Chevy Volt fire prompts U.S. safety probe of lithium ion batteries, report says

U.S. auto-safety regulators are scrutinizing the safety of lithium ion batteries that power electric vehicles after a Chevrolet Volt battery caught fire, people familiar with the probe said.

The regulators have approached all automakers, including General Motors, Nissan Motor Co. and Ford Motor Co., 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.

The Volt caught fire while parked at a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration testing center in Wisconsin, three weeks after a side-impact crash test, said an agency official.

The official, as well as the three other people familiar with the inquiry, said they couldn't be named because the investigation isn't public.

“I want to make this very clear: the Volt is a safe car,” said Jim Federico, GM’s chief engineer for electric vehicles. “We are working cooperatively with NHTSA as it completes its investigation. However, NHTSA has stated that based on available data, there’s no greater risk of fire with a Volt than a traditional gas-powered car.”

The probe comes as automakers look to expand plug-in offerings beyond the Volt and Nissan's Leaf, which went on sale in the 2011 model year as the first mass-market plug-in electric cars in the United States.

Toyota Motor Co.'s Prius, the world's best-selling hybrid, uses a nickel-metal battery. A plug-in Prius and an electric version of the RAV4 sport-utility vehicle will use lithium ion batteries.

President Barack Obama has set a goal of putting 1 million electric vehicles on U.S. roads by 2015. Nissan is among companies that have received financing assistance from the U.S. Energy Department and European Investment Bank to develop the Leaf and lithium ion batteries.

GM in January withdrew a request for $14.4 billion in U.S. loan guarantees.

Seoul-based LG Chem Ltd., South Korea's biggest chemical maker, supplies the lithium ion batteries for the Volt.

Concern for first responders

The fire was severe enough to burn vehicles parked near the Volt, the agency official said. Investigators determined the battery was the source of the fire, the official said.

NHTSA also sent a team of investigators this week to Mooresville, N.C., to probe a fire in a residential garage where a Volt was charging. That investigation is continuing, the agency official said.

"As manufacturers continue to develop vehicles of any kind -- electric, gasoline, or diesel -- it is critical that they take the necessary steps to ensure the safety of drivers and first responders both during and after a crash," the safety agency said in a statement today.

"Based on the available data, NHTSA does not believe the Volt or other electric vehicles are at a greater risk of fire than gasoline-powered vehicles. In fact, all vehicles -- both electric and gasoline-powered -- have some risk of fire in the event of a serious crash."

The agency's greater concern is for rescue response teams, tow truck operators and salvage yards who may be storing plug-in cars after an accident, the official said.

GM spokesman Greg Martin said the company doesn't believe the Volt poses any greater risk to drivers than a conventional automobile. GM has spent almost 300,000 hours testing the car and believes it is safe, he said.

After the fire in June, GM and NHTSA both crashed a Volt and could not replicate the fire, Martin said. GM has safety protocols for handling the Volt and its battery after an accident. Had those been followed, there wouldn't have been a fire, Martin said.

"There are safety protocols for conventional cars," Martin said. "As we develop new technology, we need to ensure that safety protocols match the technology."

The Volt and Leaf went on sale in late 2010. U.S. sales of the Volt have reached 5,003 units this year through October; Leaf sales total 8,048 units.

Nissan spokeswoman Katherine Zachary said today there have been no incidents of fire involving the battery in the Leaf.

"The Nissan Leaf battery pack has been designed with multiple safety systems in place to help ensure its safety in the real world. All of our systems have been thoroughly tested to ensure real-world performance," Zachary said. "To date, the more than 8,000 Nissan Leafs driving on the U.S. roads have performed without reported incident."

Flammable element

Automakers have engineered electric vehicles using lithium ion batteries to withstand serious accidents because the element is flammable, said Sandy Munro, president of Munro and Associates, an engineering consulting firm in Troy, Mich.

Lithium ion batteries could catch on fire if the battery case and some of the internal cells that store electricity are pierced by steel or another ferrous metal, he said.

"Lithium burns really hot," Munro said. "But it doesn't happen often. You have to do something pretty dramatic to make it catch fire."

If a lithium ion battery is pierced by steel, a chemical reaction will take place that starts raising the temperature and can result in a fire, he said. If the piercing is small, that reaction can take days or weeks to occur, he said.

