The idea seems fairly simple and straight forward: Design a windshield washer system that is able to heat wiper fluid in order to melt ice and snow more quickly. But I guess that’s why we’re not engineers. That simple idea has snowballed into a mountain of trouble, resulting in a massive recall, the loss of several jobs and the end of a bright up-start company.
Detroit’s Microheat Inc. landed a contract with General Motors back and 2004 that called for the up-start supplier to meet the aforementioned charge – create a windshield washer system that was able to heat windshield washer fluid. Microheat did just that, calling its system HotShot. But there was one major flaw with HotShot – it tended to start vehicle fires.
Investigators discovered that a defective circuit board within the HotShot system caused at least three vehicles fires and led to 34 warranty claims, according to Automotive News. Those findings led to the recall of more than 944,000 GM vehicles.
GM has subsequently stopped using Microheat’s HotShot system, forcing Microheat to cease almost all production and terminate the vast majority of its workforce. Adding insult to injury, GM is suing Microheat for the cost of the recall, which is reported to be in the $20 million to $25 million range.
Microheat will likely counter-sue GM for $3.7 million — the amount the supplier claims GM owes it for parts shipped in June, July and August. But with operations basically at a standstill, it looks as the Microheat is staring down a lose-lose situation.
