# GM Battery Explosion?



## Tesseract (Sep 27, 2008)

According to the article I saw, A123.


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## marc02228 (Jan 15, 2011)

Yes, it was A123

http://www.caradvice.com.au/167729/gm-battery-explosion-at-lab-not-related-to-chevrolet-volt/


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## LithiumaniacsEVRacing (Oct 9, 2010)

Wow! The article I read did not mention the battery type.
This is not good news for A123, why so Many problems with their cells?


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## Ziggythewiz (May 16, 2010)

LithiumaniacsEVRacing said:


> This is not good news for A123, why so Many problems with their cells?


They have bad Karma


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## piotrsko (Dec 9, 2007)

and poor remote control quality control. hard to correct stuff when inspection is in USofA and factory is 'way over there.


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## Guest (Apr 12, 2012)

Still mostly just speculation about the problems. Give it time before fueling the issue with more speculation.


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## Brute Force (Aug 28, 2010)

FUD!


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## bjfreeman (Dec 7, 2011)

the way I heard it, they were doing crash tests, and the batteries were effected by the crash. The type of crash rarely happens. This was more about protecting the batteries than the batteries themselves.


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## Duncan (Dec 8, 2008)

The way I heard it was even worse - (sillier)

The cars were crash tested - the mangled remains burst into flames *a couple of weeks later*

No problems at the crash test, just if you leave the crashed car it may burn up later - 

I'm shocked! Shocked that GM would sell such a dangerous car!


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## dladd (Jun 1, 2011)

no, this latest explosion is not crash related. It was in a lab, reportedly not related to the Volt at all.


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## Brute Force (Aug 28, 2010)

The Volt batteries are made by LG, not A123. If a wrecked car had a damaged fuel tank, no one would be terribly shocked to learn it burst into flames. Why are EVs held to a different standard?

The only thing we really know is that there was an explosion in a GM alternate energy facility, people were injured, and batteries of an unknown type were present. Every thing else is rumor and innuendo!

FUD!!


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## EVfun (Mar 14, 2010)

I heard from a local EV activist that there is about 30 vehicle fires each day in the USA. Unless it is local or or someone gets hurt you rarely hear about them.


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## LithiumaniacsEVRacing (Oct 9, 2010)

Brute Force said:


> The Volt batteries are made by LG, not A123. If a wrecked car had a damaged fuel tank, no one would be terribly shocked to learn it burst into flames. Why are EVs held to a different standard?
> 
> The only thing we really know is that there was an explosion in a GM alternate energy facility, people were injured, and batteries of an unknown type were present. Every thing else is rumor and innuendo!
> 
> FUD!!


The article quotes A123 as the battery manufacturer that exploded. I have also read the battery exploded while under a load test, I thought A123 battery were explosion proof???


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## LithiumaniacsEVRacing (Oct 9, 2010)

A lithium-ion battery manufactured by *A123 Systems* (NYSE:AONE) was behind the injury-causing explosion at a *General Motors* (NYSE:GM) battery lab, according to reports. The battery leaked chemical gases into the lab, GM’s Warren Technical Center in Michigan, which caused an explosion. The battery, which was being tested, remained intact. One lab worker was admitted to hospital with chemical burns, though the injuries are not thought to be life threatening.
Last month, A123 Systems said it would spend $55 million on replacing batteries with potentially defective cells in another case. However, shareholders have already reacted, filing a class-action lawsuit against the company last week.
Meanwhile,* Ford* (NYSE:F) and *Dow Automotive Systems* (NYSEOW) engineers are collaborating on developing low-cost carbon fiber manufacturing processes that will reduce the weight of vehicles by 750 pounds and help meet fuel economy and electric vehicle range targets. Carbon fiber composites are used in aerospace and racing cars, but have been too costly for use in high-volume mainstream applications. If the current project is successful, such components may begin appearing on new Ford vehicles in the latter part of this decade.
“This partnership with Ford on carbon fiber composites is a logical next step to progress already achieved through the use of lightweight, high-strength polymers and structural bonding technology,” Dow Automative research and development director Florian Schattenmann said. Dow has also partnered with Turkish carbon fiber manufacturer *AKSA* and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory on a related project.


http://wallstcheatsheet.com/stocks/a123-battery-caused-gm-explosion.html/


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## Batterypoweredtoad (Feb 5, 2008)

What kind of crap testing facility is that? If you are testing something that vents explosive gasses you better damn well evacuate the explosive gases! It is also probably a bad idea to have an ignition source near those non-vented explosive gasses. 

Honest question for those who know more about battery chemistry than me: Is what is being said at all likely? Do Lithium batteries vent explosive gasses when they vent?


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## rochesterricer (Jan 5, 2011)

Batterypoweredtoad said:


> What kind of crap testing facility is that? If you are testing something that vents explosive gasses you better damn well evacuate the explosive gases! It is also probably a bad idea to have an ignition source near those non-vented explosive gasses.
> 
> Honest question for those who know more about battery chemistry than me: Is what is being said at all likely? Do Lithium batteries vent explosive gasses when they vent?


Yes, the electrolyte can break down and vent highly flammable gases. Not too long ago, there was a big scare with laptop batteries doing this. That Carnegie Mellon video goes into some of the chemistry behind this.


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## Brute Force (Aug 28, 2010)

And their source? So far all I've seen are blogs quoting other blogs.

One says the explosion was hydrogen sulfide gas that ignited. Another says the battery was a prototype. Another says the battery was being overcharged by 150%.

How do you get hydrogen sulfide to vent from a LiFePO4 battery? Is A123 building prototype batteries? If you put 30 gallons of gas into a 20 gallon tank, what do you expect the results to be?

I believe it's FUD and maybe we should not be spreading it around.


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## TrikeGuy (Apr 12, 2012)

Duncan said:


> I'm shocked! Shocked that GM would sell such a dangerous car!


 Your "shocked" well don't touch the wires

But remember the good ol days, Ford Pinto or old F-series I'd rather have a car the burns a few weeks after the crash than when I'm still strapped in

And I'm not picking on Ford, it seems every auto maker has made at least one POS model, some just unreliable but too may dangerous.


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## Chad (Aug 1, 2008)

EVfun said:


> I heard from a local EV activist that there is about 30 vehicle fires each day in the USA. Unless it is local or or someone gets hurt you rarely hear about them.


yeah, and they are all Winnebagos!


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## Chad (Aug 1, 2008)

just for fun, what we do with "old" tired R/C batteries - LiPo. LiIO will do the same.

"The Worlds Most Dangerous Battery" hahaha


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## rochesterricer (Jan 5, 2011)

New story on the incident:

http://www.designnews.com/author.asp?section_id=1366&doc_id=242177


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