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LEFT WING LOONS Title: Obama denies trying to hide his Government Motors Volts are burning down houses The White House had no role in the decision to delay disclosure of a firethat broke out ina crash-tested Chevrolet Volt, the Obama administration told Congress on Friday. National Highway Traffic Safety Administrator David Strickland said the White House had been informed in September of the June fire, but didn't ask the agency to keep the information secret. NHTSA briefed Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, Strickland told three House Republicans in letters released Friday. TheTransportation Department "shortly thereafter informed the Executive Office of the Presidentregarding the June fire and NHTSA's test plans to determine if the fire indicated that there is arisk of post-crash fires in Chevrolet Volts. No one from theExecutive Office ofthe President requested orin any way suggested that NHTSA delaypublic release of information related to the Volt fire," said thefour-page letter dated Thursday. NHTSA didn't publicly disclose the fire took place until November, when Bloomberg News first reported it had occurred. It opened a formal defect investigation later that month when a second Volt battery pack caught fire seven days following another government test. General Motors Co., which received a $49.5 billion government bailout, is still 26 percent owned by the Treasury Department. The Obama administration has heavily touted EVs and the Volt. President Barack Obama even drove a Volt 10 feet in July 2010 on a trip to see it assembled at GM's Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly plant. Last month, three House Republicans asked GM and the Obama administration to answer detailed questions about why they didn't disclose a fire in a crash-tested extended-range electric Chevrolet Volt for several months — and whether the White House asked to delay the release. A House panel plans a hearing on the Volt later this month. "We are deeply troubled by the fact that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has deliberately suppressed public knowledge of the safety risk posed by the Chevrolet Volt," said the letter from Reps. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and Reps. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Mike Kelly, R-Pa., to Strickland. A spokesman for Issa declined to comment Friday. NHTSA said it rarely opens an investigation after just one incident. "Because the Volt incident involved a potential risk in newly emerging technology, NHTSA proceeded to open this investigation based only upon the results of limited test data and without waiting for data from real-world incidents," Strickland's letter said. Earlier this month, GM unveiled a comprehensive fix to its extended-range Chevrolet Volt to address post-crash fire risks. The fix upgrades the battery containment and coolant systems. The Detroit automaker will strengthen an existing portion of the Volt's vehicle safety structure to further protect the battery pack in a severe side collision, adding a new steel structure to guard against severe side crashes. GM will also add a sensor in the reservoir of the battery coolant system to monitor coolant levels and a new a tamper-resistant bracket to the top of the battery coolant reservoir to help prevent potential coolant overfill. "NHTSA is now wrapping up its defect investigation of the Volt," Strickland said. GM's remedy "appears to eliminate the risk of fire from real-world crashes," Strickland added. On Dec. 22, NHTSA ran a new crash test on a Volt with the safety upgrades, and there was no fire or battery pack intrusion. NHTSA will monitor that Volt for one more week. GM announced a customer satisfaction campaign, but didn't announce a formal recall to fix the vehicles. NHTSA plans to issue a formal report on its investigation into the Volt battery pack fire investigation in the coming weeks. NHTSA allows automakers to stop short of recalls in some instances, if they take other steps. The fix applies to the 12,400 Volts GM has already built. GM halted production of the Volt in late December and hasn't yet restarted production. But dealers — which won't get parts to fix Volts on the road until "theFebruary timeframe"— are free to sell Volts to customers before they get the upgrades, GM said. GM had its best ever sales month for the Volt in December, selling 1,529, including nearly 1,000 to retail customers. But it fell short of its 2011 goal of 10,000 sales, selling 7,671 for the year. GM officials said based on its investigation, it is extremely unlikely that the fire could have been replicated in a real-world incident. The automaker's investigation found that the fire sparked three weeks after a government crash test in June was result of a minor penetration from a portion of the vehicle into a side section of the battery pack. That resulted in a small coolant leak inside the battery, approximately one-quarter cup of fluid. As part of the government's test procedure, the vehicle was put through a "slow roll," where it's rotated at 90-degree increments, holding in each position for about five minutes. During the "slow roll," an additional quart of coolant leaked. While upside-down, the coolant came in contact with the printed circuit board electronics at the top of the battery pack. NHTSA denied that the government's push for higher fuel economy standards was related to the Volt safety investigation. "We do not require manufacturers to do anything that has a negative effect on safety," Strickland wrote. Strickland said NHTSA was reviewing the requests for documents, but said it will take some time for NHTSA to complete its review."
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#1. To: Happy Quanzaa (#0)
Parked cars do catch fire, and if they are parked in garages - burn them down. It happened to my grandfather's car in the 80s, long before the Volt.
Was it plugged into a shorted out Obama engineered DC Solargate subsidized Stimulus funded charger? Did the taxpayers subsidize building your grandfather's model of vechicle to the tune of $250,000 a piece (so far) like they do the smokin' Volts?
No, Reagan was president at the time. Did the taxpayers subsidize building your grandfather's model of vechicle to the tune of $250,000 a piece (so far) like they do the smokin' Volts? Avoiding the obvious flaw in your thinking and moving on - how much taxpayer money and American lives have oil industry dependent cars cost?
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