Why Are Electric Vehicle Fires So Hard To Put Out?

Can we solve electric vehicle fires before we fully understand what’s happening inside them?
#lithium #EV #fire

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Credits:
Executive Producer:
Matthew Radcliff

Producers:
Elaine Seward
Andrew Sobey
Darren Weaver

Writer/Host:
George Zaidan

Scientific Consultants:
Michelle Boucher, Ph.D.
Leila Duman, Ph.D.
Donal Finegan, Ph.D.
Sunil Mair, Ph.D.


Executive in Charge for PBS: Maribel Lopez
Director of Programming for PBS: Gabrielle Ewing
Assistant Director of Programming for PBS: John Campbell

Reactions is a production of the American Chemical Society.
© 2023 American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.

Processes | Free Full-Text | A Review of Lithium-Ion Battery Thermal Runaway Modeling and Diagnosis Approaches

Investigating the thermal runaway mechanisms of lithium-ion batteries based on thermal analysis database - ScienceDirect

Abuse behavior of high-power, lithium-ion cells
Abuse behavior of high-power, lithium-ion cells

Identifying the Cause of Rupture of Li-Ion Batteries during Thermal Runaway - Finegan - 2018 - Advanced Science - Wiley Online Library

In-operando high-speed tomography of lithium-ion batteries during thermal runaway | Nature Communications

Thermal-runaway experiments on consumer Li-ion batteries with metal-oxide and olivin-type cathodes - RSC Advances (RSC Publishing) DOI:10.1039/C3RA45748F

Modelling and experiments to identify high-risk failure scenarios for testing the safety of lithium-ion cells - ScienceDirect - Finegan

A review of lithium ion battery failure mechanisms and fire prevention strategies - ScienceDirect

Sodium comes to the battery world

Lithium Battery Incidents | Federal Aviation Administration

IAFC Response to EV Fires

What Batteries Are Tesla Using In Its Electric Cars?

2.60 S2020 Lecture 11: Batteries and Energy Storage

Thermal Behavior of Lithium- and Sodium-Ion Batteries: A Review on Heat Generation, Battery Degradation, Thermal Runway – Perspective and Future Directions | Energy & Fuels

Incidents in the chemical industry due to thermal-runaway chemical reactions

Progress in electrolytes for rechargeable Li-based batteries and beyond - ScienceDirect

Forging temperature - Wikipedia

Tesla fire takes over two hours, 20,000 gallons of water to extinguish after Wakefield crash, police say - The Boston Globe

Tesla car battery 'spontaneously' catches fire, requiring 6,000 gallons of water to put it out

Tesla Model X catches fire at the S. Korean service center.

E-Droschke fackelt nieder: Tiefe Trauer um Mannis Tesla | Regional | BILD.de

All Reported Tesla Fires 🔥 | Tesla Fire

[playgroundchooser]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who came down here to mention the mid-word transitions that are all completely flawless! This was such a great episode in a channel that is full of top notch content.

[Balin_James]

You guys really had fun editing this one, didn’t you? 😂 I’m all for it

[ACSReactions]

That high speed x-ray footage of thermal runaway came from Dr. Donal Finegan with the National Renewable Energy Lab. Check out that clip and more—like what happens when a nail punctures a lithium ion cell:

[cabnbeeschurgr]

I'm a firefighter student, my instructor briefly touched on why lithium-fuelled fires are so dangerous but this does a great job of providing more in-depth explanations. It's good to know about incidents that will likely only increase in occurence as evs become more widely used.

[patusoro]

Excellent video, love the edits!

Real question - The 20, 000 gallons of water the fire department poured on the car, did it make any difference or did they just waste enough time for the batteries to burn themselves out naturally?
I'm thinking the batteries are burning though a sealed, water proof casing. Is the water even getting to the source of the fire or are they just washing the seats and floor mats... and waiting for the fire to go out?

[KareemFloat]

man, your voice is perfect for talking.
legitimately the perfect voice for explanations and teaching.

[STEAMerBear]

Okay firefighters, I’m a chemistry teacher and an Army veteran. Here are my questions:
1) How are you CURRENTLY trained to extinguish a BONA FIDE alkali metal fire such as burning potassium or sodium?
2) Has ANYONE explained to you that EV fires may fall into this category?
3) What happens when you add water to an alkali metal?

That’s it.

P.s. Fire departments might want to explore carrying 20-30 gallons of liquid nitrogen in a dewar on fire trucks precisely to deal with things like this. (It reduces heat and oxygen really well.)

[greengooflight]

this was the best explanation of a thermal runaway of a lithium battery ever

[mitchellcrane]

the water they use on a EV to put them out does not actually extinguish the fire! It is simply trying to contain fire till the cells burn themselves out.

[quintessenceSL]

Per my dad (engineer) "I only need to understand something 70% to do something useful with it" (explaining the difference between scientist and engineer).

[peterjackson]

First class explanation of the battery fires. The thermal runaway is similar to the runway of an explosion.

[RedHedDes]

Your editing and seemless dialogue cuts are really well done.

[Phootaba]

Kudos for the safety glasses and gloves when disassembling the battery.
I'm guiding it was discharged, but still you had me nervous for a moment

[arsyadidris]

First time here and the seemless scenes cuts are damn impressive… good job on the edit

[catdadproblems]

Excellent content as always - but that creepy murder basement with a... tub?

[charlesbaxley]

Great video. Just found the channel. Thanks for dumbing down the explanations without actually dumbing it down.

[empmachine]

How can this only have ~800 likes..??? the footage is awesome and the explanations clear.. Well you got my thumb, nice work!

[yesthatsam]

Another amazing video! You guys rock ❤

[srb]

Excellent, well-deliverd presentation. I actually learned a few things. 👍👍

[vincentstouter]

There are currently about six Lithium battery chemistries. LMC is often chosen due to its high power:weight ratio for EV’s and are subject to thermal runaway.

LFP (lithium iron phosphate) batteries by contrast are NOT subject to thermal runaway, and furthermore have about five times the number of charge/discharge cycles. If a battery is to be placed inside a structure (house, RV, boat, etc) then LFP chemistry is the prudent solution for both safety band longevity. 😎