The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration addressed a concern that the Chevy Volt could combust in an accident. Federal Officials have launched an investigation into the Chevy Volt due to concerns that there could be a safety defect. More specifically, the Chevy Volt has been tested and the lithium ion battery has caught fire in many of the tests. The administration has not yet recalled the vehicle but they did agree to take immediate action if their investigation turns up any unreasonable safety risks with the Chevy Volt. The agency went on to assure the public that any owners of GM’s Volt will be notified of a recall as soon as possible.

The administration started to investigate at the same time GM is pushing for more people to build and drive plug in Hybrids. The Chevy Volt, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, is able to get around 93 miles per gallon. This vehicle has been on the market for a year now (released in December 2010) and more than 6,000 Chevy Volt’s have been sold to date. Further, the Volt won an award at the prestigious Los Angeles auto show last year for being the Green Car of the Year. However, the highly cherished Chevy Volt may not be as safe as expected.

Many analysts have weighed in with their opinion concerning the investigation of Chevy’s Volt. The most common comment from analysts is that the heightened awareness and investigation could lead to much more consumer skepticism about the Volt and other electric vehicles. Electric vehicles already have concerns highlighted by the mainstream because they may not be the most cost effective vehicle and the vehicles tend not to be able to travel very many miles before requiring a recharge of the battery.

One analyst, Dave Sullivan, stated that "It’s a technology-laden car, and there are still issues with batteries." Mr. Sullivan was pointing out that the Chevy Volt utilizes the exact same battery as many consumer electronics, including the iPhone, and these products have had a history of overheating. Thus, Mr. Sullivan goes on to explain that "GM’s going to have to reopen their safety book to prove that these vehicles are indeed safe."

General Motors was contacted concerning the fire danger of their Chevy Volt and they responded saying that the investigation itself was "not expected" and that the vehicle manufacturer had been working with the administration to reproduce the results for many months. The vehicle manufacturer went on to explain that if you own a Volt, you are not in danger so long as you do not have a severe accident. A spokesman for GM, Greg Martin, went on to state that "The Volt is a safe car". "What occurred was what all parties set out to do, and that was to subject the battery in a laboratory setting to some of the most extreme circumstances to get it to fail."

General Motors and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are both working together to examine all of the data that they currently have to determine exactly what the cause of the fires are and attempt to eliminate any chance of this happening again. The investigation started because a Chevy Volt caught fire three weeks after it was involved in a crash test. Further, when the administration conducted additional tests to the lithium ion batteries, they found that one of the batteries caught fire a week after the crash tests were conducted.

If you or a loved one has been involved in a car accident or even had a vehicle combust like the above example, the last thing you want to think about is saving money to pay for an accident attorney. Accordingly, the Ginny Walia Law Offices handle cases on a contingency fee basis. This means that if you do not recover, then you will not be charged for any legal fees. Our fee structure is based on a percentage of the amount that we obtain for you. Further, we will work with you to settle your case. Our personal injury attorneys will never settle your case without your authorization. California personal injury lawyers at Ginny Walia Law Offices will do everything possible to settle your bus accident case out of court without the delay of a full trial.

Speak to a California personal injury attorney now: If you have been injured in an accident, we can help.