Firefighters Drown Tesla Model S To Extinguish Battery Fire

Electric vehicles have a bad reputation when it comes to fire. The Chevrolet Bolt became the poster child for burning EVs, while an EV is widely believed to be responsible for the sinking of the Felicity Ace.

Statistically speaking, there are far fewer EV fires than combustion-engine fires, but EV fires are more dangerous. The reason why EV fires are so dangerous is that they're complicated to extinguish. A report published in 2020 revealed that just half of US fire departments were equipped to handle EV fires.

The lack of the right tools was recently highlighted after Metro Fire of Sacramento struggled for over an hour to extinguish a crashed Tesla Model S. The fire department eventually dug a pit and essentially drowned the car.

"This was the first and only attempt. The vehicle sat parked in a wrecking yard for three weeks after a vehicle accident (not involving fire) and then caught fire in the yard. Our crews were dispatched and ensured the vehicle was extinguished after over an hour of firefighting operations," Metro Fire of Sacramento stated in a tweet.

The main cause is thermal runaway, which is nearly impossible to stop. It takes just one cell to trigger a chain reaction, and within minutes you have a fire that can easily exceed 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit. And you can't combat a BEV fire with water or foam because it causes a violent flare-up.

In addition to the above problems, firefighters also have to worry about toxic fumes and electric shock. Kudos to the intelligent folks at Metro Fire for drowning the thing.

The real concern here is that there was no reason for this fire to exist. According to Metro Fire of Sacramento, the accident did not damage the battery. And the cause of the fire will never be known because there's not much left to investigate.

Manufacturers are currently tackling EV fires on two fronts. The first is moving over to solid-state batteries, which dramatically reduce the risk of fire. The second solution comes from LG, which is a new plastic material that can delay thermal runaway. Delay, mind you, not stop.

This problem requires a serious solution. EV sales have never been higher, and digging a hole to smother a car is not a viable long-term solution.