Thoughts on GM Volt’s Recent “Rapid Thermal Expansion” Incident…

John Waters discusses a battery fire involving a Chevy Volt at a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) facility, arguing that such incidents serve as catalysts for engineering advancement and global leadership in electric vehicle safety.

• A Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid electric vehicle battery, which had been damaged during a crash test at a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) facility, caught fire three weeks after the test and ignited nearby vehicles. No humans were injured during the event.
• The author contends that the Chevy Volt incident provides General Motors with an opportunity to quantify the peripheral behavior mechanisms of high-energy battery packs, which will help the company establish a global leadership position and create intellectual property regarding the safety and reliability of lithium battery systems.
• The author argues against alarmist views of advanced automotive technology by comparing the energy density of lithium batteries to gasoline, noting that a 20-gallon gasoline reservoir has an energy density 65 times greater than lithium batteries.

APA

Waters, J. (2011). Thoughts on GM Volt’s Recent “Rapid Thermal Expansion” Incident…. RMI. https://rmi.org/resources/john_waters_on_gm_volt_battery_incident/

Chicago

Waters, John. Thoughts on GM Volt’s Recent “Rapid Thermal Expansion” Incident…. RMI, 2011. https://rmi.org/resources/john_waters_on_gm_volt_battery_incident/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Waters |first1=John |title=Thoughts on GM Volt’s Recent “Rapid Thermal Expansion” Incident… |publisher=RMI |date=30 November 2011 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/john_waters_on_gm_volt_battery_incident/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{waters2011thoughts, author = {Waters, John}, title = {{Thoughts on GM Volt’s Recent “Rapid Thermal Expansion” Incident…}}, publisher = {RMI}, year = {2011}, month = nov, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/john_waters_on_gm_volt_battery_incident/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }