After the innovative Chevrolet Volt first hit the market in late 2010, critics and drivers were impressed with its design, efficiency, and handling, among many other things. In the year since its release, it's earned a "Top Safety Pick" honor from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), it was named Motor Trend's Car of the Year 2011, Green Car Journal's 2011 Green Car of the Year, and Automobile's 2011 Automobile of the Year, just to name a few. But just as the popularity of the Volt was taking off, officials raised concerns about a potential battery fire hazard after a collision. Never one to hesitate when it comes to customer safety, Chevrolet and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened an investigation to discover the cause of the issue and to find a solution.

As it turns out, the cause was pretty straightforward: investigators found that in severe collision circumstances, the battery pack was compromised, and leaking coolant mixed with electrical components to cause the fires. While the fires only occurred in crash-testing settings, Chevrolet immediately began working to improve the structure of the battery pack and the vehicle to better protect the battery in case of a collision.

Thanks to some very minor engineering changes, recent testing has proven the Volt to be safer than ever. Chevrolet reinforced the structure of the battery pack, added a coolant leak sensor, and a mechanism that will prevent coolant overfilling. According to company VP of Global Product Development, Mary Barra, they managed to bolster the safety of the vehicle without changing the inherent structure of the battery, and, she says, "We have tested the Volt's battery system for more than 285,000 hours...we're as confident as ever that the cell design is among the safest on the market."¹

NHTSA agrees, backing Chevrolet's plans to implement the changes in all of the Volts currently on the roads as well as models that have yet to be manufactured. "The results of the crash test showed no intrusion into the vehicle's battery compartment, and no leaking was apparent...the preliminary results of the crash test indicate that the remedy proposed by General Motors today should address the issue."²

That said, if you own one of the original Volts, Chevy will be contacting you shortly to upgrade your battery pack. If you'd like to learn more about all of the safety features infused into all of the award-winning new Chevy models now available at Courtesy Chevrolet, simply drop us a line via our website or stop in and see us at 3640 Stevens Creek Blvd in San Jose, CA 95117.

Sources:
¹http://media.gm.com/content/media/us/en/chevrolet/news.detail.html/content/Pages/news/us/en/2012/Jan/0105_volt
²http://www.nhtsa.gov/About+NHTSA/Press+Releases/2012/Statement+of+National+Highway+Traffic+Safety+Administration+On+General+Motors%27+Plan+to+Address+Potential+Fire+Risk+in+Chevy+Volts