NHTSA Investigating Electric Vehicle Battery Safety Defects

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is investigating the safety of EV and hybrid vehicle batteries made by LG Energy Solution of South Korea.

Since February 2020, General Motors, Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai, Stellantis and Volkswagen have issued recalls for as many as 138,000 vehicles with possible defects that could cause fires.

General Motors has taken the most hits with a string of recalls that involved more than 140,000 Chevrolet Bolt EVs from the 2017 through 2022 model years.

BMW and Ford have also recalled batteries in recent years, and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigated Tesla vehicles fires and determined that the high-voltage lithium-ion batteries pose safety risks to first responders.

NHTSA plans to write to LG and other companies that might have bought similar batteries to make sure recalls are being done when needed.

NewsClips:

— Citizens Voice: Interest In Electric Vehicles Increase In Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, But They’re In Short Supply

— Reuters: Canada To Invest $2 Billion On Mineral Strategy For EV Battery Supply Chain

— Bloomberg: GM, Honda Unveil Plan To Jointly Build Millions Of Small Electric Vehicles

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