This year, Estonia’s Rescue Board has extinguished flames in 176 vehicles, and three of them were electric cars, and the rescuers themselves have to decide the right way of extinguishing, as manufacturers’ recommendations differ, writes ERR News.
This year, the rescue service faced the need to work with the batteries of three different electric cars. The Tesla car did not require a special approach, while the battery of the Nissan electric car required several days to stabilize. The Jaguar that caught fire in Viimsi last week is still in the water.
The rescue service expert Ivar Frantsuzov said that the car was isolated in terms of temperature,
because re-ignition is prevented by the lack of oxygen and cooling of the battery.
Extinguishing electric cars is a new challenge for the rescue service, and currently, the simplest method is used, that is, cooling.
Tesla requires 11 – 36 tons of water to cool, however, the manufacturer does not recommend immersing it. It can take up to 20 to 48 hours for the battery to stabilize.
The rescue service hopes the Jaguar, which is still cooling, can soon be handed over to the factory. Frantsuzov said that the car will be handed over to the manufacturer so that it could start an investigation.
The expert pointed out that
it is possible to extinguish electric cars that have caught fire in the usual way, but it requires much more water.
If Insurance technical expert Marion Meius stated: “Electric vehicles do not catch fire or burn faster. In reality, cars have high fire loads in general, and it doesn’t matter what we’re talking about — they all burn relatively intensely.”
He added that burnt-out cars are usually not worth repairing.
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