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Plug-in Hybrid Catches Fire

The batteries weren't at fault. Plug-ins are still a good idea.

Friday, June 20, 2008

By Kevin Bullis

Earlier this month, a plug-in hybrid caught on fire. In May, another one had suffered a "meltdown" of the battery pack. In both cases, no one was hurt. But some advocates of the technology are worried that, because of the incidents, plug-ins will get a bad name, and potential buyers will steer clear.

They shouldn't be worried.

Plug-in hybrids are like ordinary hybrids, but they have bigger battery packs that can be recharged by plugging them in. That gives cars extended electric range compared with conventional hybrids, which cuts down on gas consumption.

Plug-ins are all the rage these days with politicians and automakers, in whose minds they have apparently supplanted hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles as the cars of the future. It seems unlikely that the recent incidents will do much to change this. Both cars were aftermarket conversions of conventional hybrids. Cars designed from the ground up as plug-in hybrids aren't available yet. So the incidents throw into question the skill of those who did the conversions; the incidents don't suggest that plug-in hybrids are, in principle, a bad idea.

There might have been more cause for concern if the fire were the result of the battery cells. One of the conversions reportedly used battery cells from a company enlisted to supply batteries for plug-in hybrids from GM. It wouldn't look good if the batteries that GM intends to use started going up in flames.

But apparently, the batteries weren't the problem in either case. The fire and meltdown seem to have been caused by the electronics used in the conversions. One hopes that offerings from major auto companies will be better put together.

Right now, GM engineers are rushing to develop the GM Volt, a type of plug-in hybrid that's supposed to be available by the end of 2010. If those start bursting into flames after they roll off the assembly line, that would indeed be bad news for the future of plug-in hybrids.

Tags: GM, plug-in hybrid, battery, fire

Comments

	plug-in hybrids costs cbehrjr on 06/23/2008 at 9:34 AM
Posts: 1 Avg Rating:	Why do conversions of hybrids to plug-in cost so much? Will the new models that come from the factory as plug-ins cost the extra $10,000 that the conversions are currently going for? Rate this comment: (Reply)

	Re: plug-in hybrids costs Kevin Bullis on 06/23/2008 at 10:08 AM		TR Staff Nanotechnology and Materials Science Editor
Posts: 58 Avg Rating:	The high cost is because batteries aren't cheap, and so far volumes for conversions are low. One conversion-kit maker told me the costs for plug-in hybrids designed as such from the ground up could be $4,000 more than a conventional vehicle, when produced in large numbers. Rate this comment: (Reply)

	Electric+light weight = best dnwdfw on 06/23/2008 at 2:02 PM
Posts: 10 Avg Rating:	I'm curious why more effort hasn't been put into making cars lighter as well as making drive trains more flexible and efficient. Steel is heavy for its structural contribution to car bodies. Carbon fiber or other composite materials (ABS plastic, etc.) would seem to be a better and lighter path. Even Aluminum would seem to offer advantages over steel. Instead of 3500 pound cars getting 25 MPG we could maybe get 2000 pound cars getting 45 MPG? Rate this comment: (Reply)

	Re: Electric+light weight = best stevemasoomian on 07/22/2008 at 1:23 PM
Posts: 1	What is the cost of carbon fiber bodies? Can they be made to purposely break down upon impact to protect the driver and passengers? Rate this comment: (Reply)

	Plug in Hybrid - most effective model mkogrady on 08/28/2008 at 1:15 PM
Posts: 127 Avg Rating:	The most cost effective, inexpensive plug in hybrid is your laptop PC and a broadband internet connection. Telecommuting Matters www.digitalfuel.org Rate this comment: (Reply)

	Plug-in Cars MickeyFouse on 12/02/2008 at 7:11 PM
Posts: 19 Avg Rating:	The problem with these conversions is that they are not an integral part of the car and don't sure if they have Spark Plug Wire Cover. The car itself wasn't designed with this application in mind. The plug-in conversion is tacked on and takes advantage of a loophole in the Prius design. If the car had been designed from the start to plug in the chance of an event like this will greatly reduced. Rate this comment: (Reply)