GM works to counter battery fears with ‘moon shot' vehicle

DETROIT — When General Motors announced plans in June 2008 to build the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid, executives called it a “moon shot” intended to rocket past Toyota in technology leadership. Now the car is a flash-point for concern.

The automaker’s image car is the subject of a federal probe following fires that occurred in its lithium-ion batteries at least a week after three crash tests.

General Motors is considering to buy back Chevrolet Volts from any owner who is afraid the electric cars will catch fire, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

CEO Dan Akerson insisted that the cars are safe. Three fires have broken out in Volts after side-impact crash tests done by the federal government.

Akerson said that if necessary, GM will recall the more than 6,000 Volts now on the road in the U.S. and repair them once the company and federal safety regulators figure out what caused the fires.

“If we find that is the solution, we will retrofit every one of them,” Akerson said. “We’ll make it right.”

The fires happened seven days to three weeks after tests performed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. And GM has said there’s no threat of fires immediately after crashes. GM also has said that no Volts involved in real-world crashes have caught fire.

Still, NHTSA has opened an investigation into the fires and has asked other companies that make electric cars for battery testing data. NHTSA said the safety testing hasn’t raised concerns about electric vehicles other than the Volt.

“The fire broke out seven days later. Not seven minutes. Not seven seconds,” Akerson said, adding that the company wants to fix the problem so people continue to have faith in Volts and other advanced technology cars. The company is notified of any Volt crash through its OnStar safety system and dispatches a team with 48 hours to drain the battery, preventing fires, he said. “I think in the interest of General Motors, the industry, the electrification of the car, it’s best to get it right now than when you have — instead of 6,000 — 60,000 or 600,000 cars on the road.”

While engineers work on safety issues, the largest U.S. automaker is racing to ensure that the Volt doesn’t become a public relations fiasco. The car was dreamed up under now-retired Vice Chairman Bob Lutz to combat the environmental and technology praise Toyota received for its Prius hybrid.

“They didn’t introduce the Volt because of its commercial success,” said Jeremy Anwyl, chief executive officer of Edmunds.com, an auto research website based in Santa Monica, Calif. “It’s their ‘can-do’ statement, their counter to the Prius. They will do everything they can to make sure people don’t draw negative conclusions.”

The Volt investigation has the potential to harm the reputation of electrified vehicles.

Lithium-ion batteries, such as those used in the Volt, are also installed in all-electric cars.

Automakers and regulators are looking to increased use of electric power to meet tightening U.S. fuel- efficiency standards. Lutz said it would use less gasoline than a hybrid-electric car like the Prius.

At the same time, its gasoline engine would let motorists drive without stopping to recharge for hours.

Volt can go about 40 miles on electricity before its gasoline engine kicks in and powers a generator, which recharges the battery. It has a range of 379 miles with electric and gasoline power combined.

The Environmental Protection Agency last year estimated the Volt would average 60 miles per gallon in combined gasoline-electric driving. compared with 50 mph for the Prius. Volt’s range is about four times what Nissan’s Leaf electric car travels on a single charge. If safety concerns overtake the Volt, none of that will matter.

“They’ve got to demonstrate that they’re putting their customers’ safety first,” said Jon Harmon, a former spokesman for Ford and author of “Feeding Frenzy,” a book about the Ford-Firestone crisis of the early 2000s.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.