‘No Quick Answer’ to Fire Danger Posed by Electric Vehicles on Ferries
A fire safety expert says there is “no quick answer” to the danger posed by electric vehicles catching fire on board ferries travelling to and from British ports.
Matt Humby, a senior technical consultant at fire extinguisher manufacturer Firechief Global, said ferry operators were investigating the risk of electric vehicles on board their vessels.
If a petrol or diesel-powered internal combustion engine (ICE) ignites on a ferry, it can be extinguished fairly quickly using sprinklers, but that is not the case with electric vehicles, which are powered by lithium battery packs—built into the chassis—which can go into “thermal runaway” for a number of reasons.
Mr. Humby said electric vehicles were “very challenging to put out” once they go into thermal runaway and he said it sometimes needed 30,000 litres of water to cool the battery module sufficiently for an electric vehicle fire to be put out.
Referring to the danger on board ferries, Mr. Humby told The Epoch Times: “The risks are very, very low. But they’re looking at containment measures because obviously if you’re starting to put thousands of litres of water on an electric vehicle on a ship, it’s going to be quite difficult, eventually you’re going to destabilise the vessel.”
Electric Vehicles Blamed for 2 Huge Ship Blazes
Bob Bull, from the Alliance of British Drivers, said there had been two suspicious fires involving electric vehicles being transported on ships—in February 2022 the Felicity Ace, which was carrying 4,000 electric and non-electric cars was destroyed by fire near the Azores, and in July 2023 the Fremantle Highway was gutted by fire off the Dutch coast.
Mr. Bull said: “It’s only a matter of time before one will go up on a cross-channel ferry or in the channel tunnel.”
Sales of electric cars and other vehicles are rising as motorists see ICE vehicles as doomed, because of net zero targets.
Irish Ferries operate services from Dover to Calais and from Holyhead and Pembroke in Wales to Rosslare and Dublin in the Republic of Ireland.
Other popular ferry routes include Belfast and Larne, in Northern Ireland, to Stranraer and Portsmouth to Cherbourg but among the most concerning are long-distance voyages such as Plymouth to Santander and Newcastle to Amsterdam.
Electric vehicles are around 25 percent heavier than ICE vehicles, which means they have to be carefully positioned on board a ferry to make sure they do not destabilise it by loading too much weight on the port or starboard side, or at the front or the stern of the ship.
Electric Vehicles ‘More Liable to Re-ignite’
The notice warned that fires in electric vehicles, “may last longer and be more liable to re-ignite” and said there were, “significant differences in the best practices for fire detection and firefighting for electric vehicles.”
It goes on to recommend electric vehicles be charged at ports before or after the crosing rather than on-board, saying it presented a, “lower risk profile, than charging onboard, even if that would be more convenient for the vehicle owners.”
The guidance goes on to say, “operators may wish to position electric vehicles under drenchers, on weather decks or away from dangerous goods” but it adds, “vehicle positioning is at the discretion of the operator.”
“It is a typical governmental report, it refuses to take responsibility for the result of its own legislation,” Mr. Marlow wrote.
Last month Conservative MP Bob Blackman, who is chair of the All Party Parliamentary Fire Safety and Rescue Group, said he did not believe the government had really recognised the fire risks lithium batteries and electric vehicles posed across a number of areas, including ferries.
He said: “Lithium is one of those chemicals which burns at a very high temperature … and adding water to lithium is not a good plan either … It is a very high risk, and our problem is that the technology and safety is not yet proven.”
A Department for Transport spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an email they had nothing to add, beyond the MCA guidance to ferry operators.
The Epoch Times contacted the Irish Ferries about the issues raised in this article but has not received a response.
Source: Epoch Times
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Tom
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You send one automated ferry with these flammable pyro-machines with no people. Send the people with no vehicles on a smaller craft right behind.
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aaron
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quick answer is stop producing these time bombs
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Howdy
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“The risks are very, very low.”
But the possible loses very, very high.
