Owners of the Chevrolet Volt are being offered loaner vehicles by General Motors after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced a probe into possible safety issues with the vehicles lithium ion-batteries.
The NHTSA announced on Monday that they were monitoring the vehicles after one vehicle caught on fire during a crash test. The new finding comes only a short period of time after another crash test revealed a battery that gave off sparks and smoke.
Potential problems with the Volt’s batteries head all the way to June where a battery fire was witnessed at a test facility in Wisconsin.
GM in the meantime is phoning the 5,000 customers who have purchased a Volt since December 2010 to ensure them that their vehicles are safe and to offer a loaner vehicle if the customer feels unsafe in their Chevy Volt as the NHTSA continues to investigate the vehicle’s safety standards.
In an attempt to protect their new vehicles recent popularity GM had two top level executives on their Monday conference call as they announced their new vehicle loaner program.
According to GM there have been several Volt crashes on public roads and none of those vehicles have caught fire and their battery packs were not compromised.
Speaking about the confidence they have in their vehicles GM North American President Mark Reuss said:
“We don’t think there’s an immediate fire risk,” and “This is a post-crash activity.”
Are you impressed with GM’s quick and consumer friendly response to recent issues that may compromise the safety of the Chevy Volt?
[Image via Eric Broder Van Dyke / Shutterstock.com ]