All ends well for General Motors as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced today that it is officially closing the safety defect probe into the post-crash fire risk of the Chevrolet Volt.
The federal safety agency stated that after an eight-week long investigation and following a fix announced by GM to reduce the potential for battery intrusion from side impacts, it concludes that “no discernible defect trend exists”.
“Based on the available data, NHTSA does not believe that Chevy Volts or other electric vehicles pose a greater risk of fire than gasoline-powered vehicles,” the agency said in a statement.
NHTSA had opened the investigation on November 28, 2011, after some Volts either caught fire or started to emit smoke and/or sparks in the days or weeks following a crash test.
During its own investigation, GM discovered that the problem involved the protective casing around the Volt’s battery coolant system as it could be penetrated during impact allowing fluid to leak onto a circuit board causing an electrical short.
GM answer to the problem came on January 5 when it revealed a fix, which includes a stronger structure around the batteries, the addition of a sensor in the reservoir of the battery coolant system and the mounting of a tamper-resistant bracket on top of the battery coolant reservoir.
It should be noted that no Volts on the road have caught fire. The agency’s statement on the matter read:
“NHTSA remains unaware of any real-world crashes that have resulted in a battery-related fire involving the Chevy Volt or any other electric vehicle. Generally all vehicles have some risk of fire in the event of a serious crash. However, electric vehicles have specific attributes that should be made clear to consumers, the emergency response community, and tow truck operators and storage facilities.”
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