The news in the industry this week continues to be dominated by reports of the Volt battery fire and resulting NHTSA investigation. Electric drive skeptics have predictably taken the opportunity to question the efficacy of electric vehicles, calling them 21st Century versions of the infamous Pinto. Even some in the industry, aware of the other political headwinds facing new energy technologies, fear the ramifications of these incidents.

In fact, for those who have followed electric drive and the rise of lithium-ion battery technology, these incidents do not come as a surprise, at least not in a general sense. We have known to a certainty that these types of accidents were going to happen and the industry has been preparing for them for years. How it handles these incidents, and how they are managed from the standpoint of technology, public relations and public education, will determine their impact on the future of electric drive, not the incidents themselves.

The real problem, of course, is not the Volt or its lithium-ion battery but the fact that we are dealing with stored energy. Storing energy in any form involves risk, regardless of whether the energy is stored in the form of a charged lithium-ion battery, a full tank of gasoline or pressurized gas. If stored energy is released in an uncontrolled fashion as can happen in an accident, bad things can happen no matter what the form in which the energy was stored.

The issue is not that the Volt battery is more dangerous than a tank of gasoline or pressurized gas, but that it is less familiar. The public understands what happens when a tank of gasoline ignites and, because of that understanding and the opportunities for risk mitigation that the understanding provides to consumers, the public feels sufficiently empowered in order to accept the risk.  That is not the case where the risk involves a new technology that consumers feel they do not yet fully understand.  That is where we are today with lithium-ion batteries.

By all accounts, General Motors has responded admirably to the Volt incidents.  A review of post-accident procedures is underway, educating first responders is being given renewed priority, loaner vehicles have been offered to any nervous Volt owners, and better ways of educating those owners about operating electric vehicles safely are being developed.

As initial safety problems go, these initial problems with electric vehicles have gone as well as anyone could have hoped.  No one was killed or injured.  No serious property damage has occurred.  The right questions are being asked and better post-accident procedures put in place.  Most importantly, we are starting down the necessary path of educating consumers and first responders about how to operate electric vehicles safely.  As that education continues and public familiarity increases, so will public comfort with the technology.

The incidents involving the Volt were regrettable, as any accident is regrettable.  But on balance, so far, so good.