NHTSA this year gave the Leaf and Volt its top crash-test safety rating, following a "good" rating in April by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

In the simulated side-impact crash test, a new U.S. safety test for the 2011 model year, metal punctured the battery, the official said.

Regulators want to use information collected from automakers to inform emergency responders, towing firms and salvage yards about how to handle plug-in electric cars involved in crashes that may penetrate the battery compartment, the official said.

NHTSA will use the information from the automakers, which also include Toyota and BMW AG, for a three-year $8.8 million electric-vehicle safety study it announced in June, the official said.

The Federal Aviation Administration, in an advisory to airlines in October 2010, warned that lithium batteries used in cell phones, digital cameras and other devices are "highly flammable and capable of ignition," adding that fire suppression systems aren't effective when that happens.

It issued the advisory after a United Parcel Service Inc. cargo plane carrying thousands of lithium batteries crashed in Dubai after catching fire, killing both pilots.

Fifteen electric-car or battery-powered models will be available in the United States by the end of 2014, according to J.D. Power & Associates, which forecasts a glut of electric cars given that hybrid-electric sales were only 2 percent of the car market so far this year.

Chevy to market Spark mini EV in U.S.

General Motors said today that it will introduce an electric version of its Chevrolet Spark minicar in 2013, one of several announcements touting small, fuel-saving technologies.

The Spark EV will be the first all-electric vehicle for GM, which became a leader in electrification with its electric EV-1 in the 1990s and the 2010 debut of its plug-in hybrid Chevy Volt.

The EV will come after the gasoline version of the Spark, which is slated for a U.S. launch "mid-year" 2012, Chevy spokesman Michael Albano said.

The gas-powered Spark is now sold in Korea, China and Latin America, will be slotted in Chevy's U.S. lineup below the subcompact Sonic, which went on sale in August. It will get a 1.2-liter, four-cylinder engine.

GM unveiled its EV plans to hundreds of international journalists in Detroit this week in advance of Chevy's 100th anniversary celebration on Nov. 3.

Two other announcements underscored how the Chevy brand is transcending its trucks-and-SUVs image as GM looks to grow sales globally:

• Chevrolet will introduce a new family of small-displacement gasoline engines through the end of this decade. The family will include three- and four-cylinder engines ranging from 1.0- to 1.5-liters in size. The three-cylinder versions are not currently planned for sale in the United States.

• GM said that its personal mobility concept, the EN-V, will get a Chevy badge. GM said it has begun work on the second generation of the two-seat, electric EN-V, which is short for Electric Networked-Vehicle. GM envisions the podlike concept as a long-range solution for traffic-clogged megacities.

Spark competition

GM is joining several automakers with plans to market all-electric vehicles as the U.S. government prepares to finalize tougher fuel economy requirements for light vehicles through 2025.

Tesla Motors and Nissan Motor Co. are already marketing electric vehicles.

Ford Motor Co. plans an all-electric version of the Focus compact car beginning in 2012. Toyota Motor Corp., Mitsubishi Motors Corp. and Kia Motors Corp. are also readying all-electric vehicles for sale in the United States.

In January, GM CEO Dan Akerson said the automaker was developing an all-electric vehicle for the United States, giving GM another 'green' model to complement the Chevrolet Volt.

The Volt is an extended-range sedan with a gasoline engine designed to run primarily on battery power. When the battery is depleted, the gas engine recharges the battery. It went on sale in December.

In August, GM said the Cadillac Converj concept, a luxury coupe with extended-range electric vehicle technology, would be produced and marketed as the ELR. The automaker said the ELR program was just getting underway and declined to provide a timetable for its U.S. rollout.

GM's electric menu

Jim Federico, head of global electric vehicles for Chevrolet, said the Spark EV would be rolled out in key countries and urban markets where low speeds and shorter distances dominate driving habits. California will be focal point in the U.S., he said.

He said GM's strategy is to offer a wide menu of electrified vehicles, ranging from pure EVs to the extended-range Volt and the light hybrid e-Assist technology, launched this summer on the Buick LaCrosse.

"We understand the path to electrification includes a full range of technologies," he said.

