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04.5 EV fires & charging research

Our project focus - EV fires that 

Of all electric passenger vehicle traction battery fire incidents studied, approximately a third went into thermal runaway while connected to AC or DC EV charging, or within an hour of being disconnected from AC or DC EV charging.

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In all incidents studied, charging could not be proven as the cause of thermal runaway, but may have pre-empted electric vehicles with:

  1. an existing unknown fault

  2. a cell defect - fault during manufacturing

to go into thermal runaway sooner than expected.

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It should also be noted that electric vehicles, by definition, spend significant periods of time connected to energised charging, so the high number of charging-related incidents should not be considered unusual.

However, the number of EV fire incidents while connected to energised charging highlights the need to consider emergency response at charging hubs; on-site hydrants, fire appliance access, pre-incident planning & water run-off.

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35 connected to energised charging

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5 within one hour of charging

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1 due to extension cord
1 improper cable
1 building electrical fault

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16 due to cell defect during manufacturing 

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16 unknown cause

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252 traction battery fires

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