Volt owners not worried by battery fires
— -- General Motors faces a new test of its Chevrolet Volt: reassuring consumers that its signature high-tech car is safe.
Last week, the government opened a formal investigation into the car following crash tests that led to two battery fires, each occurring at least a week later. In response, GM North America President Mark Reuss wrote to each of the more than 5,000 Volt owners Monday, offering a free, indefinite loaner vehicle to any who are nervous.
"That's above and beyond the call," said analyst Jim Hall of 2953 Analytics in Beverly Hills. "Your response to the situation can even bond the customer more to your brand."
So far, two Volt battery packs have caught fire: One did so this spring, three weeks after a crash test. This month, the government simulated that test in a lab, using three Volt batteries, in an attempt to duplicate the blaze. One battery caught fire a week later, on Thanksgiving Day.
There have not been any fires reported in real-world crashes.
After the blaze in June, GM decided to send engineers to drain the battery of each Volt that crashes on actual roads, which the automaker says will prevent fires. Volt owners seem unfazed by the news of the fires. Jeff Kaffee, the New Jersey Realtor who last December became the first Volt owner, said a friend e-mailed him after hearing of the first fire.
"If they can't cut me out of the car in two or three weeks, I guess it's not going to do me much good," Kaffee wrote back.
GM insists Volt is safeGeneral Motors' response to the two post-crash-test fires in Chevrolet Volt batteries underscores the automaker's insistence that the car is safe, analysts say.
In the wake of the two test-induced fires, which each started at least a week after the test, GM has offered to loan Chevrolet Volt owners another GM vehicle for free, indefinitely. But the automaker doesn't plan to advertise its offer, run a campaign about the Volt's safety or change its sales or marketing plans. After all, chief marketer Joel Ewanick said, knowing about the Volt increases a customer's likelihood of considering any Chevrolet vehicle by 60%.
GM's response makes sense because the fires have occurred only in two isolated test crashes, IHS Automotive analyst Rebecca Lindland said -- and because GM already has promised to send a team of engineers to drain a Volt battery within a couple of days of a real-world crash, which the automaker says will prevent any fires. None of the government-crash-tested vehicles had their batteries drained.
"This was a test crash. We are not talking about any lives being lost. These are not real-world situations," Lindland said. GM developed that response after learning of the Volt battery's fire risk following the first fire, which occurred this spring, three weeks after a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration test. NHTSA tested three more battery packs this month, trying to duplicate the fire, and succeeded when one battery caught fire a week later, on Thanksgiving Day. Another battery sparked and smoked for a moment before stabilizing itself.
"This potential for an electrical fire from this condition should not exist until days after a severe crash," GM product development chief Mary Barra said Monday.
On Friday, NHTSA announced it was launching a formal investigation of the Volt.
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