Ship carrying EVs burning out of control

[jhogan2424]

So glad Tesla wasn’t specifically mentioned in this article as being one of the car types on the ship. They would have been blamed for the entire accident no matter the true cause.
https://qz.com/2130711/electric-vehicles-make-it-harder-to-quell-fire-on-felicity-ace-cargo-ship/

 

[CyberGus]

 

[hridge2020]

 

[Zabhawkin]

https://www.reuters.com/world/europ...luxury-cars-with-little-left-burn-2022-02-21/

One that isn't behind a paywall

 

[Cybertruck Hawaii]

Count me in too.

 

[Ogre]

There is no evidence this fire was caused by EVs.

That said… places where EVs are contained close together should probably be required to have sprinkler systems.

 

[Ogre]

Well Teslas have been linked to gun violence at golf courses. Who knows what other crazy they are up to!

 

[TomGriff]

I've been involved with maritime safety since 1993, fires on this type of vessel (ro/ro short for roll on/roll off) are all too common. Ro/ros have very large CO2 systems for fire suppression, but generally only enough to use once, or twice and with a hot fire can't combat reflashes. Given how quickly the crew abandoned ship it is likely that the CO2 system didn't function properly or didn't work. Battery fires are a real concern because of the temperatures and fumes in an enclosed space. They likely prevent manned entry which limits cooling options. There have been several fires related to improperly disconnected 12V batteries on ro/ros which is more likely than an EV battery fire (it wasn't carrying any Bolts after all...just kidding, I love my Bolt). That being said, this could have been caused by many things not related to cargo. Fires occur on all types of ships more than most people realize. Regardless of source it would seem that the EVs have become involved and contributing to the fire and making it difficult to extinguish - although that is speculation. A ship really doesn't have the correct equipment on board to combat such a high heat fire. Looking at the pictures, it seems like the hull has deformed, a result of high heat which supports that this is a very hot fire.

Here is an article that was written before this fire:
https://gcaptain.com/electric-vehicles-and-maritime-transportation-fire-hazards-identified/

Fortunately the crew is safe, a fire of this size on a ship often results in fatalities.

 

[CyberGus]

There is no evidence this fire was caused by EVs.

That said… places where EVs are contained close together should probably be required to have sprinkler systems.

EVs should probably be transported with the pack minimally charged. The potential heat joules are proportional to the SoC.

 

[Ogre]

I think EV fires are self oxidizing or don’t need oxygen so CO2 systems would probably not work really well on them. Usually firefighters just use lots and lots of water to try and bring the temperature down and stop the runaway reaction.

They aren’t Bolts, but I think the Porsche Taycan’s batteries are quite poorly designed and that likely contributed to this.

 

[Ogre]

EVs should probably be transported with the pack minimally charged. The potential heat joules are proportional to the SoC.

Or better—as Tesla is trying to do—manufactured as near the point of use as possible so you don’t need to involve this sort of risk or dirty cargo ships at all.

 

[charliemagpie]

Now they can say sales are down because their cars exploded while at sea. !!!

 

[Ogre]

Now they can say sales are down because their cars exploded while at sea. !!!

They are experimenting with lithium saline cell technology for their next generation cells. The potential is deep as the ocean. It’s a hot new technology, sort of like cloud computing but for batteries.

 

[Crissa]

For EVs, just make sure a sprinkler is under each car, and two pumps... one to put water under it, and the other to take it off the ship.

Of course, that might damage the ship if used accidentally, so let's risk the crew and the rest of the cargo, eh?

-Crissa

 

[nomadmusk]

Oh jeez, Porche is really falling off the wagon lately like a drunk uncle on the holidays. Sucks cause I really loved the Taycan. At least no one can claim Tesla or Bolts have the most EV fires anymore.