How safe are Li batteries in EV/Hybrids

born_again

forgotmyname said:

facade said:

Richard Hammond turned one over and it set on fire, google "richard Hammond EV crash"

No worse than a petrol tank full of fuel really, but I wouldn't charge one in the house whilst I was asleep, same as the lithium packs for scooters/ebikes/drones etc. they are always setting on fire.

When a petrol/diesel car catches fire it doesn't carry on burning for several days. I think they said the batteries were still catching fire 3 days later?

Would be interesting to know whether the fires were poor charge/discharge cycles or whether the voltage got too low/high or just pushing
the battery packs beyond their nominal figures.

Low state of charge and the driver tried to pull max current?  One battery caused a whole bank to fail?

So would you still be sat in the car all that time?

That is not the owners issue. Fire brigade know how to deal with them.


Funny, but manufactures fit safety control systems to stop the other issues.

With the new sodium battries it will not be a problem.

As to Op, lucky person. OH not wanting to get in car. 🤣 Bet she has a mobile phone, uses devices with Li batteries at home.

facade

MouldyOldDough said:

facade said:

Richard Hammond turned one over and it set on fire, google "richard Hammond EV crash"

No worse than a petrol tank full of fuel really, but I wouldn't charge one in the house whilst I was asleep, same as the lithium packs for scooters/ebikes/drones etc. they are always setting on fire.

A quick google reveals London Fire Brigade dealt with 54 EV fires in 2019 compared with 1898 petrol & diesel fires, about 2.8%, there were only 100,000 EVs in 2019, compared to about 16 million cars in 2019 so less than 0.6% EVs, and the fires look way out of proportion.

What about USB lithium power banks?

I had one burst.

It wasn't on charge or anything, just sitting around unused. I heard this cracking sound like something shattering, but couldn't track it down.

Then I noticed my powerbank had burst open.

The battery had inflated like a balloon.

I left it outside on the back terrace well away from the house until I could get rid of it.

WellKnownSid

What will the OH do when all cars are electric?

I guess we have seen it with other technologies - I still remember some people who refused to eat food cooked in a microwave oven for fear that they would have their molecules mixed up.

For years mobile phones were set to fry our brains. But didn’t.

Presumably when the first steam train rolled onto the tracks there were plenty of people buying up horses and donkeys, safe in the knowledge that it wouldn’t catch on.

facade

I think the bottom line is that it is a risk, but a small one (it may get larger if we start importing more of the very low cost electric cars)

I just wouldn't keep one in the garage if the garage was attached to the house.

E-scooters (which are mainly cheap imports) seem to make up the majority of the fires, and people do charge them in the house/flat.

The fires are caused by mechanical damage, poor manufacturing and overcharging.

https://cesafety.co.uk/news/data-reveals-extent-of-electric-vehicle-fires-around-the-uk/
https://www.fsmatters.com/FoI-data-reveals-extent-of-EV-fires-in-UK

daveyjp

Most ICE fires while driving are due to electrical issues.  In accidents ICE fires are often due to leaks of hydraulic fluid which is highly flammable when exposed to hot surfaces such as exhaust manifolds.

EV fires are often due to issues with one of the many hundred of cells which make up the battery.  One cell overheats and causes a fire with then spreads across the whole battery.

Both are still rare.

forgotmyname

facade said:

E-scooters (which are mainly cheap imports) seem to make up the majority of the fires, and people do charge them in the house/flat.

The cheap chargers that some come supplied with overvolt the batteries. Sometimes they send the same charger for lithium and lead acid
batteries. People are happy they fully charge in a short period but it can damage them or reduce their lifespan considerably.

As with most things there is always a risk of one battery cell or pack being faulty.

Got a couple of lithium packs here draining down to dispose of them, ready to burst at the seams.

MouldyOldDough

ElefantEd said:

I've seen some stats suggesting that EVs are less likely to catch fire than ICEs eg

https://insideevs.com/news/561549/study-evs-smallest-fire-risk/

Though it does seem that the fires are harder to put out when they do occur in EVs. Petrol is quite hard to set on fire and is unlikely to explode, contrary to your typical hollywood movie car crash!

The risk of a fire in any car happening is still very low of course. Crossing the road is probably more dangerous than being in a battery EV.

Thanks - that link is from the states - any closer to home ?

WellKnownSid

https://www.thecarexpert.co.uk/are-electric-car-fires-really-that-common/

In fact, it’s an urban myth – research into actual cases has shown that EVs are much less likely to combust than their petrol or diesel equivalents. That’s not to say that all those pictures on social media never happened; you just don’t see an equivalent number of photos of petrol cars burning to the ground…

Petriix

MouldyOldDough said:

TadleyBaggie said:

Bit of a small sample to come to that conclusion. 

Its 100% of those who responded !

Your calculations are flawed. 

saveallmymoney

I've had electric cars since 2017, i charge them in the garage overnight, i'm not worried about it.