Cause of Fires Not Determined Yet
Following Hyundai Motor, BMW and Ford, General Motors (GM) has also decided to recall its electric vehicles as fires took place in some of them. Although the cause of the fires has not been determined yet, the recall is unsettling to Korean battery manufacturers.
GM has decided to recall 68,677 units of the Chevrolet Bolt EV produced between 2017 and 2019 as the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) launched an investigation into three fires that broke out in the lower back seat of parked Bolt EVs. The results of the investigation have yet to be released, but GM has decided to recall the Bolt EV as the U.S. carmaker believes that there is a possibility of additional fires.
GM determined that there is a risk of fire when the battery in the Bolt EV is fully charged or its charge is close to 100 percent. To prevent possible fires, GM has developed software that limits the amount of charge to 90 percent. From Nov. 18, it will implement a software update, starting with cars in the North American market.
Industry insiders say that the GM Bolt EVs are loaded with batteries produced by LG Chem at its Ochang plant in Korea. Hyundai Motor, which earlier decided to recall 77,000 units of the Kona EV, also used LG Chem batteries. The Kona EV caught 13 fires at home and abroad.
BMW and Ford, which use batteries from Samsung SDI, have also decided to recall some plug-in hybrid vehicles. Tesla, which uses batteries from Japan's Panasonic, and China’s GAC, which uses batteries from China's CATL, have also decided to recall their EVs.
All these companies are leading the global battery market. Some observers say that if the cause of car fires is a faulty battery, battery manufacturers can be held accountable and pay for the recall expenses. In fact, Ford said it would charge Samsung SDI with part of the fines for its recalls.
However, battery makers note that the specific cause of the fires needs to be determined first before pointing the finger to batteries. As various devices and systems such as battery cells, battery packs, battery management systems, and cooling systems are used in electric vehicles, the exact cause of the fires can only be known when the investigation results arrive, they say.
When the Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport mentioned the possibility of poor battery cells being the cause of the Kona EV fires on Oct. 8, LG Chem refuted the claim, saying, "There was no fire in a reenactment test and no one can say that our batteries are to blame." Samsung SDI also said it is currently investigating the Ford fire accident.