When electric car batteries burn, they are very difficult to put out. People need to know these things

Lithium batteries are commonly used in bicycles and electric motorbikes today. If a fire occurs, it will be very difficult to extinguish with conventional fire extinguishers. If water is used to extinguish the fire, it can cause an explosion.

Why can't an electric car battery fire with a mini fire extinguisher?

According to experts, if there is an electrical short circuit or close contact with a fire source, electric vehicles and internal combustion engine vehicles have the same risk of fire, but in fact, fighting electric vehicle fires is more difficult than gasoline vehicles. A fire in an internal combustion engine vehicle can be extinguished with a fire extinguisher or by covering the vehicle with a damp blanket to cut off the oxygen supply, while the only way to control a burning electric vehicle is to control the source of the fire. li the car because it can re-ignite many times, even after the fire has gone out for a while.

Electric vehicle battery fire extinguishing experiment. (Source: VTV).

Meanwhile , lithium ion battery fires are caused by chemical reactions, shifting negative - positive ions inside the battery pack, so they do not need oxygen to still burn and cannot extinguish the fire, but can only isolate the fire area and prevent fire. spread, wait until the chemical reaction is finished to stop burning.

According to experts, lithium batteries are commonly used in bicycles and electric motorbikes today. If there is a fire, it will be very difficult to extinguish with conventional fire extinguishers . Even if water is used to extinguish a fire, it can cause an explosion, because the water at high temperature turns into hydrogen.

Fires and explosions can easily occur in electric motorbikes and electric bicycles.

Currently, there are only a few foreign products such as water-based fire extinguishers that use molecular coating technology that can quickly reduce the temperature to extinguish. However, this type of bottle is not popular and the price is many times higher than common types of bottles.

Lecturer Tran Van Dong, University of Fire Prevention and Fighting, said that fires and explosions easily occur in electric motorbikes and electric bicycles - product lines equipped with low safety factors for batteries, due to mechanical collisions or accidents. Lack of knowledge and skills of a part of the people during use.

According to Mr. Dong, one is that the majority are due to overloading, leading to increased heat; Second , during the charging process, heat increases; Third, if there is no maintenance, the service life will expire, causing short-circuit circuit boards.

What to do when an electric car catches fire?

In the recent report "Electric vehicle batteries: Loopholes in fire safety management VTV24" , practical experiments on extinguishing electric vehicle battery fires showed that no ordinary fire extinguisher can extinguish them.

In the experiment, when the electric vehicle battery caught fire, fire broke out and broke the plastic shell of the electric vehicle. When the Temperature increases sharply, the battery explodes. People used a powder can to put out the fire, but even after spraying a 4kg can, the fire still flared up.

The electric car battery caught fire, causing a fierce fire.

Conventional fire extinguishers cannot prevent fires caused by electric vehicle battery fires.

Conventional fire extinguishers cannot stop the fire caused by an electric vehicle battery fire.
After switching to using a C02 gas tank to put out the fire and continuously spraying the tank empty, the fire continued to flare up.

Fire protection experts advise:

1. When seeing a tram on fire, people should not try to use water, mini fire extinguishers or regular blankets to practice extinguishing the fire. Because these methods only cause the battery to explode and catch a bigger fire.
2. Because there is no way to extinguish the fire source, which is the chemicals inside the electric battery, you can use a fireproof blanket (specialized type) to cover the vehicle to prevent the fire from spreading to other materials.
3. If there is no fire blanket, call the fire department and quickly notify people to escape to avoid burns and toxic gas inhalation.

In VTV's experiment, the fire only stopped when the battery was completely burned out.

Mr. Tran Thanh Vinh, Head of the Science and Technology Department, Vietnam Fire Prevention and Rescue Association (PCC-CNCH), said that although the development speed of electric vehicles is high, there are currently no standards. Separate standards to ensure fire safety for lithium ion batteries and electric vehicles. This is the whole process from production, transportation, storage to use and maintenance, with the responsibility of many agencies, departments and branches.

"Currently, we are coordinating with the Ministry of Science and Technology to coordinate, research and propose the promulgation of relevant regulations and standards to ensure the safety of electric vehicle batteries and electric vehicles. When there is a set of standards, The association will coordinate with relevant agencies to propose solutions to control goods circulating in the market" - Mr. Vinh said.

How to prevent electric motorbike and electric bicycle battery fires

The Police Department of Fire Prevention, Fire Control and Rescue (Ministry of Public Security) said that a number of motorbike and electric bicycle users have the habit of leaving the battery plugged in to charge overnight. This has a very high risk of fire and explosion.

To ensure safety during the use of electric motorbikes and electric bicycles, and prevent fires and explosions, the Fire Prevention and Rescue Police Department recommends:

1. 1. You should charge the battery when it is almost empty, use a suitable power source (according to the manufacturer's recommended voltage level) and stable for charging. Do not charge immediately after driving, wait for the battery to cool for about 20 minutes before charging. Do not charge the battery overnight, do not charge it for more than 8 consecutive hours. If the car is not used for a long time, you should fully charge the battery and then remove it from the car to increase durability.
2. 2. Store the battery/accumulator properly by placing the vehicle in a high, dry and well-ventilated location. Do not leave the battery/battery (vehicle) in hot, humid areas. Do not apply strong force to the battery/battery unit.
3. 3. Do not arbitrarily change the structure of the vehicle, do not install additional accessories or devices that affect the vehicle's wiring system and power source (incompatible equipment, power difference can damage the battery/battery). -exploding regulations).
4. 4. Regularly maintain and maintain the battery/battery as well as the vehicle's electrical system. Periodically, about every 3 months, you should take the car to have the battery/battery, charging system as well as the entire vehicle checked to promptly detect and handle damage.
5. 5. Wash your car properly. Do not use high pressure water jets or spray directly on locations under the saddle. After washing the car, it is necessary to dry the battery/battery area and the vehicle's brakes before restarting. When returning from a rainy day, leave the vehicle in a dry, well-ventilated location to dry and check to see if water has entered the battery/battery location.

During use, although rare, electric vehicle battery fires can still occur. If you discover that the battery is unusually hot while charging, immediately unplug it. If possible, remove the battery and place it in a metal container, preferably one filled with sand, away from flammable objects. Absolutely do not arbitrarily adjust the technical specifications of the electric vehicle, replace equipment, components, batteries, chargers, etc. that are of the wrong type, of unknown origin, or not in sync with the technical specifications. vehicle design. Installing additional accessories or devices that affect the vehicle's wiring system and power source can lead to discrepancies, causing battery fires and explosions.

It is recommended not to leave the charger plugged in overnight in apartments or in parking garages without necessary supervision. In case a fire occurs, immediately call the fire department and inform them that the fire is caused by an electric vehicle so they can prepare appropriate plans. Fighting fires involving lithium ion batteries needs to be handled differently from regular fires. Do not try to pour water directly into the battery pack, because water and lithium can create hydrogen gas, causing an explosion to spread. Standard fire extinguishers may be used.