Latest Tesla fire

The E is for Extreme;)
"Can you take your word for that and not have to see it?"
Of course...:laugh:
This is just too easy;)
 
Dark Soul said:
These electric cars are a bad idea. OK for a golf cart, but unsafe on the street.
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Golf carts catch fire too, both gas and electric ones, though not nearly as much as the unfortunate Tesla does. Electric carts use lead-acid cells, similar to the ones in your car, but shaped a bit differently (the so-called deep cycle cell).
 
Into the Night said:
Golf carts catch fire too, both gas and electric ones, though not nearly as much as the unfortunate Tesla does. Electric carts use lead-acid cells, similar to the ones in your car, but shaped a bit differently (the so-called deep cycle cell).
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It's a function of the energy stored. A Tesla might have 85 kwh while a typical car battery has about 1.5. A golf cart might have 6 batteries or 9 kwh.
 
Dark Soul said:
It's a function of the energy stored. A Tesla might have 85 kwh while a typical car battery has about 1.5. A golf cart might have 6 batteries or 9 kwh.
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Actually, it really isn't. A typical car battery has only about 600W/hrs, yet it can cause a spectacular fire all the same. Remember, lead acid cells emit hydrogen gas when charging. If that builds up to about 4% concentration, a spark (such as disconnecting a wire) can set it off. That's why you should make the last connection AWAY from the battery onto the engine frame or something, and disconnect IT first when disconnecting the battery jumpers.

A catastrophic discharge won't release any gas, but it's sufficient to vaporize a wire or tool. That's enough to start a fire, if there is something nearby to burn (like your hand?!?). Yes...it's happened.

Even a 9v battery (one of the smallest of batteries) can start a fire in the right conditions. Just stuff the terminals into fine steel wool.. Fire. You can use this trick to start a campfire, using the steel wool to help light the tinder. The battery is so weak you can only do it once, of course, but you CAN do it. Use hardware store steel wool (paint section). Kitchen steel wool has detergents that will tend to snuff any fire started in this way.

It's about getting something up to temperature that can burn.
Fuel + sufficient thermal energy + oxygen = fire

The difference with a LiO battery is that they provide some of the oxygen. They act like an oxidizer in a fire as well as the fuel. In other words, they are built like a firework (a somewhat weak one), but it's a lot of battery in a Tesla, so it's like a case of weak fireworks.
Like many consumer (class 1.4) fireworks, you can drown 'em with water to put it out.
 
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