Lithium fires are horribly difficult to extinguish, and emit dangerously toxic fumes which can cause long term or even permanent dementia like brain injuries, along with a host of other usually reversible harms. Since lithium-ion fires are a chemical reaction they can only be cooled not extinguished. They end up burning for several days in some cases. To extinguish Lithium automobile battery fires, firefighters cordon off the area and spray a fine mist of water on the fire to try to keep the temperature down, then wait for it to burn itself out. Firefighters may need 30,000 to 40,000 gallons of water to contain a Tesla electric vehicle (EV) blaze than the 500 to 1,000 gallons of water they would normally use for a mainstream gas-powered car that was on fire.
A truly nightmare scenario is one in which an EV fire occurs in an underground parking garage beneath an apartment complex or a crowded office building. With the toxic fumes generated, how would the local fire department be able to respond to a fire that could not be extinguished even if they could get to it? Germany may be stepping up to the plate with a trend of banning EV’s from parking underground due to potential EV battery fires.
And that's on top of the, let's say 'slight' charging problems. And just how they expect to charge all these things using using bird cuisinarts and solar panels.
6 comments:
I plan on being the last person driving a gasoline powered vehicle.
I am a career FF/EMT, so I know of which I write. It is hard enough to deal with the 1000 gallons of runoff from a normal car fire, especially near waterways or storm drains. The released battery acid is minimal, the engine oil is normally contained in the engine, and the coolant spill is also minor. Any unburned fuel in the runoff quickly evaporates or is easily contained with a dike of dirt or Speedi-Dri. Once a car fire spreads to the passenger compartment, it is more airborne pollution as the plastic interior burns ferociously.
Now imagine 30,000 to 40,000 gallons of runoff, that may contain toxic chemicals and heavy metals. After the fire is out, it would be a HAZMAT cleanup probably taking several days to remediate.
"With the toxic fumes generated, how would the local fire department be able to respond to a fire that could not be extinguished even if they could get to it?"
Wearing the same SCBA (Self Contained Breathing Apparatus) that we wear for all structure and Vehicle fires...
Truth be told for Electric Vehicle fires in rural areas where we do not have access to fire hydrants - Spray some water on the fire until we can get the road closed down, Let the thing burn itself out because at 1000-3000 gallons per water tender we cannot get enough water to put one of these out. Make sure to prevent the vehicle fire from starting a wildland fire.
These vehicles are not ready for prime time yet!!
With all these problems with lithium it sure seems at this time it is NOT a solution to the green problem. Causes more toxic problems than it solves. Plus all the mining and manufacturing that has to be done to make the lithium useable for battery use is not a green way to go. So a new drawing table needs to be used to solve the problems with lithium or use a whole different bunch of elements to make a safer battery.
Heltau
Halon or FM-200. Expect collateral damage.
SL: When a large battery is involved, cutting off the air with foam or fire-suppressant chemicals doesn't accomplish much. Most of the energy released is from the reactions between the substances that store energy in the battery; the lithium battery's high energy and power density mean that the results are spectacular as compared to other types of battery. FM-200 would keep the plastic and rubber in the car from burning also (and possibly magnesium and aluminum, if present), which is only a small part of the heat - but FM-200 releases hydrogen fluoride in a fire, and that's probably more toxic than anything coming from the battery.
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