Assault and battery

摘要

Even without an engine, electric vehicles are still susceptible to fire. Their battery units can short circuit, resulting in a blaze that puts those on board - and the vehicle itself - at risk. Such fires can be highly volatile and hard to control. Opinions differ about the fire risks that they pose. According to Tim Melton, managing director of Firetrace, EV batteries are normally lithium-based, which is a class D metal. "A lithium fire can achieve a 'thermal runaway' condition where it produces oxygen and extreme heat. The current criterion for EV protection is to try to deal with any incident quickly to avoid the thermal runaway scenario." However, Argos Fire Protection contends that the fire risk from the batteries comes from the electrolyte, not the solid elements. It argues that lithium-ion compounds in EV batteries do not actually contain lithium metal, so are class A (combustible materials) from the point of view of firefighting, but with the caveat that one mustn't use plain water. It states: "Every battery uses a different electrolyte solution, but many contain fluorine, which readily combines with the hydrogen found in water used for firefighting to make hydrogen fluoride. This is a highly toxic gas which can cause blindness and respiratory failure."