Chevrolet Volt is Hot, But Not a Fire Blast
Finally, the officials at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) are satisfied that they closed the investigation regarding the safety of the Chevrolet Volt car that has been the talk of the town after it was found to have a fire hazard after a side crash test.
The agency said it found no evidence of a defect trend with the Chevy Volt and concluded that recent changes made to the electric car by General Motors reduce the potential for battery intrusion resulting from side impacts.
In 2011, the agency deliberately crashed a Chevy Volt to determine how it would withstand a side-impact collision. The agency reported that the battery was damaged and the coolant line ruptured. Three weeks later, the vehicle caught fire, and the NHTSA blamed the Volt’s lithium-ion battery.
During further testing, the battery caught fire again, prompting the investigation. Earlier this month, GM announced it had developed a fix to address those concerns. The car maker pledged to upgrade the steel structure and liquid coolant system surrounding the battery in the Volt to prevent the electrical fire hazard.
Chevrolet has also decided to reduce the Volt’s price by 1000 dollars and the vehicle is now available from $39,000. This is indeed a good thing for the future customers as they will be getting a safer as well as cheaper EV which is of course good looking compared to most of the EVs available now.
