Providing a free loaner to Volt owners concerned about their car’s safety is all good and well – even better for some if the loaner is a Camaro or a Corvette.
However, General Motors, which is currently cooperating with the NHTSA to address the fire issues that ensued after the agency’s crash tests, may even go as far as redesigning its extended-range hybrid’s battery which is manufactured by South Korea’s LG Chem.
“We want to assure the safety of our customers, and so we’re just going to take a time out, if you will, in terms of redesigning the battery possibly”, GM CEO Dan Akerson told Reuters.
GM has reacted quickly after the NHTSA initiated an official probe on not just the Volt, but the lithium-ion batteries in general as well, even though no such incidents have been reported so far by the almost 5,500 Volt owners.
Sales of the Opel Ampera, the European version of the Volt, are also put on hold until GM’s engineers and federal regulators reach a conclusion over the battery fire risk investigation.
Akerson is confident that the whole issue will be resolved: “It is a safe car. We just want make sure that there are protocols post-crash. We want to make sure all the Ts are crossed, the Is are dotted, and no one has any question about the car long term.”
