Last month, reports surfaced that a fire had broken out at Stellantis' North American headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Now, more details about the incident have emerged, indicating that the fire broke out in the Chrysler Tech Center and involved an electric vehicle prototype.
Details of the investigation remain shrouded in secrecy. However, according to a report from the Auburn Hills Fire Department, the prototype was parked on a lift and had to be removed from the facility using a forklift.
“Crews made their way to the vehicle and found it with active fire underneath the vehicle and under the hood,” the report, obtained by Crain’s Detroit states. Although the cause of the fire is unclear, “workers present at the time of the incident advised that the vehicle had had some kind of coolant issue.”
Fortunately, no injuries were reported and the building was not damaged in the incident, which fire officials said was unintentional.
Stellantis is no stranger to battery cell problems. The plug-in hybrid variant of the Chrysler Pacifica has been recalled several times for problems with its high- and low-voltage battery systems, both of which have been linked to the risk of fire.
While it remains unclear what prototype Stellantis was working on at the time of the fire, the company, like other automakers, is actively involved in the development of various electric vehicles based on a number of new "STLA" architectures.
Chrysler is developing an electric crossover, as previewed by the Airflow concept, while Ram is working on an all-electric pickup truck. In addition, Dodge is focusing on an electric muscle car, as shown by the Charger Daytona SRT Banshee concept.
Source: Crains Detroit