As Toyota found out the hard way, when there’s a safety issue on hand, no matter how small or unlikely the possibility of something going wrong on a customer’s car is, in the long run, it’s much better to address the problem before someone gets hurt…
In General Motors’ case, the problem has to do with the Chevrolet Volt’s battery package as severe-impact lab tests performed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration [NHTSA] resulted in some cars catching fire days or weeks after the crash.
GM’s own investigation found that the problem has to do with the protective casing around the battery coolant system as it could be pierced during impact allowing fluid to leak onto a circuit board thus causing an electrical short.
The Detroit-based automaker said it will address the problem by strengthening the structure around the batteries while also adding a sensor in the reservoir of the battery coolant system to monitor coolant levels and a tamper-resistant bracket to the top of the battery coolant reservoir to help prevent potential coolant overfill.
GM said that it conducted four successful crash tests with the enhanced Volts between December 9 and 21. “There was no intrusion into the battery pack and no coolant leakage in any of the tests,” the company said in a statement.
Mary Barra, GM senior vice president of Global Product Development, commented:
“These enhancements and modifications will address the concerns raised by the severe crash tests. There are no changes to the Volt battery pack or cell chemistry as a result of these actions. We have tested the Volt’s battery system for more than 285,000 hours, or 25 years, of operation. We’re as confident as ever that the cell design is among the safest on the market.”
The automaker will notify existing Volt customers to bring their vehicles in for the fix, while the safety enhancements are being incorporated into the Volt manufacturing process as production resumes this month.
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