Author Topic: Electric-Car Era Threatens Firefighters With New Road Risks  (Read 1097 times)

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Offline thackney

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Electric-Car Era Threatens Firefighters With New Road Risks
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-15/electric-car-era-threatens-firefighters-with-new-roadside-risks
May 15, 2018

Firefighters doused the blazing Tesla Inc. Model X’s battery pack, and then company engineers removed about one-quarter of its power cells before the vehicle was deemed safe to tow off of a California freeway.

That didn’t prevent the powerful and highly flammable lithium-ion battery cells from reigniting. The car caught fire twice more within 24 hours of the March 23 fatal crash, and again six days later, according to a safety bulletin from the fire department in Mountain View.

Fires on electric vehicles are rare, but the volatile chemistry of their batteries and the need for special training on how to extinguish them raises new safety questions as automakers are poised to dramatically increase production. Techniques for putting out burning gasoline-fueled vehicles could make worse a blaze in a battery powered one.

The growing popularity of lithium-based batteries that power everything from personal electronics to bicycles has periodically been marred by outbreaks of fires. Blazes in e-cigarettes, laptops and even battery packs on one of the most sophisticated jetliners in the world, the Boeing Co. 787, have led to government restrictions and frightening headlines.

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board has opened investigations into two recent Tesla fires, along with an earlier blaze last year. The agency charged with setting vehicle safety standards, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, on Thursday announced it was also gathering information on the most recent episode, on May 8 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Swiss police are also examining a fatal Tesla crash last week that triggered a fire....
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Offline IsailedawayfromFR

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Re: Electric-Car Era Threatens Firefighters With New Road Risks
« Reply #1 on: May 16, 2018, 04:19:17 pm »
Guess one of these days there will be a spectacular explosion and fire at one of these battery plants.

I bet libs will be thinking about whether they wish to purchase and drive a bomb along the highways.
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Offline Frank Cannon

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Re: Electric-Car Era Threatens Firefighters With New Road Risks
« Reply #2 on: May 16, 2018, 04:29:56 pm »
Despite all the hype from tech bloggers living in their mothers basement, I don't see electric cars being sold in real numbers. Consumers are buying good old reliable combustion engines.

Offline IsailedawayfromFR

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Re: Electric-Car Era Threatens Firefighters With New Road Risks
« Reply #3 on: May 16, 2018, 05:39:29 pm »
Despite all the hype from tech bloggers living in their mothers basement, I don't see electric cars being sold in real numbers. Consumers are buying good old reliable combustion engines.
Yeah, they want to be able to drive more than a few miles between fillups.
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Offline Joe Wooten

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Re: Electric-Car Era Threatens Firefighters With New Road Risks
« Reply #4 on: May 18, 2018, 11:47:07 am »
Yeah, they want to be able to drive more than a few miles between fillups.
Fillups that take hours to finish......

Offline InHeavenThereIsNoBeer

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Re: Electric-Car Era Threatens Firefighters With New Road Risks
« Reply #5 on: May 18, 2018, 12:06:49 pm »
Despite all the hype from tech bloggers living in their mothers basement, I don't see electric cars being sold in real numbers. Consumers are buying good old reliable combustion engines.

You trying to say teslas aren't combustible?
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