- In uncommon circumstances, flooded electrical automobile batteries can catch fireplace and burn
- Eleven EV fires have been confirmed in Florida after Hurricane Ian prompted in depth flooding.
- An EV that has been flooded shouldn’t be pushed till it has been checked out by a licensed technician.
A small variety of electrical automobiles in Florida burst into flame throughout flooding brought on by Hurricane Ian, and the fires are elevating consciousness a couple of beforehand little-known security situation for the hundreds of thousands of Individuals who’ve purchased or are considering of shopping for an EV.
They’re additionally producing political warmth, with some Florida Republican lawmakers calling for extra regulatory oversight for electrical automobiles.
Florida’s State Fireplace Marshal Jimmy Patronis tweeted, “there is a science experiment happening in Florida with EVs and salty storm surge waters.”
However specialists observe all automobiles use concentrated energy sources — whether or not gasoline, diesel or electrical energy — making all of them susceptible to ignition.
Statistics compiled by AutoInsuranceEZ discovered that for each 100,000 EVs, there are about 25 fires every year. That compares to 1,530 automobile fires in the identical variety of gas-powered automobiles yearly. Fuel-powered vehicles sometimes catch fireplace resulting from gasoline leaks or crashes.
This is what to know concerning the fires in Florida:
What occurred to flooded EVs in Florida?
Hurricane Ian struck Florida’s Gulf Coast on Sept. 28, killing 118 folks in Florida, 4 in North Carolina and one in Virginia, inflicting catastrophic injury price greater than $50 billion and flooding giant areas.
The storm’s floodwaters additionally prompted not less than 11 electrical automobiles to catch fireplace.
As of Oct. 26, USA TODAY has been in a position to affirm 11 circumstances by which EVs caught fireplace in Florida after flooding from Ian, all believed to be because of the vehicles’ battery packs shorting out after being submerged in saltwater or bodily injury to the batteries through the flooding.
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Six of the fires have been reported by the North Collier Fireplace Rescue District primarily based in Naples, Florida, and one other 4 by different Collier County fireplace departments, mentioned Heather Mazurkiewicz, public info officer with the North Collier Fireplace Management Rescue District. One extra fireplace was reported in Sanibel Island by the Sanibel Island Fireplace and Rescue District.
No deaths have been linked to the fires. The Sanibel Island incident prompted a fireplace that gutted the home the automobile was parked in and the one subsequent door. There have been no reviews of electrocutions linked to flooded electrical automobiles.
Whereas the hazard of fireplace resulting from flooding in EVs has been recognized to specialists since not less than Superstorm Sandy in 2012, Hurricane Ian has put the situation entrance and middle for the general public.
“That is actually the primary time we had flooding in an space with numerous electrical vehicles,” mentioned Jon Linkov, deputy auto editor for Shopper Reviews. Florida has the second-highest variety of EVs within the nation after California.
Individuals have had greater than 100 years to get used to the security points gas-powered automobiles can pose. Now there’s a studying curve for automobiles powered by batteries, mentioned Thomas Barth, chief of the particular investigations department of freeway security on the Nationwide Transportation Security Board.
“I do not need to give the impression the sky is falling,” he mentioned. “However they’ve their very own set of risks.”
Why do flooded EVs catch fireplace?
If an electrical automobile’s battery is broken by a collision or water intrusion from a flood, a brief circuit can happen, which causes the cell to discharge power and warmth up. This will result in an occasion referred to as “thermal runaway,” by which the warmth propagates from one cell to the following, inflicting them to burn.
In a small variety of circumstances when an EV is submerged in water, contaminants or salt within the water could cause short-circuiting, particularly after the water drains from the battery.
Automobiles or batteries which were broken even have the potential for short-circuiting to happen resulting from motion of the automobile or battery, for instance when it is being loaded or unloaded from a tow truck.
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Warmth generated from a fireplace, thermal runaway of an adjoining cell, or shorting of the battery can soften the porous membrane between the battery’s cathode and anode, inflicting this cell to enter thermal runaway. The warmth causes the cell to vent flammable fuel, which may ignite and catch fireplace.
“That warmth can get transferred to the following cell and it may possibly turn out to be a series response,” mentioned Barth.
“You probably have a broken lithium-ion battery and it has power which stays within the battery pack, we name that stranded power,” he mentioned. “When you provoke a thermal runaway or venting of the flammable fuel, the battery can ignite.”
Did a excessive share of the EVs in Florida burn?
Social media posts claiming EVs catch fireplace “typically” overstate the issue, say specialists.
Collier county, which incorporates the town of Naples, had 2,490 electrical automobiles registered as of July 2021, mentioned Stan Cross, electrical transportation coverage director for the Southern Alliance for Clear Vitality.
That might imply a fraction of a p.c of the EVs within the county caught fireplace after the flooding.
In Lee county, the place Sanibel Island is situated, there have been 2,683 EVs registered final yr. The one EV that burned there would imply lower than 0.04% of the electrical automobiles within the county caught fireplace.
There was additionally a report by the native paper, the Island Reporter, that a number of flooded electrical golf carts at The Dunes Golf & Tennis Membership additionally caught fireplace, on Oct. 16.
What ought to I do with a flooded EV?
Electrical corrosion might not be seen, and an EV can expertise thermal runaway hours and even days after flood waters recede.
This implies flooded EVs parked in garages or carports subsequent to properties needs to be moved away from buildings. These vehicles shouldn’t be pushed however have to be towed. Consultants cautioned that no automobile, whether or not electrical of gas-powered, needs to be pushed after flooding till it has been checked out by an expert.
