Chevy Bolt Owners Demand Buybacks For Their “Firebombs”

by Gabrielle DeSantis

The Chevy Bolt EV seemed to finally be GM’s breakthrough electric car. Its numbers have maintained around 20,000 per year, with that many having sold already in 2021. Yet, clouded under a nasty recall of every Bolt built to prevent fires, owners are “unnerved” about owning one. Now, some are demanding GM buy back their Bolt and let them live in peace.

Some Bolt owners are calling their EVs “firebombs”

The Detroit Free Press talked with a number of Bolt owners to get a feel for where they stood in this whole fire recall mess. Responses weren’t pretty. Most of the respondents were worried about parking their Bolts in a garage, or even near their house. Some called them “firebombs.” Yikes!

When GM expanded their recall to every single Bolt ever made last month, that adds up to 141,000 altogether. Battery defects are resulting in random fires. GM has not released the specifics of how those fires actually started, but it is directing a finger at manufacturer LG Chem. 

Now, GM says it, and LG Chem, have “hundreds of people” working every day to help determine what is causing these fires. Last Friday, a GM spokesperson to the Freep the company is “still working with LG on manufacturing process updates.” That’s a bit surprising as GM stated on August 30 that it did not have confidence the “LG Chem could make a defect-free battery.” 

GM has no confidence in the Bolt battery maker LG Chem

That is why GM hasn’t initiated a schedule for taking in your Bolt. As of today, it has no confidence in LG Chem. So those with Bolts need to use them gingerly. And don’t park them in an enclosed structure. 

So far, GM has found two defects that could be causing battery fires. Happening at each of its plants in South Korea and Michigan, it has found a torn anode tab and a folded separator. The issues have been discovered in all years of batteries. According to Inside EVs, older models get a complete battery pack change, while newer ones see affected modules replaced. 

The owners’ reward for waiting is not having a campfire erupt inside their garage and an eight-year/100,000-mile warranty. But, there are things owners need to do to make for safer Bolt ownership until the time comes when there is a solution. Following these simple steps helps lessen the chance of your Bolt turning into charcoal.

Here’s what you need to do if you’re an owner

First, only charge a Bolt to 90 percent. Don’t let the battery get below 70 miles of range before recharging. You shouldn’t charge your Bolt overnight. And don’t park it in an enclosed structure. But those requirements put added limitations on the Bolt.

By following GM’s recommendations, which you should, you are lowering your range roughly to around 140-150 miles. That’s about 100 miles less range than what you signed up for. And if you need to charge overnight to get that 140 miles of range the next morning, you’ll need to figure out a way you can charge it during the day. 

None of these are insurmountable. Especially when it comes to one’s safety. But owners are hoping this discovery period doesn’t last too long. 

RELATED: Chevy Bolt Owners Are Driving Around With Smoke Detectors Strapped To Their Cars

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Did You Know the International Space Station Can Move?

by Gabrielle DeSantis

To the average Joe, the International Space Station looks like an incredibly complex piece of space junk whizzing around the earth. Obviously, it’s not a piece of junk, and it can actually move. There’s fuel for thrusters and ways to orient the craft in orbit. But how does the ISS move, and when would it have to?

Zvezda Service Module | NASA

The International Space Station is mainly powered by Russian Thrusters

Technically speaking, the International Space Station is moving all the time. Not only is it in orbit, moving at 17,000 mph, but there are onboard gyroscopes constantly positioning it. Otherwise, the space station would spin around recklessly and, eventually, fall back to earth.

But when the space station needs to be moved, it’s primarily powered by Russian-built rocket thrusters. The main thrusters of the ISS are located on the Zvezda module, which was attached to the ISS in 2000. Not only was it the first large module attached to the station, but it was the first fully Russian contribution.

The Zvezda module is used primarily for service, able to support six crew members at a time, with two sleeping quarters, a toilet, a treadmill, and a bicycle for exercise. However, when the station needs a boost, the Zvezda’s rockets kick in.

