any LEAF owners experiencing schadenfreude should remember how crappy GM compact cars in the 70's, and crappy diesel cars in the 80's, discredited those entire market segments.

 

[highcountryrider]

<snip>Strange there is so much concern over a battery fire that happens seven days after a crash test. Opposed to the every day gasoline car that carry 10 or more gallons of [VERY] flammable liquid that can burst into flame right after a crash.<snip>

Have to agree with that. Wasn't there just the one Volt fire? And that after a crash test?
I'm no GM fan, but this seems way overblown to me. Bad press is going to hurt all EVs IMO.

 

[GPowers]

Here an article:

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/Autos/story?id=1207557&page=1#.TtqipbJFunA" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

ABC news states 266,000 and 520 deaths...

or this one:
http://www.autoinsurancequotes.com/news/car_fires/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

one more...

National Fire Protection Association with stats back to 2003 stating an average of 287,000 vehicle fires per year

http://tkolb.net/FireReports/2011/2003-2007VehicleFireTrends.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Google is your friend

I'm curious where that number came from... Modern car gas tanks, fuel systems, and where they are placed are actually quite safe and fuel fires in a collision are exceedingly rare. Most car fires that do occur are much older cars where the fuel line or a component in the engine compartment have failed from old age or lack of maintenance.

 

[TomT]

But none of them - unless I missed it - give any idea of the AGE of the cars involved... As I hypothesized earlier, that is an important consideration. Also, you have to compare the number of different types of cars on the road to the relative percentage of the various number of fires to reach any meaningful conclusion.

Here an article:

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/Autos/story?id=1207557&page=1#.TtqipbJFunA" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

ABC news states 266,000 and 520 deaths...

or this one:
http://www.autoinsurancequotes.com/news/car_fires/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

one more...

National Fire Protection Association with stats back to 2003 stating an average of 287,000 vehicle fires per year

http://tkolb.net/FireReports/2011/2003-2007VehicleFireTrends.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Google is your friend

I'm curious where that number came from... Modern car gas tanks, fuel systems, and where they are placed are actually quite safe and fuel fires in a collision are exceedingly rare. Most car fires that do occur are much older cars where the fuel line or a component in the engine compartment have failed from old age or lack of maintenance.

 

[evnow]

Also, you have to compare the number of different types of cars on the road to the relative percentage of the various number of fires to reach any meaningful conclusion.

Well, since 0 (zero) Volts have caught fire on the road - ICE % will alsways be higher

Anyway - this is all just news that goes around for a few days and then everyone forgets. Remember all those Prius "unintended acceleration" problems ? They even had congressional hearings on those !

ps : Won't be surprised if the Republican house starts some hearing about this as well. Anything to "embarrass" Obama.

pps : Closing this thread so that all the Volt fire related issues can be discussed in one thread.

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=7066" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;