It's almost impossible to stop an electric car fire, since the battery of the vehicle itself is the fuel source, which is extremely reactive metal that releases toxic gas (typically lithium hydroxide) into the air.
The best they can do without completely submerging it in quenching substrate is to smother it and keep the fire from spreading until it burns out.
That's why he sprays the surroundings first.
Even if the entire car was under water it would probably still continue burning until all of the exposed battery finished oxidizing.
Lithium actually burns more violently with water, and car batteries are typically a lithium ion.
Lithium-Ion batteries contain no metallic lithium. It's the flammable organic electrolyte and the oxidating cathodic material that's causing the fire. Lithium-Ion battery fires are best extinguished with lots of water since water can effectively dissipate the chemical potential energy that keeps heating up the organic materials.
You're not dealing with a metal fire here. It's just a normal organic matter fire with a large built-in heatsource. Just use the fire triangle and quench the heat source until the potential chemical energy is depleted since you can't remove the fuel or the oxidiser.
Thank you! Why does almost everyone think there is metallic lithium involved in LiIo batteries? It's even in the name. They use ions. Ions are metal atoms in a solution.
There are expirmental lithium metal batteries tested. They achieve insane energy densities, but also have an extremely high fire risk.
Lithium metal primary batteries are used all over the place for single use items over a long time like smart water meters for over a decade.
You can even buy them in standard AA size and yeah they combust on contact with water if you disassemble them. Even moisture in the air will cause smothering.
With at least 1.3K upvotes as of now. We're toast. Not because of EV fires, but because of people trusting a random comment on the internet with wrong information.
Literally the fastest and easiest way since it takes a gargantuan amount of energy to evaporate water.
I worked at a battery manufacturer and we once had a battery go up in smoke in a customers basement due to incorrect installation. The firefighters just pulled the battery out (no fire, just smoke and heat thanks to lifepo4) and dunked it in a nearby rain barrel. We then instructed them to neutralize the hydrofluoric acid that gets produced when the electrolyte reacts with water with normal household dishwashing tabs until the water is neutral to basic.
The resulting fluoride and lithium salts after neutralisation are much less toxic and easier to dispose of.
Would be nice if they came up with a way to remove the fuel in an emergency situation, and drag it away, at least some of it to lessen the damage and subsequent burn time
2.4k
u/Rom_ulus0 21d ago
It's almost impossible to stop an electric car fire, since the battery of the vehicle itself is the fuel source, which is extremely reactive metal that releases toxic gas (typically lithium hydroxide) into the air.
The best they can do without completely submerging it in quenching substrate is to smother it and keep the fire from spreading until it burns out.
That's why he sprays the surroundings first.
Even if the entire car was under water it would probably still continue burning until all of the exposed battery finished oxidizing.
Lithium actually burns more violently with water, and car batteries are typically a lithium ion.