XSeries-forum

EV thought to have started an on board fire.

https://www.independent.ie/business/wor ... 73586.html

We have a team who work on rechargeable batteries and I asked them what kind of extinguisher I need for the i4. Their reply was simple. Don’t bother and just get as far away as you can unless you are parked next to a swimming pool!

I believe the ‘next gen’ battery chemistry due in about 5 years-ish, is nowhere near as big an issue.

Car carrier fires are always bad due to the way they are packed together, especially with all of the volatiles on board. There are very strict rules about the level of charge permitted, but when a fault develops within the battery it’s not going to end well

Having a 350kg ‘potential firebomb’ attached to bottom of the car does cause a few concerns. It lives outside and the Fire Hydrant is close-by!

Best thing you could do with that ship is sink it , be nothing left anyway .

I feel sorry for those with their new cars on board. I would be gutted if I’d waited as long as I did for my i4 (14 months) to then be told it was on its way, only then to be told ‘we’re really sorry, but the ship is in fire and we can order a replacement…..but it’ll take another x months’.

It does raise questions about safety transporting things that have high energy components. EVs are supposed to be shipped with a minimal state of charge to mitigate this sort of issue but it will still happen.

With the huge influx of low cost EV's predicted from China will the cost of shipping become prohibitive due to insurance and maybe the requirement for special shipping conditions being applied?
The knock on of course is then Road/Rail transport of new/used vehicles. I couldn't take my LPG Dual Fuel X5 on Euro Tunnel yet currently they even offer free charging for EV's
I wonder if that will change following this incident. As an engineer I understand how battery technology is moving forward but I fear the perception of how safe the technology is may have just taken a hit.

Interestingly the marine insurance industry is saying that the shipping lines haven’t stayed up to date with car technology or precautions. It’s still a case of pack ‘em in like sardines on wide open decks with really small gaps between vehicles.. Even with petrol/diesel cars a car carrier fire is really difficult to put out due to the speed of spreading and availability of flammable materials. If they used partitions to separate the cargo into blocks rather than a whole deck, and then use the sort of extinguishers found it computer data centres (inert non-reactive gas), the fires could probably be limited to just that block.

That means new ship designs - and the insurers may insist on it anyway.

The main fire fighting system on ships is bulk co2. Unfortunately not much good on a lithium battery fire.

Perhaps an ‘eject’ hatch in the side then? Don’t the military ‘deep six’ certain things like burning aircraft?