What’s the biggest fear held by electric carmakers and advocates? That an isolated incident of an individual EV mysteriously catching fire would tarnish the image of all electric cars—and put the brakes on the emerging market for battery-powered cars. Unfortunately, those fears are starting to become too real—as details emerge about the case of Chevy Volt batteries catching fire after a severe crash continue to emerge.
Automotive News reports today that GM learned six months ago from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that a Chevrolet Volt caught fire three weeks after a test crash. Yet, the company said nothing until NHTSA did additional testing on Volt batteries in November. Only then did the company tell owners, dealers and the public that it is critical to drain power from the battery pack immediately after a crash. NHTSA also sat on the information.
It’s never easy to do damage control, and it’s understandable that GM didn’t want to tell the public just as the company was ramping up production. But by keeping quiet about the problem until there were thousands of Volts on the road, the carmaker risked transforming a minor and fixable concern into a public perception that electric cars have hidden dangers.
It doesn’t matter that the risk to public safety is nearly or completely non-existent, or that the dangers of gasoline tanks in internal combustion cars represent a much bigger and persistent threat. The damage to public perception of electric cars may already be done.
Get the Message Straight
The Volt is completely safe, yet General Motors chief executive officer Dan Akerson said the company is “going to take time out,” to decide if the liquid-cooled T-shaped lithium-ion battery pack should be redesigned. GM announced that it could buy back Volts from any owner concerned that the vehicle is a fire risk. GM spokesman Selim Bingol said not a single owner has requested to turn in a Chevy Volt.
Meanwhile, a group of 25 prominent Chevy Volt owners issued an open letter, entitled “Why Are Chevy Volt Owners Keeping Their Keys?” in support of the Volt. “We are keeping the keys to our Volt. We love our Volt and we feel safe driving our Volt,” the letter states.
The letter is signed by Volt owners such as former Michigan Governor Jennifer M. Granholm; actress Alexandra Paul; Felix Kramer, founder of CalCars; and Lyle Dennis, founder of GM-Volt.com. “Volt owners are glad that the NHTSA, GM, and other manufacturers have now implemented protocols for electric cars in a variety of circumstances,” states the group. “Just as it is necessary to empty a gas tank after a major impact, it is necessary to discharge a battery pack after a major impact. This is a simple and straightforward process.” That message, however, was muddled because Nissan says depowering the battery is not necessary to prevent fires.
Yesterday, I received an email from an inside source who says that battery experts are pointing to the flat-pack style of battery cells—like the ones that LG sells to GM and Ford—as the possible culprit. Others are looking at the coolant in the system—widely considered to be an advantage in maintaining the ideal temperature of a pack and thus ensuring adequate range—as a problem. Nissan’s Mark Perry told me last week that Nissan has no plans to add liquid cooling to its electric cars—a step Perry says is not necessary.
Defensive statements from Mary Barra, GM senior vice-president, global product development, aren’t helping. Speaking at a meeting of the Automotive Press Association, Barra said this is only an “after-the-fact” incident that occurred weeks after the crash. She tried to put a positive spin on the controversy. “It’s just going to benefit the industry,” said Barra. “It’s going to benefit, really, the whole electrification and how significant it is around the globe.”
I was of the mind that the entire incident will be lost on the general public, until I passed through U.S. Customs yesterday upon returning from my trip to the Tokyo Motor Show. When the Customs officer asked why I traveled to Japan, I told him that I was there to write about the motor show. “You see anything good?” he asked. I told him about the electric cars on display. He shook his head and said, “What about those Chevy Volt fires? I was just about to buy one, and now I’m going to wait at least a couple of years before buying an electric car. I don’t think they’re ready.”
This exchange made it absolutely clear to me that the Volt fire incident has the potential to do damage to not only Volt sales, but the entire EV market. I’m not sure where we go from here, but the quicker GM and NHTSA can say they identified a very specific and real problem—technical or otherwise—and that the issue is completely unique to the Volt, the sooner we can put the issue to rest. Is the Volt’s problem overblown? Maybe. Regardless, the incident looks like the biggest challenge to the future of electric cars that we’ve experienced since the Volt and LEAF went on the market nearly a year ago.
I don't think it'll be a problem. Not to be too biased, but the people buying these cars now are smart enough to know the significance of generation #1 of a car. Plus, if fires were a big deal, gas would never have replaced electric in the first place. My family owned two Fords and both had engine fires. We're not driving Fords anymore, but we're still filling up.