The transition to electric vehicles is hardly going to plan: sales have collapsed in the US, EV manufacturers are bleeding cash and insurers are cranking up premiums to account for an uptick in the number of unscheduled battery blowups – aka ‘thermal runaways’. The vehicle doesn’t go anywhere, it simply self-immolates in a plume of highly toxic flames and smoke, which can’t be extinguished – the vehicle simply burns itself to a pile of toxic char, as fireman watch on, no doubt standing upwind.
When these pyrotechnic events occur at charging stations, car parks or on-board cargo ships the results can be as costly as they are catastrophic.
The risk of spontaneous thermal meltdowns has triggered a warning from Australia’s Maritime Safety Authority about loading EVs on ships and ferries for seaborne transport.
As Andy May reports below, the grand transition to battery-powered vehicles things is not going so well.
Australia Warns Ferries about EVs
Watts Up With That?
Andy May
29 October 2023
Australia’s Maritime Safety Authority has issued a domestic commercial vessel safety alert on the risks of ferrying battery powered cars (EVs), download it here. Each ferry operator must conduct a risk assessment for their vessel to ensure that they are capable of dealing with potential EV fires. They list the risks of carrying EVs as follows:
- High voltage shocks
- Direct jet flames
- Fires develop in intensity quickly and rapidly reach their maximum intensity (typically within 2-3 minutes)
- Toxic gases
- Gas explosion (if the released gas accumulates for a while before being ignited)
- Long lasting re-ignition risk (can ignite or re-ignite weeks, or maybe months after the provoking incident)
- Once established fires are difficult to stop/extinguish
- Thermal runaway
They go on to add that EVs are approximately 25% heavier than vehicles with internal combustion engines. This should be considered when placing the vehicles on the ferry or ship to minimize the potential impact on vessel stability.
Lithium-ion batteries have been known to suffer from spontaneous thermal runaway fires. The lower the charge retained by the vehicle’s battery the lower the likelihood of a thermal runaway fire, checking the charge on each vehicle can help in assessing the risk.
Some battery powered vehicles have a lower ground clearance than internal combustion engine vehicles. This means they are more susceptible to damage from ramps during boarding. Care should be taken in identifying these vehicles before boarding to ensure damage is not sustained to the battery. Any damage to any part of the battery increases the risk of fire. Physical damage to the battery can lead to thermal runaway. EVs which have been damaged should not be loaded. Charging the battery while onboard is very dangerous and can increase the likelihood of a thermal runaway fire, do not allow charging any EV on your vessel.
Fumes given off by lithium-ion batteries are toxic, gas masks are necessary when fighting the fire. When fighting a lithium-ion battery vehicle fire with water, substantially higher quantities of water are required in comparison to an internal combustion vehicle fire. The water must also be applied for a longer period. There is also a risk of re-ignition. Using other methods such as a car fire blanket designed to extinguish EV fires can help. A damaged high-voltage battery can create rapid heating of the battery cells.
If you notice hissing, whistling, or popping, a possible sweet chemical smell, then black “smoke” (nanoparticles of heavy metals, not smoke) then white vapor coming from the high voltage battery assume that thermal runaway has occurred. Directly attacking the fire with water hoses and breaking open the battery requires specialist training and equipment. Don’t attempt this without extensive training and practice.
EVs are in real trouble. EV insurance rates are higher than for internal combustion engine (ICE) cars due to the risk of intense fires, higher cost of repairs, and the cost of replacement batteries. EVs are much more likely to be totaled after an accident and repairing them takes much longer than for an ICE. Be very careful about putting an EV in your garage, especially with a built-in charging station.
Ignacio Galán, the chief executive of Spanish utility Iberdrola, said in 2018, that the renewable industry was facing a possible “Enron” style collapse. The era of cheap money is gone, and the new higher interest rates will shake out any weak renewable companies, as well as weak EV manufacturers. From an investor point of view be very careful. EV bankruptcies have already occurred (also see here), and more are on the way. Solar startup bankruptcies are increasing (see also here and here). Wind power isn’t doing much better, Siemens is in real trouble (see here). My state of Texas is also hurting. We all eventually have to pay the piper.
Watts Up With That?
STOP THESE THINGS 
Departments of Motor Vehicles in some USA states refuse to re-issue a vehicle registration if it has been involved in a collision, unless the battery has been replaced. The smallest internal damage, even if no external damage is visible, can be a latent fire hazard. Insurance companies are requiring higher premiums for that reason, and also because a 25-33% heavier car causes more damage to the other car during a collision.
Seventy years ago, highway engineers determined that road damage is proportional to the fourth power of axle weight, so an EV produces 2.4-3.1 times more road damage (1.25^4 to 1.33^4). Virtue-signaling parasites driving heavier electric vehicles don’t pay road tax at the pump like we peasants do. In Britain, an EV can only legally be charged at a government-approved charger, which collects road tax. And it can be turned around and suck the battery dry if the wind stops blowing, which makes it difficult to drive it to work in the morning.
Mobile crematoriums I prefer to call them
https://www.bentleymotors.com/en/models/flying-spur/flying-spur.html
An EV exploded at the Peace Bridge last week.
https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/rainbow-bridge-explosion-11-22-23/index.html
Add to EVs their computerisation (see my comment 2023/11/05) aimed at self driving vehicles, with self parking ones already available, & the headlong rush to RE is a recipe for social disaster that governments are in denial about.
Since my above experience with the keyless entry that can be replicated by taking the battery out of the key after it’s started, a taxi driver with a Bluetooth device on his dashboard, said every time his neighbour across the road uses his 5G mobile phone, he has to reset the device.
My latest experience of the lead acid battery cell fault, showed a key icon with Chinese writing under it. No explanation from dealer.
Auto sparkies, electronics engineers & others, have nothing reassuring to say about how many types of remote interference can affect fires & loss of control issues.
There have been a number of vehicles that have inexplicably gone out of control with no follow up reporting.
Why aren’t automotive organisations talking about what they know?
With all the hype surrounding the move to electric vehicles (EV), one area that needs extremely serious consideration is that, EV’s create serious problems, while being transported on a ship, if a battery happens to catch fire.
In the last two years there have been a least two fires on ships in European waters, carrying electric cars and they have been extremely difficult to extinguish.
Which raises the question should Australia’s ‘Spirit of Tasmania’ which carries passengers and cars between Melbourne Victoria and Devonport Tasmania, ban the carrying of EV’s, unless the ship has the fire fighting equipment to handle an EV fire if it was to occur?