Military Buying Chevy Volts as Glitches Surface

My perspective would be cost and reliability/performance if it is combat related. Don't see how the DOD should be the proving grounds for early adoption of expensive green energy. They need to trim the budget wherever possible not throw money around on extras.

Of course you haven't done research. If you had done research you'd find that 250,000 vehicles catch fire on America's roads every year, and exactly none of them are electric.

No electric car has ever caught fire under real-world conditions, but the battery packs of two Chevy Volts have in test crashes. The controversy that followed could have been predicted, unfortunately.



Of the 15,054 Chevy Volts sold as of this printing, exactly zero have caught fire out in the real world.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/al ... =pm_latest

But you wouldn't know that from listening to the right wingers around here. According to them, buy a Volt and you're inviting yourself to a BBQ. For that, you all get 4 Pinocchio's.

You guys remind me of the horseback riders who made fun of cars when they were introduced and laughed about how they'd never replace the good old reliable horse and buggy.

So these are not Chevy Volts and they are not on fire in what looks like someone's garage or driveway?













http://pumabydesign001.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/chevy-volt-fire.jpg?w=529

Lay off the Kool Aid and come back to reality. One of these vehicles could have a catastrophic effect on a mountain community, especially when the fire danger is high. Would you want to be an owner of a Chevy Volt that burnt down your house and most of your neighborhood too?

Federal safety regulators have given the Chevrolet Volt an all-clear.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Friday that it did not identify a safety defect, concluding that the car does not pose any unusual risk of fire.

In closing the book on its investigation into Volts catching on fire, NHTSA also issued new guidelines for how emergency personnel and tow truck operators should deal with electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids that have been damaged in severe accidents.

The agency said it "remains unaware of any real-world crashes that have resulted in a battery-related fire involving the Chevy Volt or any other electric vehicle. NHTSA continues to believe that electric vehicles show great promise as a safe and fuel-efficient option for American drivers."

NHTSA said it does not believe that Volts or similar vehicles pose a greater risk of fire than gasoline-powered autos.

The agency's comments "are consistent with what we have said all along: The Volt and the electric cars are safe," said Rob Peterson, a Chevrolet spokesman.

General Motors Co. is making modifications to the Volt because of a series of fires after test crashes of the plug-in hybrid vehicle. The fires were caused by a coolant leak that occurred when the car's battery pack was punctured during severe side test crashes by NHTSA.

The fires occurred hours to weeks after the tests as the coolant leaked and eventually created a short circuit.

http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jan/21 ... t-20120121

As pointed out in my last post but ignored by you, you have a greater chance of your regular vehicle catching fire than a Chevy Volt.

Chevy Volt And The Wrong-Headed Right

he recent media coverage of so-called “Chevrolet Volt fires,” especially by the conservative talk shows and Fox News, has attracted my attention and ire.

Let’s set out the facts (and feel free to check them yourself):

1) Not one Chevrolet Volt has ever caught fire in normal use or in accidents. Not a single one.

2) The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, even after the highly artificial crash test (placing the car on its back, even though it did not roll over in the test) nevertheless awarded the Volt NHTSA’s highest crash-safety rating: 5 stars. Volt is supremely safe.

3) The crashed Volt, its battery shorted by coolant from the period unjustifiably spent “feet up,” caught fire three weeks after said test. (I submit that this would provide adequate time for surviving passengers to exit the vehicle.)

4) On average, 278,000 cars with gasoline engines caught fire in the U.S. each year between 2003 and 2007, according to the National Fire Protection Association.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/boblutz/201 ... ded-right/

otisptoadwater wrote: So these are not Chevy Volts and they are not on fire in what looks like someone's garage or driveway?

The bottom picture is CLEARLY not a Chevy Volt, even though it was used as the illustration for a story about how Chevy Volts are bursting into flames all over the country. The original picture is labeled "car fire."

Just because a house catches fire with a Volt in the garage DOESN'T MEAN THE VOLT STARTED THE FIRE, and posting four photos from the same house fire to bolster your case doesn't help.

NHTSA says it knows of no highway accidents that caused Volts to catch fire, but there have been two reports of Volt fires involving Volts parked in garages:

In April Autoblog reported that two plug-in vehicles were destroyed in a fire in a home in Barkhamsted, Conn., April 14. The cars were a brand-new 2011 Chevrolet Volt with just 2,000 miles on the odometer and a converted all-electric Suzuki Samurai that the homeowner, Storm Connors, had converted himself years ago.

In October, fire broke out at a home near Mooresville, N.C., causing an estimated $800,000 of damage to both the home and the garage where the 2011 Chevrolet Volt was parked. Investigators said it appeared the fire did not start in the Volt.

Chevy Volt Not the Cause of Garage Fire Says Fire Marshall

When news first came out regarding this incident, many believed the culprit behind this fire could be the Volt, but Iredell County chief deputy fire marshal Garland Cloer says; “the source of ignition seems to be from outside the area of the vehicles.”

This fire attracted investigators from many companies to come forward to access the cause of the blaze. These included representatives from Nissan, Chevrolet, Siemens, Duke Energy and the homeowners insurance company.

The reason there were so many investigators is because at the time of the fire, the garage housed a Nissan Armada, the Chevrolet Volt, a Siemens 240-volt recharging station, and many miscellaneous items such as a electric cars for kids, not to mention gasoline and other hazardous materials.

The fire marshal said that fire usually follows a “V” path as it spreads, and according to their findings, the fire originated from another source, not the cars. Cloer said that when a fire originates from the car, things like its seats, carpets and rubber hoses are not left intact, but they were in this case, another indication the Volt was not guilty.

Total damage to the house is appraised at $800,000.

http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2011 ... shall.html

Suspicious Minds? GM is owned by the Feds. Then these same Feds say that the Volt is perfectly safe.

Like when Tobacco companies hired doctors to sell smokes?

But the real question for the US military on their Volt purchase, can the Chevy ford streams, does it have armor, and off-road capability?

FredHayek wrote: Suspicious Minds? GM is owned by the Feds. Then these same Feds say that the Volt is perfectly safe.

Well Fred, show us all the fires the Volts have supposedly started. Not pictures of Volts in fires, but statements from anyone official saying the Volts started the fires.

In the meantime, you guys can ignore the 250,000 car fires every year that aren't Volts and talk about how dangerous Volts are up here in the mountains.

I wonder how many car fires we have up here on the 285 corridor every year?

otisptoadwater wrote: So these are not Chevy Volts and they are not on fire in what looks like someone's garage or driveway?

Just for you, Otis. From the same source your photo is from:

While the NHTSA continues its investigation on the Chevy Volt’s spontaneous combustion issue, investigators involved with a garage fire that happened in North Carolina have wrapped up their case. Some time ago, the local fire marshal came forward stating unofficially that the Volt didn’t cause the fire. Now officially, the Chevy Volt and its charger have been cleared as the cause of the fire. So, feel free to plug in without worry, people.

http://gmauthority.com/blog/2011/12/che ... e-culprit/

Didn't Chevy themselves tell Volt owners to not plug these vehicles in?

Beats me. Can you find where they said that? Who would want to buy an electric car you couldn't plug in?