Electric cars can't think about it anymore, and the more you think about it, the more you may shiver.
On February 16, a 200-meter-long large car transport ship full of Bentleys, Porsches, Lamborghinis and various Volkswagens, a total of nearly 4,000 vehicles, burst into a fire near the Azores in the central Atlantic, becoming the largest "luxury car cemetery" in history.
Some reports say that among these new cars are 1100 Porsches, 189 Bentleys, as well as other Models such as lamborghinis and Audis, Volkswagens and others.
Russell Analysis said the total value of cars and vans is estimated at about $401 million, with losses likely to exceed $155 million.
American economist Patrick Anderson said volkswagen group may face a loss of $282 million as a result of the accident.
However, these are not the key, the most critical thing is that the fire has been burning for 6 days, and the open flame is no longer there, but the insider said that there are still an unknown number of electric vehicles burning on the ship, and it is not known whether the fire is caused by the battery of the electric vehicle!
Is it a word to wake up the dreamer? There have been foreign media reports that the fire may be caused by Audi's e-tron Sportbacks electric car.
Think about it! Do you have an instant memory of the reports you have seen over the years:
Electric vehicles have had multiple fires in the parking lot, resulting in the burning of surrounding vehicles;
In April last year, a Tesla in the United States hit a tree and caused a fire, and two men were burned to death;
In July last year, Hangzhou father and daughter riding electric bicycles suddenly burst into flames, the two burned into serious injuries, 7-year-old girl Kiki was tortured for nearly 5 months, and finally left this world;
In January this year, an old man in Deyang, Sichuan Province, went to repair the mobile phone, the battery was removed and said to look at the battery, the clerk gave him a warning not to break, the old man immediately began to break, the result was instantly ignited, thrown on the ground after still burning, the fire is very large.
All these disasters and pains, all of this, have one key word: lithium-ion batteries!
Lithium-ion batteries have undoubtedly penetrated into all aspects of our lives, from mobile phones, cameras, laptops to electric bicycles to electric vehicles, it can be said that everyone is dealing with lithium batteries at any time.
However, lithium-ion batteries are flammable or combustible materials because of their battery separators, electrolytes, etc., which are easily decomposed by heat, and the gases produced will also burn, so it is easy to run out of heat, instantly heating up to 400 to 1000 degrees Celsius, resulting in fire, explosion, and continuous combustion.
The reasons for thermal runaway of lithium-ion batteries mainly include the following 4 types:
Deformation of external forces
External forces such as squeezing, collision, and puncture cause battery deformation, diaphragm damage and internal short circuit, and eventually cause fire;
Improper use
Then there is the improper use of the battery, overcharge, over-discharge, short circuit leading to fire;
Self-defects
There are also their own defects, including burrs, impurities, process defects, etc., resulting in inconsistencies in lithium-ion monomers, overcharge and self-discharge between monomers, and eventually cause thermal runaway;
High temperature environment
The high temperature environment and poor heat dissipation may also lead to the performance failure of lithium-ion batteries, increase the heat generation during use, and eventually trigger thermal runaway under the vicious circle.
The thermal runaway of lithium-ion batteries is extremely frightening, because the electrolyte and lithium react to generate oxygen, carbon dioxide, etc., which can be fueled and released a lot of heat, further exacerbating the reaction, even with sand, silica will also react with it.
So the conventional fire extinguishing method is useless, water pouring, water will help combustion; with fire extinguishers, counter-intensification combustion; burying with sand, but adding fuel to it; using a quilt to block oxygen, battery combustion itself will produce oxygen, what do you have?
In life, the lithium-ion battery is on fire, except to isolate it from the surrounding flammable materials and extinguish it after it burns out on its own, there is almost no other way. But this burning time is also very long, at the end of July last year, Tesla built a new large battery storage facility in Australia, a large 13-ton battery in the test caught fire and burned, it burned for more than three days before extinguishing.
Therefore, this time on the Felicity Ace ship full of luxury cars, although the open flame has been extinguished, the situation is still not optimistic, and there is still billowing smoke in the cabin, and it is difficult to take further measures. The ship's operating company, Japanese merchant marine Mitsui (MOL), has organized two fire tugboats to the rescue, and it is estimated that it will only be able to watch the burn out.
Of course, in fact, under normal circumstances, the use of qualified lithium-ion batteries that meet the standards, and the correct use, is highly unlikely to explode, so don't worry too much, who does not have a few, or even more lithium-ion batteries? And lithium-ion batteries have long been ubiquitous in life, you have no possibility to keep your distance from it, unless you are far away from the world, living alone, and do not use any products with lithium-ion batteries.
However, with the use of lithium-ion batteries more and more products, it can even be said that explosive growth, due to various reasons caused by the explosion may be more and more, posing a threat to our life and property safety, so we understand the relevant knowledge of lithium-ion batteries, we must use it correctly:
Do not try to buy cheap or use unqualified batteries and related products, which is gambling with life;
Electronic product charging should use matching, qualified charging products, do not charge for a long time;
When lithium-ion batteries burn or explode, they should be rescued or out of danger as soon as possible, mainly to control the fire, and if they have the conditions, they can find ways to move the burning batteries to an open place to avoid inhaling toxic fumes;
Call the police as soon as possible, handle it by professionals, do not use conventional methods to extinguish the fire, and avoid the fire from expanding.
Stay tuned: