Huge 2012 Chevy Volt Crash Proves Its Safety Credentials
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield May 30, 2012 Comment Now!
Ever since a battery pack from a 2012 Chevrolet Volt caught fire weeks after it was subjected to tough National Highway Traffic Safety Administration tests in a laboratory, critics of General Motor's plug-in hybrid have been quick to question its safety credentials.
But after a Toyota Camry hit a parked Chevrolet Volt in the Sedate town of Geneseo, New York, after failing to stop at an intersection, there's little doubt that the Chevrolet Volt is safe.
According to local news, the accident occurred at 1am on May 18, when the 22-year old driver of the Toyota Camry sped through the intersection, crossed a ditch and impacted the Volt, which was parked next to a 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee on the owners' driveway.
The impact was so violent, it pushed both the Volt and the Jeep an estimated 25 feet in a lateral direction, and threw debris some 150 feet from the impact.
2012 Chevrolet Volt
It also damaged the owners' home, destroying part of the garage and even cracking plaster on walls on the other side of the home.
All three cars were destroyed, but the Volt, which was hit first, suffered the most damage.
With its engine bay, windshield pillar and roof pillars crushed, the Volt is almost unrecognizable after it was hit by the flying Camry. But even though the collision was at speeds rarely seen in a traffic accident and the Camry's engine caught fire immediately after the crash, the Volt's battery pack appears intact.
It's a shame to see a brand new car destroyed in such a violent crash, but it does send at least one positive message about the Volt: just like a regular car, it didn't explode simply because it was hit.
Although all three cars were destroyed in the accident, not to mention substantial property damage sustained, the driver of the Camry was taken to hospital with concussion and a fractured hip.
"It was just material things which were damaged. Everything can be put back together. Human life is more important than material things," Stanley Johnson, the Volt's owner, mused to the local press.
And we have to agree.
2012 Accidents Car Safety Chevrolet News Chevrolet Volt News crash tests Electric Cars fire Green
Toyota Camry: Hybrid Sales On the Rise Again, November Sales... Jeep Grand Cherokee: Jeep Grand Commander EV leads FCA electrification push Grand Cherokee: AMPs Converted Electric Jeep Will Cost Same As Tesla... Grand Cherokee: AMP To Bring All-Electric Jeep Grand Cherokee To... Chevrolet Volt: 2016 Chevrolet Volt: Seats Five, But Not (Really) On A... General Motor: Chevrolet Partnering with Detroit-based Utility DTE...
IIHS Sticks By Volt Safety Rating: No Pack Issues After Crash Tests
Hydrogen supply pinch affects San Francisco fuel-cell drivers
Northern California fuel-cell drivers still left dry since June explosion
2023 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV revealed: With bigger battery, will it top 42-mile RAV4 Prime?
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield - Contributing Writer
Battery swapping is a remedy for rising cell costs and could be deployed for nearly all EVs within three years, CATL suggests.
EV reliability, Rivian Waypoints, Cybertruck delay, Bollinger bails: Today's Car News