The small-displacement Ecotec engines that GM plans to introduce in coming years will use direct injection and turbocharging to boost fuel economy. The new family of engines will replace three engine families currently in use, Federico said.

GM said it aims to eventually sell more than 2 million of the new engines a year worldwide by the end of the decade.

GM to develop electric cars in China with SAIC, but won't share Volt

General Motors Co. says it plans to develop an electric vehicle with Chinese partner SAIC Motor Corp., and it won't be just a copy of the Chevrolet Volt.

GM and SAIC announced the project in a statement today and during various media events from Shanghai this morning.

In a teleconference today with journalists, GM Vice Chairman Steve Girsky confirmed that GM will form a 50-50 joint venture with SAIC to develop an EV for the Chinese market.

That vehicle will be designed by the Pan-Asia Technical Automotive Center (PATAC), a design studio in Shanghai run by the two partners.

The EV will be a new vehicle, not an adaptation of an existing model like the Chevy Sonic, Girsky said. But he did not indicate whether the vehicle would be a small city car, when it would be introduced or how much it will cost.

"New technology is expensive and high-risk," Girsky said. "We will utilize our partners...to lower our risk and development costs, and bring technology to the market more quickly."

As the project moves forward, GM will move ahead with its plans to import small numbers of the Chevrolet Volt into China.

No subsidy

Girsky said GM hopes to persuade the Chinese government to extend its sales subsidy to imports such as the Volt. "We are hopeful that China will consider extending incentives to all vehicles in the future," he said.

Girsky also emphasized that the Chinese government has not pressured GM to share the Volt's technology with its Chinese partners.

GM's collaboration with SAIC, which was launched in 1997, has been profitable for both companies. SAIC now is China's largest domestic automaker, and GM is China's biggest foreign automaker.

The partners produce Buicks and Chevrolets for sale in China, and they also produce a commercial microvan called the Sunshine, China's top-selling light vehicle.

GM plans to introduce 60 new and upgraded models in the country during the next five years, the company said during the Shanghai auto show in April. GM and SAIC operate ten joint ventures in the nation.

Girsky said GM is confident that it can safely share its intellectual property with SAIC. "This is not the first time that we've brought intellectual property into China," Girsky said. "We work well with this partner."

China ventures

Automakers including Daimler AG and Nissan Motor Co. have announced plans to add alternative-energy vehicles in China as the world's largest polluter seeks to reduce emissions. The government aims to have 1 million electric-powered vehicles on the road by 2015, according to the Ministry of Science.

Vehicle sales are forecast to slow this year in China, after sales-tax breaks and rebates for rural buyers ended in January and following central bank interest-rate rises.

Overall sales in the first eight months of the year rose 3.3 percent to 12 million units, with passenger-car sales gaining 6.1 percent to 9.2 million units, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said on Sept. 9. Deliveries climbed 32 percent last year.

The Shanghai GM joint venture introduced the Chevy Sail electric concept vehicle late last year. Vehicles developed under the partnership will be sold in China under Shanghai GM and SAIC brands, and GM also will use the architecture to build electric vehicles globally.

The agreement finalizes a nonbinding memorandum on cooperation for green-vehicle development SAIC and GM signed last November. At the time, SAIC agreed to buy a 1 percent stake in GM through an initial public offering held to make GM a public company again and cut the U.S. Treasury's stake in the company.

Toyota says rechargeable Prius will be be priced at $32,760

Toyota Motor Corp., the world's biggest seller of gasoline-electric cars, said today the rechargeable version of its Prius hybrid will cost $32,760, including transportation costs, when it goes on sale early next year.

The car goes as far as 15 miles solely on electricity, after which it runs as a standard 49 mpg Prius, Bob Carter, Toyota's group vice president for U.S. sales, told reporters here today. Toyota dealers will start selling the car in 14 states on the West and East coasts in March, he said.

The plug-in Prius' lithium-ion batteries recharge from a standard wall outlet and don't require installation of costly charging equipment. It will qualify for a $2,500 federal tax credit, Carter said.

"This will be the most affordable plug-in in the market," Carter said.

GM has said its 2012 model Chevrolet Volt will cost $39,145, before a $7,500 federal tax credit. That rechargeable model goes about 35 miles on electricity per charge, before a gasoline engine engages to power the vehicle.