With 16 small thrusters and two large thrusters, the Zvezda’s modules can boost the space station’s orbit when need be. But there are other Russian modules that dock with the space station every so often. They’re called the Progress spacecrafts, and can both propel and refuel the ISS as needed.

Entirely unmanned, these Russian cargo capsules carry 3,836 lbs of fuel, whereas the Zvezda module can only hold 1,895 lbs. Provided, but the time the Progress gets to the station, it only has about 400 or 500 lbs of fuel left. Once the module is finished at the station, it’s filled with trash and waste, undocked, and then burns up upon reentry.

So the International Space Station has means of propelling itself, but those rockets are only fired when they have to be.

The thrusters are only activated when absolutely necessary

International Space Station
International Space Station | NASA

RELATED: Rocket-Powered Tesla Roadster vs. Jet Powered Beetle

For starters, while careful calculations are made to make sure docking vessels intercept the space station, they aren’t always perfect. Thrusters are used to raise the space station’s orbit to meet with oncoming ships. This is rather common, and the time it takes to burn isn’t typically long. But orbital boosts aren’t the only times the space station needs to move around.

Space junk is becoming a dangerous problem, scattering itself in orbit. And while the International Space Station was designed to take on debris the size of a pea, there’s a lot of junk larger than that. If a potential impact is detected inside the station’s “pizza box,” a 30 mile long, 30 mile wide, and 2.5 mile deep rectangle, the station can react. Though it’s best to wait to the last minute before making a move, or not make one at all.

NASA explains that moving the space station can put the crew at risk even more. Since being launched in 1999, the ISS has only made 29 collision avoidance maneuvers. And if the odds of collision are 1 in 10,000 according to all the control centers and tracking stations on earth, a maneuver may be performed. Those sound like small odds, but those aren’t odds you want to chance with a vessel worth over $100 billion.

The International Space Station is two decades’ worth of research and collaboration. And while it might just look like a big junk of metal in the night sky, it’s the culmination of international teamwork. The American’s got it up in the sky, and the Russians keep it moving.

RELATED: SpaceX Has Crashed a Lot of Starship Rockets: Here’s the Rundown

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Watch: A Semi-Truck is Flipped Sideways By A Tornado

by Gabrielle DeSantis

Earlier this month in Horsham, Pennsylvania a truck driver’s dashcam caught footage of an accident involving a tornado. The driver’s semi-truck is flipped on its side by a massive tornado. The other vehicles in the video seem to have gone completely unaffected and got away safely. As you might’ve imagined, this video is sweeping the internet. After all, it’s not every day you see a semi-truck flipped sideways by a tornado.

The driver posted the video to YouTube and states in the description that the van driving in front of him is who pulled him out of his truck. The video starts with the truck approaching a traffic light with a van driving in front of it. There are obviously very heavy winds and rain but not much of a sign of a tornado just yet. Within a few seconds, what looks like a massive swirl of wind begins to appear in front of the truck.

A semi-truck flip

Eventually, the truck shakes and moves until it tips completely over. The driver appears on the dashcam after the vehicle flips. He, fortunately, went completely unharmed in the incident. With the low visibility and intense winds, it’s amazing any driver could tell what was going on. It seemed like the other driver had already left the area, though it is very difficult to see. The other driver turned around to help the trucker get out of the overturned semi.

A tree and traffic light topple over just before the truck takes its tumble. The devastation left in the wake of a tornado is unmatched. Drivers are encouraged to heed warnings whenever possible. The person who posted the video encouraged people to take tornado warnings seriously regardless of their location. Just because you aren’t living in an area that usually gets tornadoes does not mean you won’t see one.

Take warnings seriously

A car crushed by debris is seen in front of a home that was damaged by a tornado in Mullica Hill, New Jersey on September 2, 2021 | (Photo by Branden Eastwood / AFP) (Photo by BRANDEN EASTWOOD/AFP via Getty Images)

These recent events are a perfect example of what the driver is saying. New Jersey is not known for having tornadoes but has had 13 in 2021, its most since 1989 according to ONJSC @ Rutgers. As for this incident, nearby in Pennsylvania, 19 tornadoes have hit in 2021 which is three over the yearly average. These 19 tornadoes hit by September of this year, so there’s still time for more. Though uncommon events might seem silly to hide from, the destruction they cause is far too significant to take the risk. The location of the home destruction pictured above is only a 56-minute drive from the town where the video took place. The two events happened during the same storm.

