The federal government is now investigating the safety of electric cars, and specifically, lithium-ion batteries, after a Chevy Volt caught fire three weeks after a side-impact crash test. The wrecked Volt apparently caught fire in the parking lot of NHTSA’s crash test facility in Wisconsin a full three weeks after the initial crash test.
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According to the exclusive Bloomberg story, the fire was large enough to burn vehicles parked in the vicinity of the car.
NHTSA is also apparently probing an incident involving a Volt catching on fire while charging. But the scope is not merely limited to General Motors. Regulators have approached all automakers, including GM, Nissan, and Ford — any that sell or have plans to sell vehicles with lithium-ion batteries — with questions about the batteries’ fire risk, four people familiar with the inquiry said to Bloomberg.
We’ve reached out to NHTSA and GM for comment.
Jalopnik
