Chevrolet, who are owned by General Motors are set to modify the Volt in order to enhance it’s safety due to fears that the car’s battery could catch fire.

In a story that we have been following for a number of weeks, we reported that the Chevrolet Volt’s safety has been undermined thanks to an investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (otherwise known as the NHTSA).

Battery catching fire

Concerns were raised that an engineering glitch allowed the car’s battery to catch fire. Chevrolet announced that they would be providing more protection within their recalled Volt models in order to ensure that the car is as safe as possible. The NHTSA have stated that they are happy Chevrolet plans to “fix” the models and modify them in order to make them safe.

The original investigation from the NHTSA confirmed that an electrical fire could be triggered from the car’s battery pack following an intense impact lab test. A previous test resulted in the Volt catching fire thanks to a coolant leak following a crash test three weeks before.

Always has been safe to drive

Despite the damaging test resultsm, Mary Barra, the General Motors Senior Vice President of Global Product Development claimed that the Volt has always been a very safe car to drive. She said “The Volt has always been safe to drive. Now, we will go the extra mile to ensure our customers’ peace of mind in the days and weeks following a severe crash,”

The modifications

What exactly are these new modifications? They include a strengthening of the car’s safety structure. This will allow the car’s battery to receive greater protection during potential side collisions. Battery coolant leaks will be detected through new sensors that are to be installed. A new tamper resistant bracket will be placed over the battery which will essentially prevent coolant from being overloaded.

Tests

The modifications have already been tested by General Motors. They showed that there now no more coolant leaks, leaving the car a lot safer and showing that the improvements have done their job.

Mary Barra went on to explain the impact of the modifications. “These enhancements and modifications will address the concerns raised by the severe crash tests. There are no changes to the Volt battery pack or cell chemistry as a result of these actions. We have tested the Volt’s battery system for more than 285,000 hours, or 25 years, of operation. We’re as confident as ever that the cell design is among the safest on the market.”

Will the Volt get it’s reputation back?