The Chevrolet Volt electric vehicle will be shown.
By msnbc.com news service
Volt the Chevy was a political punching bag on Wednesday, with Republicans accusing the Obama to hide administration fire hazards from the public and General Motors say his signature electric vehicle wrong caught in political crosswind.
Jim Jordan, Chairman of the Subcommittee House supervision regulatory, said it was worrying that U.S. Security regulators open a formal investigation six months waiting for after their own crash revealed tests fire hazards.
He speculated, that their own interests have been maintained the Administration may have. President Barack Obama electric vehicles like the Volt has strongly promoted, and his Government oversaw a rescue by the Government and bankrupt U.S. restructuring of GM in 2009.
GM Chief Dan Akerson had his own theories about how politics affects the probe. He said the hearing that the Volt have "disproportionate control", because it was a replacement for election year politics and commentary by GM business and Obama management policy.
"We do not the Volt to a political punching bag engineer." "And, unfortunately, is what the Volt has become", Akerson said.
Akerson CNBC said after the hearing, he added to the chance in the term of the company on the Board welcomes the fact that car manufacturers now need to reconstruct the car public image.
"We make good products and cars the market loves, the whether it the Volt or other cars," he said.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opens an investigation on the safety of the Volt battery pack for own discovered repeated tests fire hazards on 25 November.
The fires fell after NHTSA crash tests or other tests, where the car's lithium-ion batteries were intentionally damaged and GM has stressed that no "real" events have been reported.
NHTSA their two-month investigation concluded last week without finding defects and satisfied with GM funding, better to protect the lithium-ion battery pack.
David Strickland, which agency Administrator, said investigators had to first analyze why the fires occurred. He said the Agency had no real data on Volt fires and used "every second" over a period of six months for engineers carry out a thorough study.
Strickland said, there was no undue risk to public safety and said, he would have sounded a public alarm a reason to do so would have it.
"We pulled no punches," he said under wilt survey of Jordan and other Republicans on the Committee. "The Chevrolet is sure to drive Volt."
Akerson, whom a used Volt, said that he knew any public discussion of fires squelch any pressure from the Obama management. He said that the Administration has no place on the Board and no influence on business decisions. Taxpayer owned a majority stake to GM $50 billion bailout and bankruptcy in 2009 participation, providing one-third by public shares of the company in 2010 was reduced.
The Volt is at the heart of the GM lead efforts on fuel efficiency. The development was supported by Obama, which presents electric cars as a game-changer in reducing oil imports and tailpipe emissions.
The Administration has spurred aggressively supported systems for other electric vehicles more than $2 billion in financing from suppliers and other research projects, development and production of the $40,000 volt and battery. Volt owners have to claim a tax credit of $7,500 to purchase a vehicle, an advantage Obama has tried, without sweeten success.
There are approximately 8,000 volts on the road today and another 6,500 have been produced. All undergo retrofit to better protect the battery from damage in crashes. GM will reduce the chances of leaks, fires can cause coolant also steps.
Democrats, including Elijah Cummings and Dennis Kucinich, were aggressive in demanding Jordan and Darrell Issa, the Chairman of the area for complete control. The Democrats, said that the prerogative, to look at the problem but it was the Congress, that the investigation of the line was gone.
"I am concerned that the intended effect of this consultation is to undermine technology which is both to the environment to protect and the success of the U.S. auto industry," said Kucinich.
The Oversight Committee has the Congress investigation led by Energy Department loan programs, including financing of bankruptcy solar panel company Solyndra.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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