NHTSA Closes Chevy Volt Investigation
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has concluded its safety defect investigation into the Chevy Volt. It opened the case on November 25 after reports of the Volt catching on fire following severe crashes.
"The agency's investigation has concluded that no discernible defect trend exists and that the vehicle modifications recently developed by General Motors reduce the potential for battery intrusion resulting from side impacts," NHTSA said in a statement.
GM has decided to re-engineer the battery coolant system and make structural enhancements to Volt to protect the battery in the event of a crash. The automaker strengthened the structural elements that protect the battery, added a new sensor to the coolant system reservoir to monitor the coolant level and installed a tamper-resistant bracket to the coolant reservoir to prevent overfilling.
NHTSA also stated that there haven't been any real-world Volt crashes that have resulted in battery-related fires. The original fires were reported after lab tests on the Volt's battery pack resulted in an electric fire days later.
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no surprise here. any rational person that didn't have an emotional attachment to seeing gm fail knew that this was being blown out of proportion.
The fire is SO y'day news. Latest on the Volt is that GM dealers - others in addition to the one owned by the Congressman - do NOT want to sell the Volt, in NY and CA areas.
Reported on autonews (need to sign up), and written in a juicy fashion by
http://jalopnik.com/5878376/gm-dealers-say-no-to-more-chevy-volts
and
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2012/01/chevrolet-dealers-rejection-volt-allocation/
Its no big suprise that the car is considered safe AFTER the modifications....which means a defect DID exist.
please troy, if you decide to buy a volt (you won't), get in a SEVERE wreck, and then camp out in the wrecked car in a body shop that failed to follow the instructions to drain the battery...then maybe it's darwin at work and not evil g.m.