“No street automobile needs to be thought of roadworthy after saltwater flooding, whether or not it is an EV or anything,” mentioned Haresh Kamath, director of distributed power sources on the Electrical Energy Analysis Institute in Palo Alto, Calif. “When you’ve skilled saltwater flooding, you shouldn’t be driving or attempting to drive and even begin that automobile. You should not be moving into the automobile.”
On Sanibel Island, which was closely broken by Ian, Sanibel Fireplace Rescue District crews have towed between 20 and 25 electrical automobiles from garages or underneath residences to forestall potential construction fires, the company mentioned in a Fb put up.
The vehicles are being moved not less than 15 ft away from buildings.
Are EV fires arduous to place out?
EV fires are harder to place out than ones in gasoline-powered vehicles and require totally different firefighting methods, say specialists.
Firefighters are already coaching on learn how to cope with EV battery fires, mentioned Andrew Klock, senior supervisor of product and improvement for the Nationwide Fireplace Safety Affiliation.
The largest distinction is that an EV fireplace can’t be put out with the kind of firefighting foam used to smother different fires. As an alternative, the battery have to be cooled to cease the hearth and finish thermal runaway, he mentioned.
“Lithium-ion batteries generate their very own warmth and oxygen,” mentioned Klock. To cease the hearth requires placing water on the battery case to chill it.
Most EV batteries are beneath the automobile, so pouring water on prime of the automobile or within the engine compartment will not be useful, he mentioned.
“It is advisable get the water beneath,” mentioned Klock, whose group supplies coaching supplies for fireplace departments on learn how to cope with all varieties of fires.
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All automobile and truck producers are already required to create emergency response guides for first responders on learn how to cope with all the pieces from safely extricating somebody from a crashed automobile to high-voltage disconnect directions.
A 2020 report by the Nationwide Transportation Security Board discovered that extra details about coping with battery fires was wanted.
“We’ve had wonderful response from that steerage, numerous the automobile producers have rewritten their emergency response guides or are within the means of doing that,” Barth mentioned.
As well as, a gaggle of federal, state and personal firm specialists has come collectively to deal with the problem of EVs and hurricanes and are engaged on it now, he mentioned.
Aren’t there protections constructed into the batteries?
EV batteries are particularly engineered to make thermal runaway “very, very uncommon,” mentioned Kamath.
“The protection methods inside a lithium-ion battery usually forestall that sort of factor occurring except there may be some important bodily injury to that battery,” mentioned Kamath, who has labored on battery points for greater than 20 years.
Within the case of a crash, trendy electrical vehicles are designed with fuses which might be triggered if the airbags deploy, mentioned Barth.
“Primarily, they’re chopping the excessive voltage strains to the motor that turns the wheel,” he mentioned. “When you crash, you do not need the excessive voltage strains powered up that would energize the chassis and shock somebody.”
EV batteries are designed with seals to guard in opposition to water intrusion, mentioned Stu Fowle, a communications director with Normal Motors.
“Our checks embody extraordinarily dry circumstances and water submersions to simulate flooding, validating the security and isolation of methods,” he mentioned in a press release to USA TODAY.
The truth that solely eleven EV fires have been related to Hurricane Ian is telling, mentioned Marc Geller, with the Electrical Automobile Affiliation.
“If a ton of flooded EVs have been catching fireplace, we might definitely hear about it,” he mentioned.
Is it secure to cost an EV in a flooded space?
If the automobile itself wasn’t flooded, then sure, it’s secure to cost.
If the charging station flooded, it should not be used – and won’t work, mentioned specialists. The protection mechanisms constructed into any system that flooded ought to have routinely shut it off, mentioned Kamath.
“They’ve performed numerous engineering to guarantee that within the occasion of flooding or one thing that may intervene with the operation, the system shuts down,” he mentioned.
Are flooded standard vehicles okay?
No automobile, whether or not powered by gasoline or a battery, is secure to drive after being flooded, a number of specialists warned.
“Similar to flooding is the top of the street for a gasoline-powered automobile, it’s the top for electrical vehicles too,” mentioned Brian Moody, government editor for Autotrader.
“Lots of the identical issues that plague a gasoline-powered automobile are a problem regardless of how the automobile is powered. The sprint, gauges, heating system, brakes, wiring, seats, radio, touchscreen, all these parts will likely be ruined by water, particularly salt water,” he mentioned.
Higher driver training for EV house owners
Electrical automobiles are more and more fashionable in america, reaching a document 5.6% of all new vehicles bought in america within the third quarter of 2022, in accordance with Kelley Blue E book. In 2021, there have been 321,546 EVs bought within the U.S. Up to now this yr the quantity stands at 546,664, in accordance with Kelley Blue E book.
Estimates put the variety of electrical automobiles on U.S. roads at someplace between one and two million. That is a far cry from the 286 million whole vehicles registered, however does imply an growing variety of Individuals are driving battery-powered automobiles. There is a studying curve, say specialists.
Florida has the second-highest focus of electrical automobiles after California, mentioned Cross. Because the state, and the nation, face the potential for extra floods, getting new EV house owners in control will likely be mandatory.
Most Individuals grew up with gas-powered automobiles and have not less than some understanding of their risks — even when it is solely having seen films the place a fuel leak from the tank of a broken automobile precedes a billowing cloud of flame.
With so many new EVs on the street, and drivers new to electrical automobiles, studying about their variations is vital.
“With all new applied sciences, there will likely be issues to work out. With EVs, although the issues are few, they’re headline-catching and life and property-threatening,” mentioned Cross. “You possibly can’t disguise from that. It is an issue, it must be addressed.”
Elizabeth Weise covers local weather and environmental points for USA TODAY. She might be reached at eweise@usatoday.com.
