Politics are an increasing topic of conversation in Los Angeles and throughout the United States. Beyond all the heated rhetoric related to the upcoming presidential election, a new topic has arisen. On January 25, Republicans questioned the integrity and honesty of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) because it waited almost six months to notify the public about Chevy Volt batteries catching fire in safety tests.
NHTSA administrator responded that the government "pulled no punches" in its investigation. When questioned whether the government’s partial ownership (26.5%) of General Motors might have compromised its handling of the probe, Strickland replied that the NHTSA was "transparent" and did its job. However, Republicans challenged the administrator’s claims in a heated hearing on Capitol Hill. "Well, I hear you. I don't believe you," said Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. He added, “How dare you not have both the public and this committee know what you knew in a timely fashion." Earlier, Rep. Issa said the agency "screwed up" by keeping things "secret."
Mr. Strickland claimed that he would have gone public immediately if there were an imminent safety risk. He explained that it would have been irresponsible to tell people that something was wrong with the Volt while experts looked into the cause of the fire. The NHTSA investigation was initiated after a test vehicle caught fire last June, three weeks after a side-impact test. After that fire, two others occurred later in separate safety tests, and the agency opened an official investigation on November 25. The probe ended last week, with the government concluding that the Volt and other electric cars do not pose a greater fire risk than gasoline-powered cars. Both the NHTSA and GM reported that they had no knowledge of crashes in real-world situations.
Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, who led the hearing by the House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee, said he found it "deeply troubling" that the NHTSA waited until November to notify the public about the fire. Republicans questioned whether the delay was to help GM comply with the new stringent EPA mileage standards, which were negotiated last year. Mr. Strickland responded that there was no connection and said he had not been pressured by anyone from the administration on the investigation.
General Motors chairman and CEO Daniel F. Akerson noted that while GM designed the Volt to be a great car, "unfortunately, there is one thing we did not engineer. Although we loaded the Volt with state-of-the-art safety features, we did not engineer the Volt to be a political punching bag. And that, sadly, is what the Volt has become. “ He added, "For all of the loose talk about fires, we are here today because tests by regulators resulted in battery fires under lab conditions that no driver would experience in the real world."
Some Democrats entered into the fray. "I don't believe this hearing is about safety," said Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md. Instead, he argued, it was part of an attack on the Obama administration's support for GM and the electric car industry. Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., said Congress should be focused on economic policies that help the recovery and not "political hearings" that undercut U.S. companies. Republican Rep. Jordan countered that the hearing was based on "the facts."
Initially, GM blamed NHTSA for the June fire, saying it should have drained the battery to prevent any fires after the test. However, the automaker quickly backed down and said it never told the NHTSA to drain the battery. GM executives also said there was no formal procedure in place to drain batteries after crashes involving owners. Currently, GM sends out a team to drain the batteries after being notified of a crash by its OnStar safety system.
The Volt’s 400-pound battery pack can power the vehicle for about 35 miles. When it runs out of juice, a small gasoline generator kicks in to run the electric motor. The Volt has a base price of about $40,000. GM’s Volt market share in California is its largest in the U.S.
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