this post was submitted on 06 Sep 2023
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As someone who doesn't understand a thing about cars, and evs in particular- wat? Do they combust spontaneously?
EVs don’t combust spontaneously. If the battery of an EV is compromised or battery pack is pierced and lithium is exposed to air. Then that violent reaction (lithium oxidizing the air) will produce the fire you see.
I think this is from a training exercise though. Suspiciously empty lot. Some branding on vehicle might indicate test site. The idea here is that by covering the vehicle with the fire resistant blanket, the fire will consume all of the oxygen and eventually put it self out.
No. In fact they are typically quite safe but there are some edge cases that pop up given the size and power of the batteries. E.g. Recently it was reported in Florida that some EVs had similar battery issues as a result of hurricanes flooding them with salt water. Thats not a normal occurrence. It makes sense that salt water and batteries aren’t totally simpatico, but more importantly for this to happen you had to leave your car by the ocean in a hurricane, not a spontaneous thing.
Conversely I had a friend driving a brand new ford fiesta and one of the front wheels just came off at speed on the highway…
I can see flooded EVs susceptible to electric shorting. But I haven’t read or seen any reports of combustion simply due to exposure from salt water. Maybe those vehicles were pierced by some object during hurricane?
Do you have a source?
Also modern ICE vehicles not immune to electrical shortages due to heavy water exposure. Most if not all have ECUs and other electronic equipment that is sensitive to water exposure.
It's fairly common for ocean-front condos in Florida to have parking garages that are below sea level. If the surf rises enough to breach the seawall then it will flood the garage levels and not the condos where people are likely sheltering. This is most likely where those Teslas were parked, so it's unlikely that they were subjected to the hurricane force winds.
No, they do not spontaneously combust. They just burn differently. They electrolytically produce very large quantities of flammable vapors and oxidizers. Because they are not entirely reliant on atmospheric oxygen, it is extraordinarily difficult to extinguish them.
It takes 10+ times as much water to extinguish a battery fire as an equivalent petro-fuel fire.