Amid Bolt battery fire probe, NHTSA asks LG if other vehicles are affected
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Detroit — Responding to battery defects that cause a risk of fire in Chevrolet Bolt electric cars, a federal auto safety agency is communicating with the battery's maker, LG Energy Solution, to see whether other carmakers' EVs are affected.
The defects led General Motors Co. last month to expand prior recalls of the Bolt EV and Bolt EUV to include all of the electric vehicles from the 2017-22 model years.
GM
In a statement, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration told The Detroit News it “currently does not have any open investigations into fires alleged with LG batteries outside of GM” but added that it’s “in touch with LG to identify other vehicles that may be impacted.”
NHTSA's action makes sense, industry experts say.
“That's a perfectly reasonable thing to do,” said Sam Abuelsamid, principal research analyst at Guidehouse Insights. "When you're looking at a potential safety issue, what you would want to do is determine how widespread the problem is.”
Erik Gordon, a professor at the University of Michigan's Ross Business School, agreed: “It's entirely normal for them to contact LG and say, ‘Who else is using a battery from you?’”
The federal agency's probe focuses on the GM vehicles with battery cells supplied by LG Energy Solution, whose affiliate LG Electronics assembles the cells into modules and packs. GM, meanwhile, is conducting its own review of LG's manufacturing processes to find out how two "rare" defects that can cause the battery fires happened.
LG batteries in other vehicles
Ford and Stellantis are just some of the automakers that also source battery cells from LG.
The Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivan uses 16 kilowatt-hour batteries made by LG Chem in Holland. Over five model years, there have been five recalls affecting the vehicle, but none related to the high-voltage battery, Stellantis NV noted.
"We continually monitor customer and field data and have no indication that suggests a similar defect exists in any of our vehicles,” Stellantis spokesman Eric Mayne said in a statement.
An LG plant in Europe supplies batteries for Ford's first all-electric vehicle, the Mustang Mach-E SUV, which launched late last year. The Mach-E comes equipped with 68 kWh or 88 kWh capacity batteries that feature 288 lithium-ion cells in the standard-range model and 376 cells in the extended-range model.
In a statement, Ford spokeswoman Emma Bergg said that LG "continues to be a valued supplier to Ford, providing batteries for our popular Mustang Mach-E."
"We have been in contact with LG and, based on those discussions, we understand that the manufacturing facility that supplies our LG cells follows different processes including LG's latest production controls," she said.
Meanwhile, Ford earlier this year announced a joint venture to manufacture batteries with another one of its suppliers, SK Innovation, for the Dearborn automaker's future EVs.
The Detroit News reached out to numerous other major automakers with electric vehicles in their lineups, including some who use LG as a supplier, but they declined to comment or did not immediately respond.
LG said in a statement that its "assembly lines at manufacturing sites are individually operated for different EV models," adding that it's "not at liberty to say much information because of the ongoing investigation, but the manufacturing process of battery modules for Ford and Chrysler EV models are different from those of Chevy Bolt EVs."
'Robust systems'
Other vehicle manufacturers that source batteries from LG likely are reviewing their own validation processes, trying to replicate the issue in their systems, and comparing battery chemistries and designs, said Dave Andrea, a principal and automotive strategy consulting team member at Plante Moran.
"It gets into traceability; all of the vehicle manufacturers have robust systems, both for themselves as well as down through their first-tier suppliers to track that," he said.
Still, he and other experts agreed it’s likely LG’s manufacturing process would differ by customer and vehicle, and that it could be necessary for the battery maker to use separate assembly lines depending on specifications from the vehicle manufacturer.
“There could be manufacturing differences, and that being everything from the specification of how the cells are loaded, the chemistry within, the tolerances within the different cathodes and anodes, things like that that would necessitate a different piece of capital equipment or a different makeup on the assembly line or perhaps where automation is used,” Andrea said.
Other automakers besides GM are likely testing their products and reviewing their processes "to make sure that those are robust, and then they would be looking at the various suppliers — not just LG — to see what kind of quality controls or other types of controls are in place, that they are building to those requirements," Andrea said.
Auto companies likely are concerned about two factors: public safety and brand reputation.
Both are hugely important for automakers such as Ford, which is electrifying its most iconic models, such as the Mustang and F-150, and GM as it prepares to launch electric versions of the Hummer and Silverado pickup.
As Andrea puts it: “Brand reputations are on the line here as you start moving from a very narrow market to more of a mass market."
khall@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @bykaleahall
jgrzelewski@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @jgrzelewski
Staff Writer Breana Noble contributed.