China electric vehicle explodes while charging
April 26, 2022
By Paul Homewood
h/t Ian Magness
But they are good for the environment!
28 Comments
Comments are closed.
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NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT 
This little photo could launch a thousand ships – and sink them!
Is that what you call a ‘fast charge’? Very illuminating.
That fire is furious.
A friendly tip….don’t park your proper car next to the charging places when you go for a coffee down at BarStuck.
Two o’clock in the afternoon, two cars and a lorry consumed in fire and, other than whoever and however someone moved the lorry, there is no sign of any firefighting effort. Maybe places like our local Tesco, which has four charging bays, should be made to install sprinkler systems – aware as I am that battery fires are pretty resistant to water.
A failed parking brake X a slight incline!
Probably a concrete bunker.
Good for the environment and great for keeping your garage nice and toasty!
A good Man Bites Dog story.
I think I’ll pass on that ‘Automatically warms your car up for you’ option….
I wonder if that charger metering system was ‘smart’ enough to stop pouring current into that battery as it totalled itself?
Is that a date stamp in the top left corner?
If so, the clip is from 2008
Looks like May 2020 to me.
I have seen this video before, I didn’t realise that it was almost two years old?
In all the years I have been following and commenting on the excellent coverage of the fiction that is AGW, this is the first time I have seen repetition.
I am sure that this is accidental, but we should leave erroneous, or duplicitous reports to those who need them to support their false claims!
Sorry Paul! One slip up in all the years I have been following and commenting on WUWT is still, pretty good going!
Andrew, showing car battery fires is not fake news. And your use of duplicitous is meaning something you didn’t mean to say.
My mistake! I read it as May 20th, 08!! Specsavers…..
As others have said, this clip has done the rounds.
Do all EV charging units have cameras — this is from Camera 1 — or just the ones in China?
The chap next door has a Tesla and it is parked and charged next to our dividing fence and my humble Fiesta. Should I be worried? Will my car and/or house insurance cover for damage if his Tesla catches fire? If I report that next door have a Tesla (and an e-golf) will my insurance premiums rocket?
Chevrolet advised not parking your battery car closer than 50 feet to anything you value. I am not sure how that applies to your neighbours.
My local council is pursuing the electrification of its vehicle fleet and are installing charging stations all over the place. I asked them what precautions they plan to take but they gave me the brush off, not least because national government aren’t giving ay guidance, despite London Fire Brigade being exercised by even electric scooter fires. Perhaps it’s seen as an attack on their green trajectory.
The people who work at councils are generally morons who could not get a proper job – I should know as I have just finished a stint at the City of London. I suspect that they are truly unaware that battery cars can go up in flames.
Coventry are replacing all their buses with ev buses – at a cost of, I heard, half a million each!! I just wonder what their insurance premiums will be…
Yes, an old clip but worth watching again. Just clock those clouds of toxic smoke at the beginning that would be great in an enclosed or underground car park. And then the sheer ferocity of the flames. Brave of somebody to move the truck but Chevrolet advise not parking your battery car within 50 feet of anything you value and likewise, don’t park any closer to a battery car.
The business of charging batteries is highly hazardous at all times. So commonly 12/24v batteries have their own charging area with necessary incident mitigation equipment. Not so eV batteries. They are supplied with all combustible materials present to heat up, ignite and explode. And not extinguishable until materials expended. ICE is nothing like that because a measured fuel/air mix is required with igniter. Incidents can be easily managed. Green things have greatly heightened risk for us IMO.
Here are some extracts from a Bedfordshire Fire department advisory on EV fires.
“During an electric vehicle fire over 100 organic chemicals are generated, including the toxic gases carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide – both fatal to humans”
“Fire Brigade will always wear full PPE with respiratory equipment. However this level of protection is not necessarily available for all members of the public or other public service people”
“For the fire brigade the real problem when it comes to an EV fire is trying to put it out…..two main options, let fire burn or extinguish it but many EV manufacturers advise for a controlled burn, ie allow vehicle to burn out while protecting the surrounding area”
“Once the fire is out the problems are not over. EV FIRES ARE KNOWN TO REIGNITE HOURS, DAYS OR EVEN WEEKS AFTER THE INITIAL EVENT. RECOVERY FIRMS ARE INCREASINGLY CONCERNED ABOUT DEALING WITH EVs” (emphasis added)
https://www.bedsfire.gov/community-safety/Road-safety/Fire-in-Electric-Vehicles.aspx
We should also remind ourselves of the environmental damage caused by all that raw material extraction to make the batteries in the first place. The irony of China controlling much of the world’s production will not be lost.
What is the point of that camera if it doesn’t set off an alarm at the first sign of trouble? Is it there merely to deter thieves? How did the video become public?
Wasn’t the Chevrolet issue temporary?
https://www.businessinsider.com/bolt-ev-recall-fire-chevrolet-gm-owners-parking-50-feet-2021-9?r=US&IR=T
Replacing combustion with combustibility has its drawbacks.
Oh, the Schadenfreude!