Electric vehicles (EVs) can burn for days, and firefighters have little or no training to deal with them. Conventional equipment isn’t effective either. However, new technology is being developed that should make all the difference.
Some battery makers have taken steps to reduce the risk of their batteries catching fire. This includes creating stringent manufacturing processes and standards. Any sort of flaw in a battery could lead to an inferno, says Venkat Srinivasan, who studies batteries and directs the Argonne Collaborative Center for Energy Storage Science at the US’s Argonne National Laboratory.
Battery manufacturing matters to fire risk because of the basics of lithium-ion batteries. If a tiny particle of metal gets into the electrolyte through an unclean manufacturing process, and it keeps getting electrified as the battery charges up and down, it could create a spark, open the battery cell, and allow oxygen to come rushing in and possibly expose the entire battery pack to fire.
The good news is that less-fire-prone batteries are already rolling around in cars, thanks to specific battery chemistries that are harder to ignite. Batteries with a different makeup charge quickly and hold lots of energy, but are less likely to enter thermal runaway. Thermal runaway is a state in which lithium-ion batteries enter a kind of fire doom loop.
Examples of this include batteries that are less prone to thermal runaway. These sorts of batteries are already being used in cars and have shown to be safer than traditional batteries. While no battery is completely fire-proof, good companies have minimized the risk.
New technology is being developed to reduce the risk of EV battery fires. This includes new battery chemistries and manufacturing processes. While these new technologies are not yet widely available, they show promise in reducing the risk of EV battery fires.