AZBill
Well-Known Member
- First Name
- Bill
- Joined
- May 26, 2021
- Threads
- 12
- Messages
- 1,506
- Reaction score
- 1,773
- Location
- Arizona
- Vehicles
- Rivian R1T, Hummer EV SUT, MME CA Route 1
- Occupation
- Engineer
The backing off of the charge level is simply a means to reduce the risk, not to prevent fires. The last fire that occurred had the battery at 15% charge, and it had not been charged for several days.It doesn't have to be so. There are barriers in place to prevent this runaway in most vehicles. Obviously in the Bolt this is not entirely working. It is not an accident that GM, sorry gm, main recommendation is to back off on the full charge and have a more robust reserve. That's the main problem. The lack of a robust reserve which allows the cells some wiggle room.
All LG pouch cells use the folding technique during manufacturing. The Kona had a folded anode defect, uncovered by Hyundai. The Bolt has folded separator and torn anodes, uncovered by GM. Both Hyundai and GM tore down some sample batteries and found the defects, which were caused by the LG manufacturing process. Also, the Kona batteries were made in a factory in China, the original Bolt batteries were made in Korea and the latest Bolt batteries are made in the US. So LG has a manufacturing problem that appears to be everywhere. The Audi, VW, Porsche and Ford batteries are made in Poland, but only one fire has occurred in those so far.
Bolts had been out for over two years, before the first fire occurred.
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