William Maley

Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com

December 6, 2011

Earlier today, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee it plans to hold a hearing in late January on the Volt battery issue.

"It gives us great concern that recent reports indicate important safety information may have been omitted in testimony before our committee just a few weeks ago. This is a serious situation that our committee will look further into," said Jeff Solsby, a spokesman for the committee.

The hearing Solsby is referencing to was a hearing on fuel economy standards and had Environmental Protection Agency and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration officials testify.

The announcement comes a few weeks after NHTSA revealed a Volt caught on fire a three weeks after a side impact crash and couple weeks after NHTSA announced an investigation into the Volt batteries after further testing found two out of the three batteries had a thermal event.

Many conservative commentators have criticized the Volt and and the government's investigation, saying the Obama administration was trying to protect GM.

Also, the former head of NHTSA, Joan Claybrook said in Automotive News this week,

"Not to tell them anything for six months makes no sense to me. NHTSA could have put out a consumer alert and I think they should have done so."

Claybrook went on to say, "I believe they delayed it because of the fragility of [Volt] sales."

"I believe the Volt is safe to drive," said US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to reporters.

LaHood said the government isn't protecting GM by not immediately disclosing a fire with a crashed Volt.

"We're not in the business of protecting the auto industry. We're in the business of making sure cars are safe."

LaHood declined to comment on status of the Volt investigation.

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required), The Detroit News

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