Electric vehicles may be hot right now, but they're not supposed to catch on fire. General Motors Co. Chevrolet Volt vehicles are doing just that, and Pennsylvania Volt owners may have a defective product on their hands. Automobile safety regulators in the U.S. think that the cars' lithium-ion batteries could be starting the fires. GM procures its Volt batteries from a major chemical company in South Korea, LG Chem, Ltd.

One car appeared to spontaneously combust. The Volt caught fire while it was parked at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The car had been used in a safety crash test three weeks earlier. NHTSA began to investigate because of this single incident, and it has not received reports of fires from Volt owners.

GM stands by the Volt, calling it a "safe car." A spokesperson for the battery manufacturer says that the company is working with GM and NHTSA investigators to determine what role, if any, the batteries play in causing the fires. The investigation is not being made public at this time, but a spokesperson has said that, so far, GM and NHTSA have not been able to replicate the fire.

The lithium-ion batteries in question are also used in Nissan Leaf vehicles. U.S. drivers purchased 13,051 Volt and Leaf cars through October of this year. Toyota's Prius, which is the best-selling hybrid vehicle, uses a nickel-metal battery, but Toyota plans to include lithium batteries in some plug-in Priuses and in one version of its popular SUV, the RAV4.

There is likely more to come on this subject. We will post updates as they become available.

Source: Bloomberg Businessweek, "GM Volt Fire After Crash Said to Prompt Lithium-Battery Probe," Nov. 12, 2011