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'It doesn’t catch fire': Why China’s "fireproof" sodium battery could be the breakthrough that makes EVs safer than ICE cars (www.techradar.com)
submitted 4 months ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
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cross-posted from : https://lemmy.zip/post/62209262

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[–] 10 points 4 months ago (3 children)

Except the fact that batteries burn extremely rapidly. In case of fire you have seconds to open the door and help the driver/passaners escape out of the vehicle

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  • [–] 9 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    I've heard that gasoline also tends to burn rapidly. The Mythbusters usually had to add gas to make their explosions look cooler

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  • [–] 9 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    Not as rapidly as lithium batteries. From firefighting perspective this is much uglier case. Bonus issue: unlike gasoline, you can't extinguish it reliably - it has to burn out on its own

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  • [–] 2 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    Battery fires can be extinguished.

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  • [–] 0 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    The only way I know how to reliably extinguish a lithium car battery fire, is to throw the whole car into a water tank

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  • [–] 1 point 4 months ago (1 child)

    That's two ways: if you can throw a whole car in a water tank, you can throw a whole water tank on a car.

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  • [–] 1 point 4 months ago (1 child)

    Nope. The moment you stop flooding it with water, it starts burning back again. Lithium reacts with water producing heat and hydrogen. Spraying the surface with hose just doesn't work. You have to drop car into a water tank for prolonged period of time. Long enough for water to reach all damaged cells and react with all exposed lithium

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  • [–] 4 points 4 months ago

    Dude...gas cars blow up every day. It's so common it's not news.

    Vehicle fires report | NFPA Research

    National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) https://www.nfpa.org/ › research › fire-statistical-reports Oct 31, 2024 — The 195,927 highway vehicle fires per year in 2018–2022 caused an average of 579 civilian deaths; 1,336 civilian injuries.

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