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Buying a Chevrolet Volt just got to be a lot better bargain, following a federal investigation into fires that have plagued the car in crash tests.
On Wednesday, in a goodwill effort, GM offered to provide Volt owners with free loaner cars if they are uneasy about driving their Volts. Now GM CEO Dan Akerson has said the company will buy back Volts from customers who are concerned about fire danger. In an interview with the Associated Press, Akerson says so far 16 of the 6,100-some Volt owners have inquired about loaner cars, and two have taken them.
In fact, no fires have resulted from crashes of the Volt in the real world. But three out of four Volts subjected to a side-impact pole test by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have caught fire as much as three weeks after the test, while parked.
The federal investigation by NHTSA is the type that often precedes a recall. Akerson told AP that if the company needs to recall the Volts to retrofit redesigned battery packs, it will do so, once the cause of the problem has been determined. "I think in the interest of General Motors, the industry, the electrification of the car, it's best to get it right now than when you have-instead of 6,000-60,000, or 600,000 cars on the road," Akerson said.
—Eric Evarts
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