What You Need to Know About EVs Catching Fire

What You Will need to Know About EVs Catching Fire

Following Hurricane Ian

On September 28, 2022, Hurricane Ian made landfall in southwestern Florida. It was a damaging, Category 4 hurricane, bringing catastrophic storm surges, large rainfall and rigorous, sustained winds.

Recent reports suggest a number of EVs caught fire because of to water problems caused by significant flooding in the most seriously impacted regions. Learn far more about how and why they in some cases catch fireplace and how EV owners can prepare themselves for possible water destruction in their cars.

The Effects of H2o Injury in EVs

Drinking water gets an unstoppable pressure for the duration of a organic disaster these as a hurricane or tsunami. In 2017, flooding rains from Hurricane Harvey had been powerful sufficient to disable h2o source infrastructure in Beaumont, Texas, leaving 118,000 citizens with no h2o.

Water problems is a critical difficulty for places vulnerable to purely natural disasters, flooding or storm surges. When EV batteries are submerged in salt h2o, the h2o causes the lithium-ion battery mobile to discharge electrical power and develop into warm. This can guide to thermal runaway, a approach in which warmth propagates from 1 mobile to one more and burns.

EV Fires in Florida Soon after Hurricane Ian

Stories declare the root result in of the EV fires in Florida took place when their batteries brief-circuited or grew to become physically ruined due to the fact of flooding. Existing research implies EV fires are rarer than regular automobile fires, but EV fires are much additional challenging to extinguish.

An EV battery’s most important energy source can result in various reactions, creating fire to unfold and melt away lengthier. In two Florida towns—Naples and Sanibel Island—firefighters spent hrs trying to extinguish the EV battery fires. Numerous movies on the well-known social media platform TikTok present firefighters spraying hundreds of gallons of water on a Tesla in Naples, Florida.

What EV Owners Should Know

One fascinating enhancement in EV battery technological innovation is the use of salt water. When a lithium-ion battery is submerged in saltwater, it results in serious hurt. However, researchers and researchers utilized salt water to create saltwater batteries, which are much safer, can avoid extensive-long lasting fires and are better for the surroundings than their lithium-ion counterparts. But right up until salt water batteries come to be common in EV production, EV homeowners ought to know how flooding can harm their vehicles and cause a fire.

Standard Techniques for EV Owners

No motor vehicle is protected to drive all through flooding, so individuals in flood or hurricane zones really should be mindful of climate alerts. Since battery corrosion is not obvious, all EVs need to be inspected following flooding.

If there is flooding or the probable for weighty rainfall, EV entrepreneurs need to go their autos away from properties to cut down the chances of a fire possibly spreading in a building and causing even extra problems. Moreover, it is by no means safe and sound to travel a perhaps ruined EV—it ought to be towed.

Holding EVs Protected In the course of Normal Disasters

As Hurricane Ian confirmed, EV house owners must come across a area away from other constructions to stow their cars ahead of a storm hits. Undertaking so can conserve them not only revenue on possible repairs, but also prevent their possess injuries.