Isn't it a sort of positive-feedback reaction? Once one cell cooks off, it starts a cascade iirc.Lithium-ion batteries can be extremely reactive. Once an explosion is triggered, it proceeds very quickly, releases toxic gases, and is difficult to contain.
I can't comment on Tesla garage fires as much. However when it large concentrations of lithium batteries are present, they can cause catastrophic explosions.
What a major battery fire means for the future of energy storage
The latest fire at Moss Landing Power plant is raising concerns about battery safety.www.technologyreview.com
Major fire breaks out at French plant housing lithium batteries
Some 900 tonnes of lithium batteries were on fire at a battery recycling plant in southern France, authorities said on Sunday, sending a cloud of thick black smoke into the sky above the site.www.france24.com
'A ticking time bomb': Missouri town reels more than 4 months after lithium battery plant fire
The long-term impact on the environment is still unknown.www.ksdk.com
Personally, I'm glad our hybrid has an old-school NiMH battery. I believe the LC250 does as well.
Tinker's latest brutal review of LC250 (5 Viewers)
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I will let a chemist/chemical engineer answer that one
. I know people who were evacuated from the Fire No. 3 area, so it's a bit close to home. I also have a friend who worked in lead-acid battery recycling. He noted that even a single lithium-ion battery - if it somehow made it into their process by accident - could react near instantly and cause a small fire/explosion.
That is an ethos that needs re-introduction into mainstream culture! Stop by Angus Barn for me, I love that place
prime rib and sweet potato
FWIW - usually the term of art is "thermal runaway" and it happens in lithium batteries more often because they are significantly more energy dense. That combined with the chemical reactions of the battery components results in bad outcomes. Once the heat and discharge exceeds a critical point where one or more cells start to melt and decompose the chain of successive chemical reactions between the various components release flammable gasses and shortly in succession release oxygen. Since the combustible gasses and oxygen are both released together with a lot of heat - it's basically a self sufficient fire that will continue to restart and can't be smothered - super difficult to extinguish.
But - gasoline burns pretty well too and we've learned to manage it and make it safe. Don't put the gas tanks outside the frame rails. Put a firewall between the hot and flammable stuff and the people. That sort of thing. Lithium batteries should be very safe if the vehicle is engineered properly. In this case - I'd rather have a lithium battery that's smaller in size and mounted outside of the passenger cabin and properly waterproofed. The Ford powerboost is a better battery configuration.
But - gasoline burns pretty well too and we've learned to manage it and make it safe. Don't put the gas tanks outside the frame rails. Put a firewall between the hot and flammable stuff and the people. That sort of thing. Lithium batteries should be very safe if the vehicle is engineered properly. In this case - I'd rather have a lithium battery that's smaller in size and mounted outside of the passenger cabin and properly waterproofed. The Ford powerboost is a better battery configuration.
Only in Texas would you casually drive with the family in a crossover to a summer bbq and bring with you a smoker so big it is built on a trailer. I want to go to that family's picnic!
