Lithium Battery Firewall/extinguisher?

[InnerMogul]

Still new to Electric Vehicles, but doubt there are fire-walls like we would have with an engine. I wonder if a built-in lithium ion fire extinguisher would be cost-effective/feasible to include... or if the technology is mainstream yet. Saw this video and thought it was pretty cool:

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Maybe include a portable extinguisher strapped near where a jack would be located.

 

[J Alynn]

Still new to Electric Vehicles, but doubt there are fire-walls like we would have with an engine. I wonder if a built-in lithium ion fire extinguisher would be cost-effective/feasible to include... or if the technology is mainstream yet. Saw this video and thought it was pretty cool:

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Maybe include a portable extinguisher strapped near where a jack would be located.

That’s brilliant and while it is an added cost with no immediate razzle/dazzle value this would help prevent an array of natural resource waste. If I could upvote this 10 times I would.

 

[oldgeeksguide]

That’s brilliant and while it is an added cost with no immediate razzle/dazzle value this would help prevent an array of natural resource waste. If I could upvote this 10 times I would.

It’s a very attractive idea, but I’m a bit skeptical. A fire needs just heat and O2, and a fire extinguisher works by trying to deprive it of one or both of those. The problem with li ion fires is it gets both from the battery, so once it gets going, you can’t easily put it out by smothering it, and it’s difficult to sufficiently cool it cuz there’s so much energy there to heat it up. But I’m no expert and would be happy if found to be wrong on this, so I’ll upvote it in an uncharacteristic fit of optimism

 

[InnerMogul]

It’s a very attractive idea, but I’m a bit skeptical. A fire needs just heat and O2, and a fire extinguisher works by trying to deprive it of one or both of those. The problem with li ion fires is it gets both from the battery, so once it gets going, you can’t easily put it out by smothering it, and it’s difficult to sufficiently cool it cuz there’s so much energy there to heat it up. But I’m no expert and would be happy if found to be wrong on this, so I’ll upvote it in an uncharacteristic fit of optimism

@oldgeeksguide I know that a standard extinguisher would not work, but even in the off chance of a temporary suppression I think it would be helpful. If you misjudge the terrain while rock crawling, it will be fairly easy to puncture the battery, not sure what EV's do to protect from a skid plate or firewall perspective, but this could be a great feature for a vehicle meant for off-roading.

 

[oldgeeksguide]

@oldgeeksguide I know that a standard extinguisher would not work, but even in the off chance of a temporary suppression I think it would be helpful. If you misjudge the terrain while rock crawling, it will be fairly easy to puncture the battery, not sure what EV's do to protect from a skid plate or firewall perspective, but this could be a great feature for a vehicle meant for off-roading.

Agreed, that’s a good point. It would be a major bummer if a small puncture lead to the vehicle going up in flames, which is certainly conceivable.

 

[brianlmccann]

Agreed, that’s a good point. It would be a major bummer if a small puncture lead to the vehicle going up in flames, which is certainly conceivable.

Volvo had a solid steel shell that surrounded the battery. Lots of weight and probably affects range but they're focused on safety. I'm sure this will have at least some kind of protection for off-roading.

 

[MountainDad]

Still new to Electric Vehicles, but doubt there are fire-walls like we would have with an engine. I wonder if a built-in lithium ion fire extinguisher would be cost-effective/feasible to include... or if the technology is mainstream yet. Saw this video and thought it was pretty cool:

-

Maybe include a portable extinguisher strapped near where a jack would be located.

I was T-boned by a small sedan traveling 80mph thru a red light. Hit me like a home run, square on the B-pillar. I walked out of the trauma unit few hours later with nothing more than a cracked rib.

My EV, a Polestar 2, has a collision emergency disconnect that physically severed the battery cell connections. It severed the main electrical bus and the individual cell packs, isolating them from one another as well as any current drain that could have caused a runaway short to ground, which is when fires happen. There was no fire, but I was worried about it, and the bystanders and emergency personnel, because most people didn't know it was an EV because they'd never seen that car before.

This kind of airbag-like mechanical severing of the main bus in any collision where the airbags deploy should probably be common practice if not already mandated by NHTSA.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

I think the fear of fires in EVs is overwrought. Statistically a gas vehicle is much more dangerous than an EV when it comes to fires. It's still news when an EV catches fire for three reasons: 1) it's rare; 2) it takes a long time for the fire to go out; EVs are scary to some people for some reason. But the likelihood of an EV catching fire is much, much lower than a gas vehicle.

EVs catch fire at a rate of about 25 per 100,000 EVs on the road.
Gas cars catch fire at a rate of about 1530 per 100,000 gas cars on the road.

No fire is far better than a fire that can be put out more quickly.

From a fire safety standpoint, you're safer in an EV. When I was in firefighting training we were taught that most of the time a car fire is not a rescue call but a clean-up call. If the people didn't get out before we got there, we weren't going to be rescuing them. This was well before Lithium batteries were outside of the laboratory.

https://www.motortrend.com/features/you-are-wrong-about-ev-fires/

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