PHEV Fire

JohnC6

JohnC6

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My friend, in Bath, sent me this photo, taken last night, of a PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle) car on fire on the drive of the house opposite him.The Fire Service said it was the Lithium-ion battery that caused the fire.

Here are two articles about them. One re the UK and the other,the US.

UK..September 2022 https://cesafety.co.uk/news/data-reveals-extent-of-electric-vehicle-fires-around-the-uk/

US April 2022 https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nation...fety-investigation-vehicle-batteries-recalls/

3.Car fire.jpg
 
There was a piece on BBC Breakfast this morning on e-Bikes and other lithium ion battery equipped vehicles just bursting into flames. I guess it doesn’t happen often, but quite spectacular when it does.
 
Scary, especially that last one. I couldn't sleep at night thinking that could happen at our front door................. I think I'll stick to diesel and my 730 mile range. (y)
 
My friend sent me an Email this morning re the make of the car. A Mazda CX-60. He said that if the car had been facing the other way the house would have been engulfed, too.

Mazda CX-60 | Plug-in Hybrid & Diesel SUV | Mazda UK

Discover the all-new Mazda CX-60 and experience our Mazda DNA through the Japanese Craft in our new plug-in hybrid SUV that combines sportiness & elegance.
www.mazda.co.uk
 
Scary stuff :eek:
 
This is the problem with Lithium Ion batteries, the newer "LifePo4" are much safer.
 
TBH I go with this quote from Forbes 2022

Any firm conclusions on fire risks generally are not yet possible because there is not enough data to decide that pure electric cars are more prone to spontaneous fire than internal combustion engine (ICE) ones, or more likely to burst into flames after an accident.

www.forbes.com

Electric Car Fire Risks Look Exaggerated, But More Data Required For Definitive Verdict

The fire risk from electric cars appears to be less than for conventional vehicles, although any firm conclusions are not yet possible because there is not enough data to decide that pure electric cars are more prone to spontaneous fire than internal combustion engine ones.
www.forbes.com www.forbes.com

I expect in the future that they will be safer as engineering and design improves, but I'm not convinced at the moment.
 
Dale. said:
Scary, especially that last one. I couldn't sleep at night thinking that could happen at our front door................. I think I'll stick to diesel and my 730 mile range. (y)
Click to expand...

We had a diesel Mk3 Golf that caught fire while we were driving back from shopping trip about 15 years ago.

I pulled over because there was a smell of smoke, then flames could be seen in the cabin ventilation grill in the centre of the dash (my suspicion has always been that it was a bearing one of the fans that failed because it had been quite noisy a few days).

By the time the fire brigade arrived, it looked like the car in the OP.
 
It's bad enough having to have batteries under my arse in my wheelchair - there is no way I'd trust one of these electric cars. The future they may be, but not for me for a loooooong while yet - if ever. :runaway:
 
Sky said:
It's bad enough having to have batteries under my arse in my wheelchair - there is no way I'd trust one of these electric cars. The future they may be, but not for me for a loooooong while yet - if ever. :runaway:
Click to expand...
I think that EVs are ‘a’ way forward, but are not ‘the’ way forward for future personal transport. To start with, I don’t buy the environmental credentials and would need a lot of convincing before I do.

There is still a place for combustion engines, especially in areas where EVs are definitely not the future.

As for the battery fires, putting them out is really difficult, because all of the chemistry needed for combustion is already there.

scitechdaily.com

What Makes Electric Vehicle Fires So Difficult To Extinguish? [Video]

Electric vehicles don’t catch fire often, but when they do, things get spicy. How do these fires start? And why are they so hard to extinguish? There are scientists trying to answer these questions, but there are also scientists still trying to figure out what actually happens (chemically) when a li
scitechdaily.com

In addition, it seems they just ‘happen’ without much in the way of forewarning. There may well be safer and more environmentally viable batteries coming along in the future. Let’s see.
 
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