How to Take Apart a Chevy Volt

We had a ringside seat to the mayhem. As we’ve reported, electric and hybrid-electric vehicles have various safety designs, including absorbent-matt technology in their batteries to inertia cutoffs and leakage sensors, to minimize the risk of electrocution. However, rescue workers face other issues across all newer cars such as higher-strength steel that’s harder to cut through and various safety features within that require delicate handling.
 
How exactly do you take a wrecked Volt apart to extricate those inside? Very carefully.
On a balcony at Chicago’s McCormick Center, where the Chicago Auto Show is held, the firefighters went to work. The Volt, a preproduction car from GM’s crash-readiness labs, was pretty banged up: Its doors were bent in, the windshield smashed and the airbags deployed to replicate a car that’s been in a serious accident.