Was this preventable?

Some users suggested that the driver may have been able to prevent a complete flip by turning the truck to one side in an “L” shape. Surely there are variables that could change the answer to this, such as the haul in the truck, or if it’s completely empty. If the tornado is powerful enough, we’re not sure anything would make a difference. The driver responded on YouTube to one of these suggestions saying he has lost sleep wondering what he could’ve done to prevent it.

Thankfully no one was hurt and the amount of property damage is unknown. Depending on what the trucker is carrying in the video, it could’ve been a costly spill. The video is only a minute long but truly captures an up-close and personal view of a deadly tornado. This type of destruction out on a road near what looks like a gas station and a parking lot is much better than if it were ripping through a residential area. The semi-truck flipped sideways by a tornado caused no injuries thankfully, but the video displays the damage a tornado can cause. If it can flip a semi-truck, what can it do to other vehicles and structures?

RELATED: Watch This Tesla Take On A Tornado

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Alpine A110: James May Thinks It’s a Better Alfa 4C

by Gabrielle DeSantis

The Alpine A110 has been given the ultimate honor by Top Gear host James May. The vehicle was deemed one of his favorite cars ever, and that’s saying something. May has spent a lot of time in cars on Top Gear and The Grand Tour, so he has many options to choose from.

James May on the Alpine A110 | DRIVETRIBE Via YouTube

Sadly, the Alpine A110 isn’t something we would ever get in the U.S., but it’s still pretty cool. It isn’t illegal, but Alpine noted that it focused on markets it had already found success in. However, the A110 isn’t a car you would see anywhere as Alpine produces very few per year, but France would be your best bet. Back in 2017, the two-seater car was the French answer to the Alfa Romeo 4C. However, it has remained a popular vehicle due to the power-packed into such a small car.

“A lot of people get this car wrong. They assume that because it has just four cylinders and only 248 horsepower it must therefore be merely a sports car. This is rubbish. This is a downsized supercar.”

James May | DRIVETRIBE Via YouTube

At one point, James May declared that the A110 was his favorite car. “Lightness, compactness. As the world winds toward its uncertain electric future, this… this is how internal combustion fights back.” Seeing as the A110 has a history in rally, it makes sense this fast little car awes even the hardest of judges.

The Alfa 4C is a pretty similar car due to the weight, engine, and performance stats, but the A110 is just more fun to drive.

Can you import an Alpine A110?

RELATED: The Renault Alpine Returns to Take on Porsche and Alfa Romeo

After 25 years, cars like the Alpine A110 are eligible to be imported into the country. See you in 2042! Until then, U.S. fans have to marvel from afar. According to an article by Auto Evolution, there is a lot to love about the A110. It is pretty light, coming in at under 2,400 pounds (1,080 kilograms).

44% of the vehicle’s weight is on the front axle, while the rear axel gets the other 56%. The engine is in the middle, and the fuel tank is behind the front axle, making the Alpine pretty well balanced. It might only get around 250 hp, but it makes up for it elsewhere.

The Alpine A110 offers a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. Alpine offered no manual option, but that’s alright. The Alfa 4C didn’t get a manual option either. The A110 has a 0-60 mph time of 4.5 and a top speed of 155 mph. For the price, you can’t really beat the A110.

Suprise! Here comes an EV version

According to Autocar, there is a new electric Alpine A110 on the way. “Alpine has always been about building smiling machines, not chasing big power outputs, and we will keep our focus on that,” Alpine technical chief Gilles Le Borgne said. While the vehicle might gain some weight from the electric drivetrain, the A110 will remain focused on agility.

The automaker has been working on using technology to combat the weight of the battery. Sports car electric vehicles will be the next big thing, so an Alpine A110 EV is just in time.

RELATED: 2022 Renault Mégane E-TECH Electric: Is a 292-Mile Range Enough?

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