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12-08-2011, 04:29 PM | #1 |
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Chevy Volt Finally Catching Fire . . .
November 12, 2011 7:31 A.M. By Greg Pollowitz Literally, alas. The New York Times: Federal safety regulators said Friday that they were examining lithium-ion batteries used in electric cars because a Chevrolet Volt ignited three weeks after it underwent a crash test. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration also said it was working with all automakers to develop postcrash procedures to keep occupants of electric vehicles and emergency personnel who respond to crash scenes safe. General Motors, which began selling the Volt last December, defended it as “a safe car” and said the fire would not have occurred if G.M.’s protocols for deactivating the battery after the crash had been followed. The Volt, a plug-in hybrid, was designed to operate primarily as an electric car with a backup gasoline engine. Federal officials also said they had no reason at this time to view the Volt as unsafe. Still, news of the fire and subsequent investigation, first reported by Bloomberg News, sent shares of G.M. down as much as 3 percent on Friday. The stock closed down nearly 1 percent, while the broader market gained about 2 percent. http://www.nationalreview.com/planet...greg-pollowitz |
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12-08-2011, 05:02 PM | #3 |
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Lithium-Ion batteries have always been known for catching fire...
LiOn batteries are used heavily in the RC hobby (airplanes and helis)...They have been known to catch fire after nasty crashes, particularily if the pack got punctured somehow. They also catch fire if they are charged incorrectly (lots of youtube videos on this if you're interested). You also have to keep an eye out for swelling in the pack...a sign that gas has formed. There is no reason to think this wouldn't happen with large car battery sized packs either. Lithium Ion batteries aren't the safest batteries around, especially if they are abused any way (improper charging, crashing, etc) |
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12-08-2011, 05:19 PM | #4 |
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Explained: There are theories Lithium associated Cold Fusion contributes to the large amount of these explosions in which no (other) obvious cause is identified.
This student car exploded and burned this summer: Interesting observation (unrelated to cold fusion, more along the lines of general fire and crash analysis)) in that (the student comments) aluminium parts of the car were apparently vapourized in the following fire. |
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12-08-2011, 05:20 PM | #5 |
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