Guest essay by Eric Worrall

h/t observa; Orbital space vehicle re-entry grade fireproofing technology is being deployed to prevent Electric Vehicle batteries from creating another Felicity Ace disaster. My question – when are fire blankets going to be provided to EV owners?

EV fires become hot issue

Maritime operators wrestling with solutions to EV fires as another car carrier burns

 By John Mellor on 26th February 2022

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The cars on the ship burned with such intensity that parts of the hull above the waterline melted. 

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According to data provided to Australian fire fighting services, these burning batteries reach temperatures of more than 2700 degrees celsius!

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This latest fire on the Felicity Ace is the fourth since, in 2019, the Grande America, a roll-on roll-off vessel with more than 2000 new and used vehicles on board, sank in the Bay of Biscay after the cars ignited. The crew of 26 tried to combat the fire but, within hours, the heat was so intense that it weakened the structural integrity of the ship’s bulkheads and hull. There was little that any of the crew members could do but to abandon ship.

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As the industry searches for answers, some operators of  car carriers are no longer accepting used EVs and some are also banning accident-damaged used EVs.

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One possible solution would be to cover each EV with a special fire-proof blanket at the time an EV is being loaded and tied down to the car deck. 

These would have the fire retardant qualities along the lines of those used by Bridgehill car fire blankets which in normal use are unfolded and dragged over burning cars thus containing the fire under the cover. 

Some car carriers and ferry operators have already begun equipping their vessels with these blankets. 

The blankets are made from similar material to that used on space vehicles to protect them from the intense heat generated on re-entry into earth’s atmosphere.

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Read more: https://premium.goauto.com.au/ev-fires-become-hot-issue/

I have to admit I made a mistake in previous articles. I thought electric vehicle fires burned at around 2700F (1500C), but if this article is correct, the actual temperature is more like 4900F (2700C).

What house building material can withstand large fire emitting heat of that magnitude? Just looking at a fire that hot can injure your eyes, let alone trying to fight it.

Now that maritime transport companies have noticed the catastrophic risk of transporting EVs by ship, surely it is only a matter of time until home insurance companies wake up to the catastrophic fire risk of owning an EV.

Chinese video of an e-scooter catching fire, and burning with a white hot flame. An EV battery is much larger than a scooter battery.