“obviously if you’re starting to put thousands of litres of water on an electric vehicle on a ship, it’s going to be quite difficult”
The vessel is floating on the stuff, where’s the difficulty?
” eventually you’re going to destabilise the vessel.”
One would expect the water to escape over the side back to the sea, as is designed into the vessel. You know, the built in measures so it won’t suffer due to water accumulation during rough sailing. Or do EV transporters have to be containment vessels that in another special consideration are expendable?
Any excuse.
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Herb Rose
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Hi Howdy,
If you use water to try to extinguish a lithium (or magnesium) fire it will split the water into hydrogen and oxygen. Sort of like trying to extinguish a car fire by pouring gasoline.on it.
Herb
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Howdy
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That’s how it’s done on land though, Herb, and seems the gist of the article. So while you, I, and many others know the fire-fighting difficulties, the powers that be would rather risk loss, and death.
There’s few reasons for that, other than duress, or they are not aware, and they wouldn’t be in the position they are if awareness were the case. Their own behaviour discounts duress, therefore, it must be purposefull.
I’ve been looking at the prevalence of EV vs petrol vehicle fires, and most of the search results leave much to be desired. “The petrol car has a gearbox” and other superfluous junk. Both contain wiring, with the EV wiring under the greatest continuous load. Are we looking at even more EV fires as the wiring ages? Assuming the vehicle can economically last that long. they are allready being broken up in breakers yards.
I am not aware of a liquid fuel vehicle igniting just because the fuel is petrol. It takes a secondary effect to cause it such as a static spark.
How many forecourt under-ground storage tank fires have you heard of just because they have petrol in them? The EV is ignited with no provocation of any kind, other than poor design of the cells, the pack, or secondarily, the charging regime.
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Jerry Krause
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Hi Howdy,
Back at the beginning of electric vehicles there was alternative demonstrated by a mechanical engineer, as I remember. Maybe you can rind a reference as I forgot try this literature research . For short trips it it would not have any fire danger.
Have a good dayBut with our more effficient vehicles they likely are not needed.
Have a good day.
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Howdy
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Jerry,
People were experimenting and driving electric cars they had modified themselves long before governments, and manufacturers even got into the current scam that has taken over.
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Left Coast
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But they didn’t have over 1000 lb. toxic Lithium Batteries . . .
Recent fire at a wrecking yard in California they had to dig a pit, fill it with water and push the EV into the hole to put the fire out.
But gasoline? . . . lol
Gas & Diesel fires are usually in old, poorly maintained vehicles.
EVs will be a memory by 2030 . . .
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Howdy
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Dual Motor Electric Vehicle Drivetrain With Powerglide 2 Speed Transmission
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John Galt
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Just who and they going to blame when several of these bombs ignite at the same time and the ship goes down killing a majority of the passengers. Oh yeah the ship’s captain and owners, not their own stupidity,
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K. Kaiser
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Just ask some local firefighters what their organisations recommend in order to deal with an EV fire on land, and no other flammable material nearby.
Even under such “ideal” firefighting conditions, it’s next to impossible to extinguish.
KK
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Dave
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EVs, Unsafe at any SPEED!🔥🔥🔥
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Left Coast
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In Vancouver BC a gentleman with a New Nissan EV hit an object on the road and was concerned it had damaged his vehicle. He took his EV to the Dealer to check it out. The Dealer found that the object had penetrated the envelope protecting the Battery . . . recommended that the owner should replace the battery. They quoted him $60,000 to do the job.
The owner was upset, he didn’t pay that much for the vehicle new . . . so he went to his insurance company and they Wrote the Vehicle OFF. Then Nissan’s head office got into the fray and wanted the care to check it out . . . but the Insurance Company said it was their’s now . . . I suspect they wanted Nissan to pay for it . . . lol
Obviously these Overweight monstrosities are not ready for prime time . . . especially since a New EV in the showroom has a Karbon Footprint equal to a similar sized ICV after you have driven it for 100,000 Kms.
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