fire

Mitsubishi is looking to make up for lost ground from some fire-related issues by doubling production of its Outlander Plug-in Hybrid vehicle (PHEV) in Japan, Green Car Reports says. The Japanese automaker will ramp up to 4,000 Outlander PHEVs a month, up from the 2,000-unit target it set last ...

Electrovaya, the Canadian lithium-ion battery maker, is ready to go full speed ahead on battery production after cutting its output and improving its technology. The company, which is launching its SuperPolymer 2.0, specifically says the new battery is less prone to fire risk because of, among ...

Mitsubishi continues to cool its heals because of one hot battery. Specifically, the Japanese automaker hasn't found a reason why the lithium-ion batteries in its Outlander plug-in hybrid-electric SUV are overheating and therefore will continue its production moratorium, Automotive News says. The ...

General Motors' Opel division is adding metaphorical fire to the real dispute over a new air-conditioning refrigerant's potential flammability. Opel recently ran crash tests with an SUV using a refrigerant, called HFO-1234yf, that is being pushed by the European Union as a way to cut greenhouse ...

Last week was a rough one for Mitsubishi and its efforts to broaden its appeal among potential plug-in vehicle buyers. Two fires caused the Japanese automaker to halt production of both the Outlander plug-in hybrid and a version of the all-electric i-MiEV. The two separate incidents – both ...

Remember the 16 Fisker Karma plug-in hybrids that were burnt in the wake of Superstorm Sandy? They're not the only bad news for the luxury green automaker: more than 300 Karmas, worth over $30 million, were sitting at Port Newark when it flooded and got destroyed. In all, over 10,000 vehicles ...

Reports are still understandably sparse, but News Press is reporting that a fire at a home in a gated community in Estero, FL might have been caused by either an all-electric Smart Fortwo Electric Drive or its charging station. At the very least, the "Smart car was so badly torched that fire ...

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) will conduct a meeting in Washington, D.C. on May 18 with representatives from the auto and battery-making industries to talk about safety issues related to lithium-ion batteries used on battery-electric vehicles. "The purpose of this ...

What, we worry? A General Motors executive is downplaying the potential effects of last week's explosion of a prototype battery pack in Michigan on sales of plug-in vehicles such as the Chevrolet Volt extended-range plug-in, saying that high gas prices will continue to fuel sales ...

Bob Lutz may no longer work for General Motors, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have the Chevrolet Volt's back. The developer of the extended-range plug-in, in an interview with Plug In America's Jeff U'Ren, blasted what he called "the right-wing talk show guys" for what he said was a ...