GM 'not confident' LG Chem will build
defect-free Bolt batteries
Detroit Free Press [MI],
by
Jamie L. LaReau
Original Article
Posted By: Ribicon,
8/31/2021 12:20:53 AM
General Motors will keep its Orion Assembly plant idled and not start repairs on the nearly 141,000 recalled Chevrolet Bolts EVs and EUVs until it is confident its supplier can make a defect-free EV battery that does not pose a potential fire risk. And right now, GM does not believe its battery-maker, LG Chem, can do that. GM and LG Chem have "hundreds of people" working around the clock, seven days a week, to find the cause of the defective battery modules connected to some Bolts catching fire without impact, said GM spokesman Dan Flores.
Musk hasn't been able to build a defect free battery yet, and he has poured billions into the effort. One of the biggest problems there is all of the thousands of connections between cells that are subject to daily pounding of our roads, mile after mile. Musk primarily used common 18650 cells - over 6000 of them, in his packs, and they are very susceptible to damage.
No idea if GM uses a similar arrangement, but bad connections equal short circuits, and that leads to fires. There's are reason that airlines won't even fly packs of common AA lithium batteries as cargo.
9 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
NotaBene 8/31/2021 2:04:28 AM (No. 898924)
Electric cars burn up. Do not place them in your garage.
8 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
Terry_tr6 8/31/2021 3:53:45 AM (No. 898958)
diesel and gasoline are darn near perfect fuels for vehicles. Really high energy density, sane volatility, low tech storage and dispensing (ask about that next time someone touts hydrogen fueled cars). Long "shelf life", at least if you get the alcohol free stuff so you can store it.
12 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
SweetPea3 8/31/2021 5:41:02 AM (No. 898965)
Is GM manufacturing batteries built with chinese components?
Hmmmm...
4 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
SkeezerMcGee 8/31/2021 6:35:38 AM (No. 898989)
As the number of EVs on the roads increase, some day an EV battery is going to burst into flames in a long tunnel or on a long bridge. The occupant(s) will exit that vehicle as soon as possible. The battery will burn intensly, producting flames and smoke. Visibility will be worse than thick fog. Many may die. It's possible no firefighter will be able to help.
YouTube videos of EV battery fires show how the battery, and the vehicle itself, by chemistry, become intense flames and billowing smoke. Unless exitiguished the fire burns for hours.
8 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
philsner 8/31/2021 7:15:13 AM (No. 899011)
I have a bicycle. Several of them.
3 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
snowoutlaw 8/31/2021 8:17:20 AM (No. 899066)
Build them without Lithium, then you will have a safe battery.
0 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
ROLFNader 8/31/2021 8:18:07 AM (No. 899067)
Well, #1- Thanks to the American taxpayer, Musk hasn't had to put up that much of his own money. He sells "conscience credits" to his competitors because they cannot or will not invest in this embarrassing scam.
5 people like this.
Imagine a hurricane evacuation with all electric cars.
7 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
MickTurn 8/31/2021 9:46:25 AM (No. 899177)
EV's are all Rolling Bombs...Government Motors has always turned out crap cars, this is just another in a long line of Dangerous Junk!
2 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
bigfatslob 8/31/2021 9:57:35 AM (No. 899188)
When hurricane Ida was churning it's way into Louisiana do you think if the entire population had electric cars how far would they have traveled to escape before a two hour recharge on the road. If I wanted an electric golf cart I would buy one.
Electric cars are a fools errand built for fools touted as the future by a demented fool, Joe Biden.
6 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
DVC 8/31/2021 11:54:38 AM (No. 899369)
Nearly impossible to make these batteries with absolutely zero problems.
Frankly, the lithium battery is a dangerous thing. And it's kinda like buying lottery tickets the more you buy, the better your odds of winning. In this case, each lithium cell which is added to the overall battery is another "lottery ticket", and "winning" means a fire that can't be extinguished.
Your laptop or phone has only a very few cells, so the odds are pretty reasonable that they won't catch fire....but it does happen occasionally. By the time you have the 7000 cells in a Tesla or however many they use in a Bolt.....the odds are getting pretty good that you'll "win" and burn down your home if you parked it in an attached garage.
My sister got on a 'sweepstakes kick' a number of years ago. She did the 'write your name on a blank three by five card and send it in' entry method, a few hundred per each contest. She won a LOT of stuff, proving that the statistical method of winning does work.
Works with cells in a battery, too.
3 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
Bohallx 8/31/2021 12:42:49 PM (No. 899452)
Neither one of my Hybrids (Prius) have blown up, but I do not block the vents.
All cars or other vehicles with enough batteries will eventually produce enough hydrogen gas that will, if kept in the vehicle, catch fire and blow up.
We do not yet have solid state batteries that do not produce hydrogen gas ~ that are light enough to power automobiles.
Make sure the vents are not blocked ~ open the windows every now and then winter or summer. Do not smoke.
0 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
DVC 8/31/2021 1:17:19 PM (No. 899513)
#13, I don't know where you got your information about "hydrogen gas vents" but it has nothing to do with lithium batteries catching fire. "Thermal runaway" is the failure mode of lithium batteries, and they to not normally give off any gases during charging, being entirely sealed.
The common kind of automotive lead acid batteries (used starting a gas or diesel car, or to power most electric golf carts) with a liquid water-acid electrolyte inside are vented through the caps and DO give off small amounts of hydrogen when being charged, and it must be vented away when charging.
This chemistry of wet electolyte lead-acid batteries is entirely different from the SEALED lithium inside these modern EV and hybrid lithium batteries.
3 people like this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
JimBob 9/1/2021 1:11:43 AM (No. 900208)
Just think of the series of headlines..... IF the crooked news conglomerates were not all pushing EV's as one of the solutions to their imaginary 'man-made climate disruption'. Every time one of these cars went up in smoke, they could have coast-to-coast, wall-to-wall coverage with smoke, flames, and breathless commentary that would put the Hindenburg crash announcer to shame.
But..... the Media is pushing the fake 'environmental' cause, as it is one of the paths to Tyranny, so they 'spike' these stories.
I would wager than any private person who really started pursuing this and showing the fires would quickly find themselves banned from the usual suspects....Twitter, Youtube, etc.
0 people like this.
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Comments:
Instead of impressing high school girls by doing a burn-outs at green lights you can buy a car that bursts into flame. How cool is that?