Chevy Volt batteries have caught fire. The National Highway Traffic Administration (NHTSA) is investigating, and General Motors has offered to buy Volts back from any owner who fears the electric cars will catch fire.
So does it mean the Chevy Volt is unsafe? The short answer is, no -- Volts won't be spontaneously bursting into flames on our nation's highways. Rather, according to experts we spoke with, the Volt fires prove that automotive engineers have been justified in employing elaborate and expensive cooling systems in their electric vehicles.
Chevy Volt in a side crash test, performed by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
The truth is, there's always been a well-understood fire risk associated with lithium-ion batteries. "The chemistry is edgy," Donald Sadoway, professor of materials chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, told Design News in an email. "The electrolyte is an organic liquid that is flammable, highly volatile at even moderately elevated temperature and in the presence of metallic lithium, which can form on the negative electrode at high charging rates."
Elton Cairns, a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at the University of California-Berkeley, explains: "In a lithium-ion battery, you've got electrodes that are tens of microns from one another. If you deform the cell case and it causes the electrodes to touch one another, there's an internal short circuit. That can cause the cell to rapidly discharge and, in so doing, heat up."
All of that might sound like a prescription for an epidemic of electric car fires, but it isn't. Why? Because of the aforementioned cooling systems. The Volt employs a fluid coolant that circulates through 1mm-thick channels machined into 144 metal plates that sit between the battery's cells. Using the coolant, the Volt draws the heat away from the core of its big battery.
Similarly, Toyota's Prius PHV, a plug-in hybrid, uses three fans for air circulation, along with ductwork, and 42 sensors to monitor the temperature of its lithium-ion battery. Virtually every manufacturer of production EVs also employs battery management systems and multiple microcontrollers to track the operation of the battery pack at every moment.
bdcst Yes agreed, and others fires can be much worse and more spectaluar. Check out windmill fires for instance. But, let me get to the real problem is SAFE ENERGY. Not the battery or buss voltage. How do we get Safe Energy?
The question begs other Qs like what type, where from, at what cost, and the list goes on. Where from, has to be at the top if we want to move on so here is a partial answer that I hope all you young engineers pay attention to thoes flakey old reclusive types and ask the rigut questions. If you do this it WILL lead you to a valley of knowledge that engineering schools don't teach.
So #1 where is this hidden repository?
It is housed in Scientific, Physics, R&D Reports, Patent Offices, universities, corporations, governments, and private;
R&D centers, Labs, Black Ops Centers, Scientific & Physics Libraries History Books, Space......you get the Idea
NOW ask yourself:
Do I have a VERY open mind?
Am I publically closed lipped?
Do I know people with these traits?
Can I be evasive?
Do I have EXCELLENT intution?
Can I calmly hold my own in advanced technical discussion?
Can I exist on little sleep?
If you can say yes to the above you're ready to learn about alternate energy.
Start reading about: Dark, Alternate, Zero, Cold, Quantum, Fusion, Radiant, Transmutation, Energy, New Energy and Matter, etc. Guys like Tesla, Moray, Mallve,Greer, Adamenko,D. Bohm, V. Schauberger,Hubbard, Farnsworth,Barak, Brown, Childress...
dbg your delayed fire comment is true and may be consedered preventable or a non-preventable occurence depending on how handeled. An informed owner may ask for and receive a knowlegeable inspection by a qualified inspector while another owner will NOT exhibt dudilligence and have a delayed fire.
Both WILL probably have insurance. Over time the actuarries will adjust the policies to reflect stupidity and real cost. Other known safety problems such as refuel explosions at gas stations are just as, or more dangerous and exeedingly more frenquent than those of eattery packs.
of course, they would say that it is safe. who would say that their car products are not safe, right? although based on personal experience, I can say that chevy volt is one of the leading electric cars today. The performance is great and the cost is reasonable. The repairs are easy to do, not to mention their amazing car diagnostic online and repair tips. I just hope that they continue on producing cars like volt and assure people that thair cars are always made with high quality.
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At the Design News webinar on June 27, learn all about aluminum extrusion: designing the right shape so it costs the least, is simplest to manufacture, and best fits the application's structural requirements.
On April 21, NASA launched a novel project, putting into orbit three satellites that employ an off-the-shelf commercial smartphone as the control system.
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For industrial control applications, or even a simple assembly line, that machine can go almost 24/7 without a break. But what happens when the task is a little more complex? That’s where the “smart” machine would come in. The smart machine is one that has some simple (or complex in some cases) processing capability to be able to adapt to changing conditions. Such machines are suited for a host of applications, including automotive, aerospace, defense, medical, computers and electronics, telecommunications, consumer goods, and so on. This radio show will show what’s possible with smart machines, and what tradeoffs need to be made to implement such a solution.
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