Repeated fires at a GM EV plant have Detroit fire officials demanding changes

[MichMan]

General Motors has a problem at Factory Zero, its electric vehicle plant, that Detroit fire officials and local union leaders want fixed.

Since last summer, there have been eight incidents at the plant prompting GM to call the Detroit Fire Department, said Dennis Hunter, Detroit's chief of fire prevention. Hunter did not provide details of the incidents, but indicated many of them were fires.

One of them, as the Detroit Free Press reported on Dec. 19, was a three-alarm fire that warranted an evacuation of the building and a halt to production that day of the GMC Hummer EV pickup and SUV, and Silverado EV work trucks. According to the incident report obtained by the Detroit Free Press through a state Freedom of Information Act request, there were 22 fire trucks and 88 firefighters at the scene, many of whom were exposed to "the tremendous hazards of a toxic environment."

There were no serious injuries from fires at the factory, Hunter said. But two of the fires caused a total of more than $1 million in damages, according to two incident reports the Free Press obtained.

https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/general-motors/2024/03/01/gm-factory-zero-safety-upgrades/72509631007/

[OAITW r.2.0]

1. Volatility of battery chemistry....that's gotta get figured out.