By Mike Colias, Automotive News - General Motors executives said today that they have come up with a fix to a design flaw that led some Chevrolet Volt battery packs to catch fire in days or weeks after government safety tests.
GM will reinforce the steel surrounding the Volt's battery pack to prevent it from being punctured during a crash. It also will add a sensor to the battery pack to monitor coolant leaks.
The action is not a product recall but a voluntary "customer satisfaction program" intended to make the Volt "even safer" and give the more than 8,000 Volt owners peace of mind, GM global product chief Mary Barra told reporters during a conference call today.
Volt owners can visit their Chevrolet dealership for the free fix, which should be ready sometime in February, officials said.
The same solution is being offered to owners of the Volt's European sibling vehicle, the Opel Ampera, GM said.
Probe still open
Barra said the fires that occurred in June and November after testing by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration were the result of a puncture in the side of the battery pack that allowed a small amount of coolant to leak into the pack. The coolant then interacted with electronics inside the pack, igniting them later.
Barra said GM informed NHTSA officials of the fix but would not comment on the status of a safety defect investigation the agency opened in November to assess the Volt's battery-related fire risks.
In a statement today, NHTSA said it crash-tested a Volt on Dec. 22 with the newly designed steel reinforcement and the test showed no damage to the battery compartment, nor any apparent coolant leakage.
The agency said it will continue to monitor the crashed Volt as a precaution for one more week and that the investigation remains open.
"Preliminary results of the crash test indicate the remedy proposed by General Motors today should address the battery intrusion," NHTSA said.
A voluntary fix
GM has sold more than 8,000 Volts since its December 2010 launch, with another 4,400 on dealer lots, GM North America President Mark Reuss said today. GM is not requiring dealers to make the fix to the units in their inventory, he said.
GM will incorporate the design fix into the manufacturing process at its Detroit-Hamtramck plant, which remains idled for scheduled holiday downtime. The enhancements will be in place when production resumes, Reuss said.
Reuss declined to say how much the fix would cost GM or how many Volt owners he expected to come in for service.
Between Dec. 9 and Dec. 21, GM conducted four test crashes on Volts that had undergone the fix. None of the crashes resulted in a punctured battery pack and subsequent coolant leak, GM said in a statement.
Few taker on buyback
In late November, GM offered loaner vehicles to Volt owners who were concerned about safety problems, even though the automaker insisted the Volt was safe to drive. GM also offered to buy back any Volts from worried owners.
Reuss said today that about 250 owners have requested loaners or asked to sell their car back to GM. He said those requests are being processed.
Reuss said he doesn't think the news about the battery pack fires have negatively affected Volt sales or its image.
"I trust the Volt with the most important thing in the world to me -- my family," Reuss said. "I'm confident in asking our customers and potential customers to do the very same."
GM sold 1,529 Volts in December, its highest sales month since the car's launch. About one-third of those went to commercial fleet customers, the first Volts to be sold to fleets rather than individual buyers.
News of the government's investigation has threatened to dampen Volt sales and the enthusiasm around the car, which has become a source of corporate pride for post-bankruptcy GM.
Problems with the Volt battery pack surfaced on Nov. 11, when NHTSA disclosed that a Volt that had been involved in a side-impact crash test in May caught fire three weeks later in a storage facility.
Later in November, NHTSA opened a formal investigation after conducting three-follow-up tests that intentionally damaged the Volt's battery pack. One of the packs caught fire and another began to smoke and emit sparks. Both incidents occurred days or weeks after the batteries were damaged.
GM has said that the fires wouldn't have occurred had the batteries been drained immediately after they were damaged. In real-world Volt crashes, GM sends engineers to depower the battery, the automaker has said.
GM will reinforce the steel surrounding the Volt's battery pack to prevent it from being punctured during a crash. It also will add a sensor to the battery pack to monitor coolant leaks.
The action is not a product recall but a voluntary "customer satisfaction program" intended to make the Volt "even safer" and give the more than 8,000 Volt owners peace of mind, GM global product chief Mary Barra told reporters during a conference call today.
Volt owners can visit their Chevrolet dealership for the free fix, which should be ready sometime in February, officials said.
The same solution is being offered to owners of the Volt's European sibling vehicle, the Opel Ampera, GM said.
Probe still open
Barra said the fires that occurred in June and November after testing by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration were the result of a puncture in the side of the battery pack that allowed a small amount of coolant to leak into the pack. The coolant then interacted with electronics inside the pack, igniting them later.
Barra said GM informed NHTSA officials of the fix but would not comment on the status of a safety defect investigation the agency opened in November to assess the Volt's battery-related fire risks.
In a statement today, NHTSA said it crash-tested a Volt on Dec. 22 with the newly designed steel reinforcement and the test showed no damage to the battery compartment, nor any apparent coolant leakage.
The agency said it will continue to monitor the crashed Volt as a precaution for one more week and that the investigation remains open.
"Preliminary results of the crash test indicate the remedy proposed by General Motors today should address the battery intrusion," NHTSA said.
A voluntary fix
GM has sold more than 8,000 Volts since its December 2010 launch, with another 4,400 on dealer lots, GM North America President Mark Reuss said today. GM is not requiring dealers to make the fix to the units in their inventory, he said.
GM will incorporate the design fix into the manufacturing process at its Detroit-Hamtramck plant, which remains idled for scheduled holiday downtime. The enhancements will be in place when production resumes, Reuss said.
Reuss declined to say how much the fix would cost GM or how many Volt owners he expected to come in for service.
Between Dec. 9 and Dec. 21, GM conducted four test crashes on Volts that had undergone the fix. None of the crashes resulted in a punctured battery pack and subsequent coolant leak, GM said in a statement.
Few taker on buyback
In late November, GM offered loaner vehicles to Volt owners who were concerned about safety problems, even though the automaker insisted the Volt was safe to drive. GM also offered to buy back any Volts from worried owners.
Reuss said today that about 250 owners have requested loaners or asked to sell their car back to GM. He said those requests are being processed.
Reuss said he doesn't think the news about the battery pack fires have negatively affected Volt sales or its image.
"I trust the Volt with the most important thing in the world to me -- my family," Reuss said. "I'm confident in asking our customers and potential customers to do the very same."
GM sold 1,529 Volts in December, its highest sales month since the car's launch. About one-third of those went to commercial fleet customers, the first Volts to be sold to fleets rather than individual buyers.
News of the government's investigation has threatened to dampen Volt sales and the enthusiasm around the car, which has become a source of corporate pride for post-bankruptcy GM.
Problems with the Volt battery pack surfaced on Nov. 11, when NHTSA disclosed that a Volt that had been involved in a side-impact crash test in May caught fire three weeks later in a storage facility.
Later in November, NHTSA opened a formal investigation after conducting three-follow-up tests that intentionally damaged the Volt's battery pack. One of the packs caught fire and another began to smoke and emit sparks. Both incidents occurred days or weeks after the batteries were damaged.
GM has said that the fires wouldn't have occurred had the batteries been drained immediately after they were damaged. In real-world Volt crashes, GM sends engineers to depower the battery, the automaker has said.
It's good that they improved the steel reinforcement around the Volt car battery. Such a move will help improve the safety of the passengers, just as how a stronger airbag protects the driver from debris punctures.
ReplyDeleteNaomi Champy