It’s not unusual to see blazing headlines in newspapers and magazines, to not point out on the native night information, reporting yet one more electrical automobile hearth. With so many experiences, one would possibly suppose that EVs self-immolate frequently at a far greater fee than vehicles powered by inside combustion engines (ICEs). Essentially, it seems that the reverse is true: the danger of an internal-combustion-engine automobile hearth is between 20 and 80 occasions higher.
Kelly Blue E book, Edmunds, MotorTrend and others, citing research from numerous nations, report that ICE autos catch hearth at a far higher fee than EVs.
Nevertheless, it’s true that EV fires may be more durable to place out, and that many firefighters nonetheless lack the specialised coaching and gear to cope with them. Any new know-how that may cut back the danger of car fires, and assist emergency personnel extinguish them rapidly, can be a welcome growth.
Canadian agency Full Circle Lithium has introduced that checks of its new Li-on firefighting agent, FCL-X, confirmed that it was in a position to “rapidly and safely” extinguish managed burns of two electrical autos: a Kia EV9 and a Nissan Leaf.
The managed burns have been organized by AEST Hearth & Security, a distributor of FCL-X within the US, and have been carried out in entrance of an viewers of greater than 50 firefighters and hearth security consultants.
Each fires have been extinguished in minutes, the corporate mentioned.
The checks have been carried out by FCL-X and AEST Hearth & Security with the help of regional firefighters in Georgia. Each demonstrations used the FCL-X Professional focus, which FCL developed for the firefighting business in a type that’s simpler so as to add to fireside engine tanks.
Within the case of the Leaf, which was geared up with a 40 kWh battery that was roughly 50% charged, a staff of firefighters ignited the automobile’s underside utilizing a blowtorch and commenced to extinguish the conflagration solely after the automobile was totally engulfed in flames and the battery was in full thermal runaway. The fireplace was extinguished in roughly 5 minutes utilizing 250 gallons (roughly 8.8 ounces) of FCL-X and two 30-gallons-per-minute (gpm) strain hoses with high-pressure nozzles.
Within the case of the EV9, which had a 77 kWh battery charged to roughly 95%, a staff of firefighters ignited the automobile by puncturing the battery from the again seat. Once more, they waited till the battery was in full thermal runaway to start placing out the blaze.
Due to the EV9’s dimension, the firefighters instantly started to battle the hearth with a 30 gpm strain hose and a high-pressure nozzle. The fireplace was underneath management in lower than six minutes, FCL mentioned, and the firefighting course of required the usage of 350 gallons of FCL-X. The temperature contained in the burning Kia reached 1,200° F (649° C). The appliance of FCL-X diminished the temperature to roughly 120-150° F (49-66° C) inside six minutes, and left a big portion of the inside principally intact.
“FCL-X is the one product that we’re conscious of to actually extinguish lithium-ion battery fires,” mentioned David Laviner, President of AEST. Laviner studied hearth prevention at Gaston School and is presently a lieutenant within the Laurinburg Hearth Division in Laurinburg, North Carolina. Laviner additionally famous that fireplace companies “are years behind in with the ability to extinguish lithium-ion battery fires successfully.”
Supply: Full Circle Lithium
