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Charging lithium-ion batteries inside apartments is rapidly becoming a burning issue for strata committees and fireys. It seems a day doesn’t go by wi
[See the full post at: Getting all fired up about ebike batteries in flats]The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers.
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This danger is also very real (with greater heat intensity)for L-ion batteries in electric cars.
Apartment dwellers have a real problem here as to my knowledge, underground carparks are unable to safely contain these fires. In recent discussions with Architects who work in this area they have mentioned this – and there appears to be very little media on this issue.
The public would appear uninformed. The consequences to persons living in a single dwelling with a downstairs carpark that houses an Electric car and charging station would also appear to be fatal.
I recall there was a recent EV battery fire in an outside carpark adjacent to Sydney airport control tower that consumed three ? adjacent vehicles. The firefighters on this site responded very quickly but could not effectively control the fire.
I would appreciate any comments.
Here is a place to start for reliable information on this topic that is neither alarmist nor dismissive about the risks: https://www.evfiresafe.com/
Re the fire at the airport, the details that are often left out are that the vehicle’s battery had been seriously damaged by some sort of collision. It had been removed from the car but then left out in the weather on the ground next to the car and then other cars were parked in all around it in a hire car depot. For a week that included some severe weather it was left like that. Eventually, presumably with rain water inside the breached casing, it caught fire and then burned the cars packed in around it. It should never have been left like that by people who knew it was severely damaged.
There have been 6 fires involving electric cars in Australia. Another was also caused when an EV following a truck was unable to avoid running over something from the load of the truck that fell off. The EV provided warning to the driver. The driver and passenger were able to safely pull over and get out of the car before anything happened.
Three EVs have burned because they were inside buildings that burned for reasons that had nothing to do with the EV. ie not the fault of the EV.
One EV was deliberately burned. ie arson.
Surveys in the US and Europe found EVs 20x, 80x or just over 100x less frequently catching fire than ICE cars. However, when they do catch fire, the fire behaviour is different from a petrol car fire, which requires a different response. Interestingly, in the US survey, hybrids were more likely to catch fire than either pure ICE or pure EV.
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