Feds open 'formal safety defect' probe into Chevy Volt

[Stich496]

A 35mph t bone test it was totaled

a bumper test car wouldn't sit, it get used again for another test.. it sat cause they couldn't reuse it..
media hype, if it was from a lite hit the media would've been all over that fact,

[Brian Lohnes]

We can think it was totaled, but since no photos have been published at this point, it is speculation. I also think that it was but it ain't fo sho until the evidence hits the interwebs.

[dieselgeek]

it wasn't a 5mph bumper test.. the thing was totaled..

in that case I agree the media reports are over the top.

but it's still a little bit scary to think that these things can be fine for a week or two, then POOF. It reminds me of (as squirrel pointed out) my first LiPo battery experience with a model aircraft. I cheaped out on the charger. POOF. after that I made a balancer/charger and those batteries are still sketchy in behavior.

[Stich496]

Ok, I get what you are saying now.

And I 100% agree that the specifics of the tests need to be released. If this thing took a 35mph side impact it is one thing. If it was the 5mph rear bumper test that caused this it is wholly another.

it wasn't a 5mph bumper test.. the thing was totaled..

[dieselgeek]

Ok, I get what you are saying now.

Hopefully it's all media hype. I'd love to see Chevy hit a home run with that car. Even cooler if GMPP brought one to Bonneville and made it haul ass, like Ford did with Hydrogen Fuel Cell powered car a few years ago.

[Brian Lohnes]

Ok, I get what you are saying now.

And I 100% agree that the specifics of the tests need to be released. If this thing took a 35mph side impact it is one thing. If it was the 5mph rear bumper test that caused this it is wholly another.

[dieselgeek]

Also, I think the situation is a little worse than you're making it sound. They performed standard NHTSA crash testing on the car... the batteries were "still working" but decided to catch fire a WEEK LATER. To me that's not the NHTSA being bogus, that's "Holy shit, these things can seem just fine and be huge fire hazards"

DOes that mean if I crack a wheel by hitting a curb in my Volt, it might become a flaming deathtrap a few weeks later on? they need to release more information but that is what it sounds like might happen. Batteries "seem fine" and blow up later on.

The fact that it happened first at the NHTSA is completely opposite to the Toyota problem - the NHTSA never found an example with Toyota that was valid. Whereas they're the ones that DISCOVERED you can make a Volt catch on fire when you think the batteries are just fine. Now everyone needs to make sure they have their batteries removed or disabled if they have a boo boo in their Volt. That blows on many levels.

[dieselgeek]

Scott, I added to my post since you threw yours up, but do you know the detail that the car caught on fire a week after the crash test?

Sure, I read the news this morning.

My point is that the NHTSA was *begging* to have anyone find a way to make a Toyota accellerate unintentionally - they hired third party contractors, and hit up many college engineering programs for help. NOBODY could make it happen.

Meanwhile, the NHTSA actually has in their possession a Volt that caught on fire. From my perspective (engineering), that is a huge difference. Nobody ever could demonstrate the Toyota problem to the NHTSA - meanwhile the NHTSA isn't going to have to pay money to contract engineers to demonstrate how a Volt catches fire, because they have the Magic Bullet already.

Does that make sense?

[Brian Lohnes]

Scott, I added to my post since you threw yours up, but do you know the detail that the car caught on fire a week after the crash test?

[dieselgeek]

The Volt fires and Toyota's magical acceleration problem are one in the same. There have been zero recorded cases of Volts catching on fire in the real world after a crash. The car that did catch on fire was subjected to multiple crash tests and then it sat for a week before it caught on fire and the batteries were never disconnected.

Both are media events that capture the public's awesome ability to take a singular incident and turn it into something far more nefarious.

I agree that both are media events, but I disagree that they are the same. The NHTSA apparently have a flaming volt in their possession. Not sure if you knew, but a number of companies (including Toyota) actually offered a $$$ BOUNTY to any person who could demonstrate unintended accelleration in a Toyota, and they found ZERO people who could make it happen (without forcing a false Accellerator Position signal into the Toyota computer, which has redundant APPS sensors already).

I participated in a group of guys who tried making this happen. Toyota made it hard to get a hold of a standalone ECU (for applicable models), but we got three of them through a pal at an LKQ outlet here in Omaha. We hooked it up to an MS-Stimulator and tried to make it flake out. No dice. There never was a software/firmware problem with Toyota's computers.

[Brian Lohnes]

The Volt fires and Toyota's magical acceleration problem are one in the same. There have been zero recorded cases of Volts catching on fire in the real world after a crash. The car that did catch on fire was subjected to multiple crash tests and then it sat for a week before it caught on fire and the batteries were never disconnected.

Both are media events that capture the public's awesome ability to take a singular incident and turn it into something far more nefarious.

There have been a few documented Prius fires and of course Neal Young's 'lectric Lincoln caught fire and burned to the ground in his garage a year or two ago.

To me the Volt fire is like crash testing a car and then leaving the electronic fuel pump on for a while afterwards and then making a big deal about it when the car catches fire. If the Volt exploded into flames or whatever at the moment of the test, I agree that this would be a very big deal, but a car that sat for a friggin' week and then caught fire?

I won't bore everyone with the story again, but I had a Ford van catch fire while shut off and sitting in a warehouse. That was not an electric van.

[dieselgeek]

It's still cheaper. And if you program it to charge during off peak hours it's even cheaper. Yes the High voltage battery has many cells, but only 2 cables. The Prius is not even close to the Volt. That's what a Prius driver told me.
How long was it before the media jumped on the Toyota Throttle recall band wagon??? When GM, Ford, or Chrysler has a recall it's all over the news before the recall is released to the dealers.

"still cheaper" doesn't answer the question does it? is electricity form a wall outlet free? not where I live.

Meanwhile, I'm quite sure the media was broadcasting the toyota "unintended accelleration" thing BEFORE the recall. The recall was a reactionary move to the bad press - ask any toyota tech, it didn't do anything useful at all. Meanwhile, the issue of the Unintended Accelleration thing with Toyota was later shown to be totally bogus bullshit. This, while the Chevy Volt has *already* caught fire - before a recall. Sounds like the media, while still mor eager to slay Toyota than GM, is the only thing that's going to force GM to actually do a recall... there's a huge difference between "questionable" unintended accelleration, and something that already caught fire.

I'm not saying it's a totally worthless car but, be real about the costs and problems. I'm sure it'l be a great little car once Chevy figured out how to keep them from catching on fire after someone runs over a curb or whatever other gentle bumps seem to trigger the Blazing Volt.

[PassmoreRacing]

It's still cheaper. And if you program it to charge during off peak hours it's even cheaper. Yes the High voltage battery has many cells, but only 2 cables. The Prius is not even close to the Volt. That's what a Prius driver told me.
How long was it before the media jumped on the Toyota Throttle recall band wagon??? When GM, Ford, or Chrysler has a recall it's all over the news before the recall is released to the dealers.

[dieselgeek]

so get an apartment with heat and electric included.. and sign a long lease

I like how you think. haha.

[Beagle]

seriously - 4500.00 for a controller... about 850hp worth of controller, but still... damn. Optima would consider me a major stockholder!