Officials looking at electric car recalls tied to fire risk
(NewsNation) — The effort to cut vehicle emissions may be hitting a roadblock.
Five automakers — General Motors, Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai, Stellantis and Volkswagen — have issued electric and hybrid vehicle recalls due to possible defects that could cause fires or stalling.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Aministration says it’s investigating the matter, which affects more than 138,000 vehicles with batteries that were made by LG Energy Solution of South Korea.
Ford and BMW have also recalled batteries in recent years. In addition, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board Investigated a series of fires in Telsa vehicles, saying that the high-voltage batteries pose safety risks to first responders after crashes.
The recalls and inquiry come as the Biden administration works to invest heavily in a green future.
The president’s deputy climate adviser says the move will do more than relieve Americans of fluctuating gas prices.
“We’re also going to reduce our consumption of oil by 2 million barrels per day so that means less reliance on a volatile commodity and bolstered energy security and energy independence,” White House Deputy Climate Adviser Ali Zaidi said.
Many in the U.S. are making a push to do the same.
The U.S. Postal Service now is planning to double its fleet of electric vehicles and states are making independent pushes to get more on the road.
There are more than 40,000 registered electric vehicles in Illinois alone, and the state goal is to reach 1 million in just eight years.
But the new investigation could throw a wrench into the growing global rollout.
On the House floor this month, Republicans including Arkansas Rep. Bruce Westerman said that instead of a green energy push, the administration should focus on ramping up long-term clean oil production.
The government, he said, should be “processing permits, issuing leases, streamlining the regulatory process and giving our own home-grown industries the ability to use our own resources.”