Ethics Group Says Government Suppressed Chevrolet Volt Evidence

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

The National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC) filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), seeking:

“All records, documents, internal and external documentations between the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and General Motors between June 1, 2009 and December 1, 2011. These requested records shall include communication regarding the Chevrolet Volt, also known as the Chevy Volt.”

That’s a lot of paper if the request will be granted.

The NHTSA is investigating three fires in the battery packs of GM’s Chevy Volt following collision tests. The NLPC alleges that the NHTSA “may have withheld information of this potential safety problem from the public for several months.”

Says a NLPC statement:

“The United States government still owns a significant stake in GM. There’s an obvious conflict of interest in a government agency investigating a government-owned company. Moreover, the NHTSA cannot be impartial because it has become a cheerleader for electric vehicles.”

According to its website, the “NLPC promotes ethics in public life through research, investigation, education and legal action.”

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

More by Bertel Schmitt

Comments
Join the conversation
5 of 56 comments
  • Lorenzo Lorenzo on Dec 08, 2011

    Oh, for crying out loud. The only thing the NHTSA has to hide is its own sloppy handling of the crash vehicles. They can claim GM didn't tell them they had to drain the battery after a crash the first time, but by then they should have known enough to drain the "tank" after the second and third crash tests. If they need a manufacturer to tell them what to do after their safety tests, how good can their safety testing be?

    • Daveainchina Daveainchina on Dec 09, 2011

      Pretty much what I've been thinking. Just bad management and poor judgement by those involved. A fire that happens weeks after the accident?? /shrug who cares other than the local storage facility for accidents, and wrecking yards. More fires involve normal ICE cars but I don't see anyone going crazy over them. I'm sure this is just people looking for bad news because they have too much free time. Maybe instead of looking into things that are pretty non-important except to make people hysterical, they could invent something or do something to give the USA more jobs.

  • Crabspirits Crabspirits on Dec 08, 2011

    Sounds like Chevy needs to make more gas station commercials for the Volt. (Guy 1)"Hey, this is a Volt right?" (Volt driver)"Yes." (Guy 1)"Yeah, these blow up in crash." (Volt driver)[sigh] "No. No, they don't." (Guy 1) "That's what I read at the bottom of the screen on the news." (Volt driver)"Ugh, it's never caught fire in a crash. That happened-" (Guy 2)"Hey. Be careful of that thing. It's got them newfangled batteries that catch fire." (Narrator)"THE CHEVY VOLT. WE DON'T KNOW HOW TO RUN A CAR COMPANY."

  • Geozinger Geozinger on Jan 02, 2012

    Update: IIHS has a different view: http://tinyurl.com/7tcnslw

Next