GM CEO Dan Akerson to address House subcommittee on Chevy Volt fires
Dan Akerson with the 2011 Chevrolet Volt electric vehicle with extended range at General Motors headquarters in Detroit, Michigan Tuesday, August 31, 2010. Akerson takes over as CEO of General Motors Company on Wednesday, September 1, …
Photographer: Photo by John F. Martin for General Motors
Posted: 01/19/2012
DETROIT (AP) - General Motors CEO Dan Akerson has agreed to testify before a U.S. House subcommittee about battery fires in
Chevrolet Volt electric cars.
Company spokesman Greg Martin says Akerson will speak to a subcommittee of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Jan. 25.
The committee is looking into why federal safety regulators waited five months before telling the public that a Volt battery caught fire three weeks after a government crash test.
The fire happened in June but was not made public until November. Subsequent tests caused two more fires.
GM says no real-world fires have occurred. Coolant leaked from the batteries and caused a short circuit, sparking the fires.
GM is advising Volt owners to take the cars to dealers for repairs that will better protect the batteries.
Copyright 2012 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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