More than 100 firefighters battled the fire General Motors The Advanced Design Studio in California destroyed at least one priceless concept car earlier this week and it took nearly eight hours to erase it.
The fire, according to the US publication Car and driverbegan at 5:50 p.m. local time on Wednesday (October 22) and took about seven and a half hours before it was officially declared deleted.
No one was injured in the fire.
Lithium-ion battery packs and gasoline-powered prototypes were reportedly part of the fire’s ignition source. However, an investigation to confirm the cause has yet to be completed.
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“The isolated fire was confined to a single design concept vehicle and did not spread to other vehicles, design concepts or the building itself,” GM said Car and driver.
Lithium-ion batteries are known to pose particular challenges for firefighters as they can generate temperatures of up to 1000 degrees Celsius as well as toxic gas emissions during the “thermal runway”.
In addition to the electrified vehicles themselves, lithium-ion battery fires have caused significant damage and loss to surrounding vehicles and building structures.
A major transportation company banned electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) from its cargo ships in July 2025, citing safety concerns after a rival company lost a ship carrying electric and hybrid vehicles from China to Mexico.
The design studio was opened by GM in 2024 as part of a $71 million (AUD$109 million), 13,843 square meter campus capable of producing everything from initial design sketches to full production prototypes.
They also wanted to take advantage of California’s early adopter culture and worked closely with GM’s nearby North Hollywood campus to identify emerging trends and new design directions.
Among the products emerging from the studio is the Corvette concept unveiled in July, which the company says “reflects GM’s deep roots in the SoCal (Southern California) design community.”
GM’s Australian design studio, operated by Holden, opened in Fishermans Bend in Melbourne in 1964 and closed in 2020 when the Holden brand was discontinued.
Australian Michael Simcoe, whose career began with Holden in 1983 and included work on the 2001 Holden Monaro and 2006 VE Commodore, became head of GM Global Design in 2016 before retiring from the role in June.
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