A chemical explosion at a General Motors plant in Indiana killed one and injured five others Tuesday, according to reports.
James L. Gibson, 48, was declared dead at Marion General Hospital. General Motors, as well as local fire officials, said the cause of the explosion was chlorine dioxide. The disaster is reportedly still under investigation. The five other individuals involved were not seriously injured.
The Marion Metal Center dates back to November 1956, when it opened as Fisher Body. Today GM says the plant employs over 1,400 people who “provide blanks, stampings and sheet metal assembly for cars, vans, trucks and SUVs to GM assembly plants throughout North America.”
Comment
I keep reading how Volt owners are clamoring for an additional seat. I’m not!
I love my Volt as-is. It’s a commuter car and accomplishes that very well. (With careful planning, more than 90% of my driving has been on electricity.) I would never ask anyone to cram into the center seat of a compact car. I feel strongly that the center armrest/console and cup holders make the Volt more luxurious for back seat passengers and the design, proven by the EV1, is actually something that attracted me to the car in the first place. I get the feeling that journalists have touted the lack of a center seat simply to have something negative to talk about. The comment has been repeated so many times, owners who are surveyed actually believe that adding another seat would be helpful.
While I understand the logic of the argument for another seat, I don’t want to see the console removed for the sake of people who would only buy something else (“I just bought a Prius instead”), especially if it comes at the expense of range, safety, or long-term reliability (i.e. a less protected “skate” design without temperature management). I’d rather see GM repackage the existing Voltec technology into an Orlando-like MPV for those who want to carry more passengers comfortably.