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Earlier this month an EV battery fire burnt out 140 cars parked in the underground car park of a Korean apartment building.
Last year Korea reported 72 EV battery fires up fron 43 in 2022 and 24 in 2021. In the UK 239 EV-related fires were reported between July 2022 and June 2023.
“Electric vehicle fires cannot be extinguished by fire extinguishers distributed domestically or internationally due to the thermal explosion of the large-capacity lithium batteries embedded under the vehicle,” says Korea’s National Fire Agency.
While statistics show that EVs are less likely to catch far than ICE vehicles, when they do the fire is more difficult to put out and after it appears to be put out it can erupt again.
Dealing with EV fires is not an exact science. “Generally, immense quantities of water to cool the battery pack (although this won’t prevent fire erupting again), a fire blanket to suppress the flames and breathing equipment for the firefighters to protect them from the toxic vapour cloud is the standard approach,” says Autocar, “either that or simply let the blaze burn itself out.”
A burnt-out EV has to be put in a compound away from buildings and other vehicles.
According to Autocar, 25% of scrapyard fires are caused by spent lithium-ion batteries.
This seems to be another unforeseen, unsolved problem which was overlooked in the government-led push for EV adoption.
It’s the usual dinosaurs and climate ostriches replying to this biased article.
Wasn’t there a time when ICE cars were considered so dangerous that a man with a red flag walked in front?
An experimental technology foisted on the public because of mass hysteria about climate issues. The UN IPCC WK1 clearly states there is no evidence of either manmade or natural forces having any effect on the weather or climatic conditions ie there is no climate crisis. However there is too much power and money on the climate gravy train to take any notice of scientific facts.
I think you’ll find that IPCC WG1 states:
“It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land. Widespread and rapid changes in the atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere and biosphere have occurred.”
and
“The scale of recent changes across the climate system as a whole – and the present state of many aspects of the climate system – are unprecedented over many centuries to many thousands of years.”
IPCC Sixth Assessment Report
Working Group 1: The Physical Science Basis
Summary for Policymakers
Yes it does seem to be a problem. I have seen a couple of ICE vehicles catch fire and the Fire Brigade have extinguished them within minutes of arriving. While the Luton car park fire was caused by an ICE car apparently it spread to EVs.
Since I can’t post a link, Google “Why firefighters dropped a smoldering BMW i8 into a water tank”
To quote the article
“Because of the chemistry of the lithium-ion batteries found in most EVs, their chemical fires can take massive amounts of water to put out and keep out. So, instead of dousing a car with water, it’s smarter to put it in water, where it will safely be stifled”.
Here it is standard procedure for the fire brigade to put an EV car into a tank of water after extinguishing the fire. They even have special tanks for this, ready to deploy as needed.
Probably not great for insurance premiums, but minimises the demand on the fire services.
Some country will come to its senses and ban these insane creations one day. I always assumed it would be Germany, but Korea or Japan will do just as well. Once someone sets the lead, the USA will follow pretty quickly as it’s a vote winner.