Toyota plans to offer four Prius models, including the Prius v wagon that goes on sale next month and a compact version next year. Prius will outsell Camry, the nation's top-selling car line, to become Toyota's most popular models by the end of the decade, Carter said.

U.S. sales of the rechargeable Prius should be about 15,000 units in its first 12 months on the market, he said. It can average more than 80 mpg, based on company tests, he said.

The Prius v wagon will have a $27,160 starting price, including transportation. It gets an average of 42 mpg, Carter said.

Daimler to test Smart electric cars in Hong Kong

Daimler AG will provide a trial version of its Smart electric car to partners in Hong Kong as the city battles record pollution.

Daimler's partners in the trial, which include the Hong Kong Jockey Club and Swire Coca-Cola HK, will use the two-seater car for six to 12 months, the carmaker said in a statement today.

Daimler's Mercedes Benz unit will offer a service center with technicians and mechanics.

The pilot program, which will run for four years, joins a push by automakers such as Mitsubishi Motors Corp. and Nissan Motor Co. to introduce electric vehicles in Hong Kong, where pollution reached "very high" levels on a record one in four days in 2010, according to government data.

The city government plans to replace some fuel-powered vehicles with electric ones and is trying hybrid buses, lawmakers said in February.

"A combination of electric vehicles and cleaner energy is a very good recipe for Hong Kong to become a greener city," Edward Yau, Hong Kong's environment secretary, said.

The city has 170 electric vehicles and will increase the number of charging stations to 1,000 in a year from 300, he said.

Daimler's Smart electric car, which can travel 135 kilometers (84 miles) on a full charge, won't be produced globally until 2012.

In Asia, the company has launched similar pilot programs in Indonesia, Japan and Singapore.

The other four partners who will get the car in Hong Kong are CLP Power Hong Kong Ltd., Jardine Airport Services Ltd., Yan Chai Hospital and Hongkong Electric Co.

Vehicles are the second-biggest source of pollution in Hong Kong after power stations, and their numbers rose 9.6 percent between 2004 and 2009, according to the government.

Nissan agreed to supply advance units of its Leaf electric car to Hong Kong, the government said in January.

Mitsubishi Motors already sells its battery-powered i-MiEV in the city. Daimler's Mercedes marque was the second-largest luxury car brand based on the latest full-year numbers.

GM partners with battery supplier LG on electric vehicles

General Motors said today that it is partnering with its battery cell supplier, LG Group, to develop electric vehicles.

The agreement, signed Wednesday by GM CEO Dan Akerson and LG President Juno Cho, will “help GM expand the number and types of electric vehicles it makes and sells,” the automaker said in a statement.

It’s the second example this week of automakers looking for partners to help in developing more fuel-efficient cars, as U.S. regulators put in place stricter fuel-economy standards for later this decade. On Monday, Toyota Motor Corp. and Ford Motor Co. said they are partnering to build hybrid light trucks.

The pact with GM broadens opportunities for LG, which supplies battery cells for the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid.

Staying ahead

Akerson has vowed to stay ahead of the competition on vehicle electrification. He’s pressing his team to reduce the cost of the Volt, partly through economies of scale by applying the technology across more GM vehicles. Earlier this month, GM said the Volt powertrain will be put on an upcoming Cadillac sedan.

The Volt’s success prompted GM and LG to collaborate further on vehicle electrification, leading to a formal alliance, GM said.

Last year, for example, the two companies worked together to develop a demonstration fleet of electric Chevy Cruze compacts, which were used as official vehicles during the G20 summit in Seoul. In its statement today, GM said it now is “market testing” those vehicles.

GM and LG engineers will work together on development of electric vehicle platforms and components, GM said. Vehicles born out of the partnership “will be sold in many countries,” the automaker said.

‘Consumers benefit’

Steve Girsky, GM vice chairman, said in the statement: “Consumers benefit by getting the latest fuel-saving technology faster if we work with the best suppliers and we save time and money in the development process.”

In the statement, Cho said, “We fully support GM’s goal to lead the industry in the electrification of the automobile.”

GM didn’t disclose terms of the agreement but said it does not involve any exchange of equity.