Strange fire on an electrical scooter

[killdozzer]

Yesterday in my city a guy had an accident and some bad, baad fortune, where his scooter caught on fire in a very strange way. I'm hoping to bring @Swerd here as I believe his background might give him some deeper understanding on how the fire might have occurred.

The man wanted to put his scooter in a trunk of a car when he noticed some fumes coming out of the battery compartment. He took it a bit further away from the car as a precaution and started filming probably for a warranty claim. He didn't expect it to go this far:

P.S. What he says in the video will not help you much, no need to try and translate it. It's just a lot of cuss words and damning his luck.

 

[lovinthehd]

I just saw a video talking about how many electrical scooters have had fire issues (and they had one of one going up in a guy's house, caught by I think it was the security cam). When the hardware for lighting one's mountain bike for night time trail rides started morphing to the led/lithium batteries some of the cheap batteries/chargers had issues. That's why you need good battery management but things still go wrong, Teslas aren't immune either. I saw an electric car combust in a market's parking lot when I lived in the SF bay area....

 

[TLS Guy]

Yesterday in my city a guy had an accident and some bad, baad fortune, where his scooter caught on fire in a very strange way. I'm hoping to bring @Swerd here as I believe his background might give him some deeper understanding on how the fire might have occurred.

The man wanted to put his scooter in a trunk of a car when he noticed some fumes coming out of the battery compartment. He took it a bit further away from the car as a precaution and started filming probably for a warranty claim. He didn't expect it to go this far:

P.S. What he says in the video will not help you much, no need to try and translate it. It's just a lot of cuss words and damning his luck.

Lithium battery fires are much worse than gasoline fires. Also there is no known way of extinguishing them. We had a Tesla involved in a crash in the US recently. The car burst into the most intense inferno. The fire department cold not put it out, as it kept reigniting. So they were forced to let it burn itself out. This is going to be a huge issue as Lithium powered vehicles increase in numbers and run into each other. Lithium batteries burn hotter and faster than any fossil fuel fire.

 

[Swerd]

I am no expert on batteries, lithium or other types. But thanks for thinking of me.

I agree with the others above about how hot and dangerous lithium batteries are if they overheat and burn. Lithium burns much hotter than aluminum, and there's no easy way to put the fire out. Water, carbon dioxide, etc., work temporarily, but the lithium remains so hot that it reignites.

 

[killdozzer]

@Swerd @TLS Guy
Thank you for the answer. I assumed it must be hot when I saw bright white colour of the flame.
Do you have any idea on how it ignites? What really happens?
I guess putting it out should combine co2 and a fast cooling agent...

 

[killdozzer]

I guess the fumes must be really bad for you?

 

[highfigh]

@Swerd @TLS Guy
Thank you for the answer. I assumed it must be hot when I saw bright white colour of the flame.
Do you have any idea on how it ignites? What really happens?
I guess putting it out should combine co2 and a fast cooling agent...

Here's one explanation, but it only contains a few reasons-

Don't Blame the Batteries For Every Lithium-Ion Explosion

Lithium-ion batteries have problems that go well beyond faults in the cells themselves.

www.wired.com

 

[Swerd]

I found this long web site after searching for how to put out a lithium battery fire. It mentions, foam extinguishers, CO2, ABC dry chemical, powdered graphite, copper powder or soda (sodium carbonate) as you would extinguish other combustible fires. Reserve the Class D extinguishers for lithium-metal fires only.

I've heard of class A, B, and C fire extinguishers, but not class D.

Safety Concerns with Li-ion Batteries – Battery University

Learn what causes Li-ion to fail and what to do in case of fire. Battery makers are obligated to meet safety requirements, but less reputable firms may cheat.

batteryuniversity.com

 

[killdozzer]

I found this long web site after searching for how to put out a lithium battery fire. It mentions, foam extinguishers, CO2, ABC dry chemical, powdered graphite, copper powder or soda (sodium carbonate) as you would extinguish other combustible fires. Reserve the Class D extinguishers for lithium-metal fires only.

I've heard of class A, B, and C fire extinguishers, but not class D.

Safety Concerns with Li-ion Batteries – Battery University

Learn what causes Li-ion to fail and what to do in case of fire. Battery makers are obligated to meet safety requirements, but less reputable firms may cheat.

batteryuniversity.com

Thanks.

I found some thoughts on how it ignites;

The Reason Lithium Batteries Catch Fire and Explode

Learn why lithium batteries catch fire and sometimes explode and how to minimize the risk of an accident.

www.thoughtco.com