General Motors Scheduled To Investigate Chevrolet Volt's Role in Fire At Barkhamsted Home

Where's the 24/7 news coverage?

Volt burning down homes!
Volt spontaneously combusts without warning and when you put it into neutral (especially if that flips it upside down)!
GM makes baby eating car!

 

Besides the 150 Lithium PHEV Pri' that are running around the landscape
http://priuschat.com/forums/toyota-...ric-vehicle-prius-test-apples-vs-oranges.html (including the one in my drive way), there are thousands of Leafs and Teslas running around the landscape "fire free" believe it or not ... but if you really think the latest Lithium chemestries are tantamount to throwing filled propane bottles into a bon fire ... good luck with that. BTW, that 4 year old article (with the goofy concept prius picture) was prior to Toyota deciding Lithium works just fine. Why else would Toyota use Lithium in their PHEV test fleet? Toyota has already stated time & time again, that the PHEV Prius WILL get the Lithium pack (larger or smaller is the only unknown detail) that they're testing. The PHEV Prius that Toyota is letting me test drive has over TWO years of driving on it already (over 26K miles) . . . and there's hardly a hint of smoke on it. I've thoroughly buffed off the black scorch marks too.

 

Lipos are like little balls of super hot burning craziness. Even a laptop battery if it's fully charged and punctured and make some impressive flame. Now think about how many more cells are in a car. This is just for perspective, though; frankly I'd rather have my car's battery pack go haywire while I'm in it than the gas tank.

 

gasoline is not as violate and hence you do not see cars exploding or burning often.

 

just because something is called same name, doesnt mean it is the same. I wouldnt think GM and Toyota use same designs in anything, let alone batteries.

I would be very worried about that Volt's battery catching on fire 5 days after original fire. I have read Prius NiMH fire guide and it specifically states those batteries are unlikely to catch fire on their own, even if spilled.

If Volt's battery chemistry is so unstable that it can not be exposed to the air, then Volt after an accident will have to be treated as hazardous and with utmost care.

This is very worrying.

 

My point is that Toyota approached this in a very careful manner, testing for several years and even scrapping the project a couple times because they did not feel the chemistry was safe for every day use.

Volt battery testing started a year after the article I cited and came to fruition a year before the Prius (maybe longer if production is delayed further).

The 150 cars you keep talking about are basically feasibility test mules, something I do not think Chevy did and maybe if they did this would not have happened.

What I was saying is they should not have rushed this car into production with basically untested (in this application) technology.

 

I suspect the Volt was simply not completely extinguished, and a hot spot flared back up. Assuming there was another fire to go along with reports of smoke. Neither car had been removed from the garage after the first fire.

That's from the blog on the EV Samurai on an, um, alternate way to charge the NiMH pack with some cells removed.

Can't even say if it's the same car. So speculation is just that. For all we know, they were refinishing furniture, and didn't heed the warning on the linseed oil can about letting any rags used dry out before crumbling up and tossing into the trash.

 

I'll have to disagree, unless the two cars were charging from a shanty, most houses have very reliable circuit breakers. I'm thinking the Volt may have had something wrong with the battery pack.

 

I would say let's wait for the final investigation before jumping to conclusions. The second fire could have definitely been caused by damage from the first, and it was described as smoldering not exploding.

Both storm the owner and volunteer fireman, and the gm team have inspected the volt, cord set, and charger, and said they are not to blame. I would not take their word for it, but if it was obviously the car the fire inspectors should have seen evidence by now. The car or charger could have requested too much energy, but circuit breakers should have protected the garage. Jumping to the conclusion that the volt was the cause and not the victim of the fire is not merited by the evidence.

 

Big picture, I think everyone better served just waiting until the investigation is complete. As to the fire and ignition the answers will be brought forth.

As to Lithium Ion batteries? Even when Toyota said they weren't planning to use them immediately in Gen 3 Hybrids, my feeling was it wasn't really so much a case of Toyota thinking Lithium Ion wasn't safe and/or reliable, as it was the fact that Toyota already has an infrastructure supporting supply of NiMH. I don't think it was something Toyota could afford to immediately abandon. But I think the transition in the future at whatever pace, will clearly be to Lithium Ion.

Most manufacturers not burdened with already having a high selling hybrid that has been manufactured for a decade already sold and in production have chosen Lithium Ion batteries.

 

I don't think the high selling hybrid is the burden. The burden is toyota owning 80% of the company that makes virtually all Nimh car batteries. Lithium is the future, even if you own all of the manufacturing of today's tech.

 

Perhaps it is time to update the game "Clue". It was Col. Mustard...in the garage...with the Volt.

 

I agree. And wasn't aware of Toyota's direct interest in NiMH battery manufacturing.

 

Most Volts haven't burned either.

Between a Volt, its charger, another EV, its charger, the electric service panel, the structure's wiring, other appliances in that space, and potentially other combustibles in that space, its seems much too early to blame any specific thing.

 

I thought the flaming laptops and phones had Cobalt, whether straight LiCo or one of the LiCoNiMn mixtures, not the LiFePO4 used in electric vehicles.

 

Just a question,

If the Volt has lithium for the batteries, and there is a crack in the casing(s) could water from the fire dept hoses might have something to do with the smoldering?

Does lithium and water mix or does it provide for a combustion process?

DBCassidy

 

Metallic Lithium reacts violently with water. As in, explosion and fire.

 

Do you know who is the manufacturer/co-developer of their Li-ion for PHEVs and next Prius+?