Feds Investigating Chevrolet Volt Fire - lithium ion battery pack

WASHINGTON-A Chevrolet Volt caught fire three weeks after the lithium battery went public
Federal officials said Friday that ion batteries were damaged in government crash tests and that regulators had conducted more careful checks on the safety of electric vehicle batteries.
But according to tests so far, regulators believe that batteries are safe and do not pose a greater fire risk than gasoline.
An official at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration told The Associated Press that it was the engine of power.
The official asked for anonymity to speak freely.
The burning car was tested by an agent contractor at a factory in Wisconsin on May 12, using a relatively new side --
The impact test, the official said, aims to replicate the situation of hitting a pole or tree.
Three weeks later, the car caught fire when it stopped at the testing facility.
NHTSA's investigation concluded that the crash test damaged the battery and subsequently caused a fire. Lithium-
Ion batteries for various consumer electronics, sometimes on fire when damaged.
GM spokesman Greg Martin said the test did not follow the GM engineer's procedure for dealing with the Volt after the accident.
He said the engineers conducted more than 300,000 hours of testing of Volt's battery pack to develop procedures, including the discharge and disposal of the battery pack.
"If these agreements were followed after this Test, the incident would not have happened," he said . ".
Martin says Volt is safe.
After the Volt fire, NHTSA and GM each copied the crash test and waited for three weeks, but in both cases the car was not on fire, officials said.
In these tests, the car's battery was also not damaged, officials said.
NHTSA officials said the agency could not explain why Volt's battery was damaged in one test, but did not damage in exactly the same way in the other two tests.
NHTSA and Doe are continuing to test Volt batteries and monitor cars that are already in use.
Government and GM officials say they do not know that there are any similar fires in the current 5,000 V voltage on the road.
Volt can drive 35 miles with battery power.
After that, a small gasoline engine powered the motor of the car.
NHTSA also requires manufacturers of electric vehicles currently on the market, or manufacturers planning to launch electric vehicles in the near future, to find out what procedures they have developed for discharging and handling batteries, including suggestions to reduce the risk of fire.
"NHTSA focuses on identifying the best way to ensure that consumers and emergency rescue workers are aware of any risks they may encounter after an electric vehicle
The agency said in a statement.
"Ultimately, we hope that the information we collect will lay the foundation for detailed guidance for the first phase
"Responding to the use of personnel and trailer operators at work in response to incidents involving these vehicles," the agency said . ".
In the event of a crash, NHTSA's advice to consumers is to do the same thing they would do in gasolinepowered car —
Leave the vehicle and move the safe distance.
The agency also advised against storing severely damaged electric vehicles near the garage or other vehicles. Lithium-
Ion batteries have become the subject of several recalls of consumer electronics.
Millions of laptop batteries produced by Sonyfor Apple Inc. , Dell Inc.
Lenovo Group Co. , Ltd.
On 2006 and 2007, they were recalled after finding that other PC manufacturers might overheat and ignite.