Mitsubishi halts production of PHEV Outlander and i-MiEV

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boyelectric

Active member
Joined
Feb 15, 2013
Messages
26
Battery problems... fires...

http://green.autoblog.com/2013/03/29/mitsubishi-halts-production-of-i-miev-outlander-phev-after-two/

Last week was a rough one for Mitsubishi and its efforts to broaden its appeal among potential plug-in vehicle buyers. Two fires caused the Japanese automaker to halt production of both the Outlander plug-in hybrid and a version of the all-electric i-MiEV. The two separate incidents – both in Japan – involved plug-in vehicle battery-pack fires and, until the cause is found, production will be suspended, reports Automotive News.

The first fire occurred March 18 in the battery pack of a Mitsubishi i-MiEV (known in the US simply as the i) at the company's Mizushima factory. The pack overheated, causing a 98-minute fire in which no injuries or building damage occurred. The accident may have been caused by what Mitsubishi calls "a change in the manufacturing process of the battery supplier." As a result, the company is calling fleet-vehicle operators with i-MiEVs whose batteries were made under the same process as those that overheated and is working on a possible fix.

Meanwhile, on March 21, a battery pack in Outlander PHEV overheated at a Yokohama dealership. About 80 cells within the battery overheated, damaging one of the three blocks of cells in the battery and causing the unregistered car to not be able to run. Mitsubishi says owners of the Outlander PHEV should hold off on external charging until a further investigation of the cause of the incident is conducted. Mitsubishi says the fire will not delay the plug-in Outlander's US launch and there is no official word if a recall will be required for either vehicle. Mistubishi has sold 4,000 Outlander PHEVs in Japan.

Mitsubishi uses battery cells that have an indirect connection to the fires in the Boeing Dreamliner earlier this year, the batteries that Tesla Motors CEO called "fundamentally unsafe." Mitsubishi't cells come from Lithium Energy Japan, a joint venture between Mitsubishi and GS Yuasa that was started in 2007. GS Yuasa makes the batteries for the airplane, but Boeing says it will not stop testing the Dreamliner in light of these fires.
 
There is a comprehensive discussion on the iMiev Forum about the battery pack and how it is a cousin, but not the same to the Dreamliner batteries.

viewtopic.php


Also from the iMiev forum is details that apparently the problematic battery was only used in 68 iMievs, so the other 10s of thousands of iMievs are safe I guess.

However, now that the iMiev and Outlander PHEV have both had a fire, there is reason to look into it further!
 
boyelectric said:
Battery problems... fires...

http://green.autoblog.com/2013/03/29/mitsubishi-halts-production-of-i-miev-outlander-phev-after-two/

Last week was a rough one for Mitsubishi and its efforts to broaden its appeal among potential plug-in vehicle buyers. Two fires caused the Japanese automaker to halt production of both the Outlander plug-in hybrid and a version of the all-electric i-MiEV. The two separate incidents – both in Japan – involved plug-in vehicle battery-pack fires and, until the cause is found, production will be suspended, reports Automotive News.

The first fire occurred March 18 in the battery pack of a Mitsubishi i-MiEV (known in the US simply as the i) at the company's Mizushima factory. The pack overheated, causing a 98-minute fire in which no injuries or building damage occurred. The accident may have been caused by what Mitsubishi calls "a change in the manufacturing process of the battery supplier." As a result, the company is calling fleet-vehicle operators with i-MiEVs whose batteries were made under the same process as those that overheated and is working on a possible fix.

Meanwhile, on March 21, a battery pack in Outlander PHEV overheated at a Yokohama dealership. About 80 cells within the battery overheated, damaging one of the three blocks of cells in the battery and causing the unregistered car to not be able to run. Mitsubishi says owners of the Outlander PHEV should hold off on external charging until a further investigation of the cause of the incident is conducted. Mitsubishi says the fire will not delay the plug-in Outlander's US launch and there is no official word if a recall will be required for either vehicle. Mistubishi has sold 4,000 Outlander PHEVs in Japan.

Mitsubishi uses battery cells that have an indirect connection to the fires in the Boeing Dreamliner earlier this year, the batteries that Tesla Motors CEO called "fundamentally unsafe." Mitsubishi't cells come from Lithium Energy Japan, a joint venture between Mitsubishi and GS Yuasa that was started in 2007. GS Yuasa makes the batteries for the airplane, but Boeing says it will not stop testing the Dreamliner in light of these fires.

This is definitely not good news for Mitsubishi.I wonder is this going to mean that Outlander PHEV is going to come out later in some markets or will they reduce the cars sold in a certain launch...
 
Dannyboy said:
boyelectric said:
Battery problems... fires...

http://green.autoblog.com/2013/03/29/mitsubishi-halts-production-of-i-miev-outlander-phev-after-two/

Last week was a rough one for Mitsubishi and its efforts to broaden its appeal among potential plug-in vehicle buyers. Two fires caused the Japanese automaker to halt production of both the Outlander plug-in hybrid and a version of the all-electric i-MiEV. The two separate incidents – both in Japan – involved plug-in vehicle battery-pack fires and, until the cause is found, production will be suspended, reports Automotive News.

The first fire occurred March 18 in the battery pack of a Mitsubishi i-MiEV (known in the US simply as the i) at the company's Mizushima factory. The pack overheated, causing a 98-minute fire in which no injuries or building damage occurred. The accident may have been caused by what Mitsubishi calls "a change in the manufacturing process of the battery supplier." As a result, the company is calling fleet-vehicle operators with i-MiEVs whose batteries were made under the same process as those that overheated and is working on a possible fix.

Meanwhile, on March 21, a battery pack in Outlander PHEV overheated at a Yokohama dealership. About 80 cells within the battery overheated, damaging one of the three blocks of cells in the battery and causing the unregistered car to not be able to run. Mitsubishi says owners of the Outlander PHEV should hold off on external charging until a further investigation of the cause of the incident is conducted. Mitsubishi says the fire will not delay the plug-in Outlander's US launch and there is no official word if a recall will be required for either vehicle. Mistubishi has sold 4,000 Outlander PHEVs in Japan.

Mitsubishi uses battery cells that have an indirect connection to the fires in the Boeing Dreamliner earlier this year, the batteries that Tesla Motors CEO called "fundamentally unsafe." Mitsubishi't cells come from Lithium Energy Japan, a joint venture between Mitsubishi and GS Yuasa that was started in 2007. GS Yuasa makes the batteries for the airplane, but Boeing says it will not stop testing the Dreamliner in light of these fires.

This is definitely not good news for Mitsubishi.I wonder is this going to mean that Outlander PHEV is going to come out later in some markets or will they reduce the cars sold in a certain launch...

Well you were right abot the delay it seems that the Australian market is the first on the list...

But I'm not sure if the fire is what is causing the delay of the Outlander
 
Here is another report on the Outlander and I-miev production stoppage.

http://green.autoblog.com/2013/03/29/mitsubishi-halts-production-of-i-miev-outlander-phev-after-two/
 
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