Electrical autos can catch hearth if they’re inundated by saltwater, so homeowners who dwell within the path of a serious storm like Hurricane Helene ought to take precautions and put together for the chance that they’ll be unable to cost their vehicles throughout an influence outage.
What can EV homeowners do?
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis urged EV homeowners this week to get their autos to larger floor earlier than Hurricane Helene arrived. Though the issue is uncommon, there have been quite a few cases lately of electrical autos igniting after hurricanes.
Conserving electrical autos out of standing water is one of the best ways to keep away from the opportunity of a hearth.
Tesla provides comparable recommendation about avoiding letting its autos turn into submerged if in any respect doable, but when that does occur the carmaker suggests towing the car no less than 50 ft away from constructions or something flamable till it may be inspected by a mechanic.
The easiest way to get by an influence outage is to comply with the identical type of recommendation your dad might have given you about retaining your fuel tank full to be sure to wouldn’t be stranded. Conserving your electrical car charged provides probably the most flexibility.
After all, electrical car homeowners received’t have the ability to cost their vehicles throughout an influence outage, so they might want to observe how a lot they drive. However EVs aren’t any worse off than standard autos as a result of fuel stations can’t pump gas in an influence outage both.
How widespread are EV fires after flooding?
The Nationwide Freeway Visitors Security Administration has been researching this downside because it was first seen after Hurricane Sandy struck the Northeast in 2012. However nobody appears to have detailed statistics on simply how usually this occurs.
Two years in the past, Hurricane Ian compromised the batteries of as might as 5,000 electrical autos, and 36 of them caught hearth.
A number of extra electrical autos caught hearth in Florida final yr after Hurricane Idalia, though that storm was weaker than Ian. Researchers at NHTSA speculated that it could have additionally helped that extra folks had been conscious of the issue and moved their autos to larger floor earlier than that storm.
But it surely occurs usually sufficient that Florida officers had been frightened in regards to the chance earlier than Hurricane Helene arrived as a result of they had been anticipating a probably devastating storm surge as much as 20 ft deep within the northwestern a part of Florida.
These fires do appear to be linked particularly to saltwater as a result of salt can conduct electrical energy. Comparable issues haven’t been reported after freshwater flooding in California that was pushed by heavy rains early this yr.
What causes EVs to catch hearth?
Electrical autos with lithium ion batteries can catch hearth if the batteries quick circuit and begin to warmth up. Tom Barth with the Nationwide Transportation Security Board stated that if the warmth begins to unfold between totally different cells within the battery again it will possibly trigger a sequence response referred to as thermal runaway.
“If the saltwater is ready to bridge the hole between the optimistic and adverse terminals of battery, then it will possibly trigger a brief circuit,” stated Barth, who’s chief of the particular investigations department of the NTSB’s workplace of freeway security.
Carmakers do design their batteries to attempt to stop this downside. There are sometimes separations or insulation boundaries between totally different cells within the battery pack, and producers take steps to maintain moisture out. However they do have to incorporate methods for the batteries to vent warmth.
“The place it begins to be an issue is you probably have the batteries submerged in standing water. That’s the place it begins to beat the moisture seals within the battery,” Barth stated.
Generally electrical autos can catch hearth lengthy after the floodwaters have receded as a result of even after the water evaporates salt that may conduct electrical energy could also be left behind. So it’s necessary to have them checked out if they’re submerged.
“It’s not like each car that will get flooded is due to this fact going to ignite and catch hearth,” Barth stated.
The Nationwide Freeway Visitors Security Administration stated it’s working to enhance battery security as officers study extra in regards to the issues. The company has proposed updating a few of the security necessities for electrical car batteries to scale back the dangers.
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