I agree this will be a big benefit when we better utilize the full potential of lithium batteries from manufacture to recycle.
> aftermarket power wall use
Once they figure out how to keep them from exploding.
For sure, next time.
Absolutely, positively, not boom.
Meanwhile, there’s room for improvement in fire fighting protection suits …
I posted today a video of the new Samsung Note 7 battery shown to catch fire with with small punctures made to the battery. There needs to better training and products available for extinguishing lithium battery firers.
We haven’t been able to prevent planes, cars, ships, trucks, gas furnaces, or water heaters from exploding either.
SCBA: (Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus)
Now your quote has switched from explosions to fires. And water? Never try to put a gasoline fire out with water, it will spread! I’m telling you man, that gasoline is some scary shit. Even the fumes can kill. But that never makes the daily news.
+1, whenever we’ve concentrated energy sooner or later it’s got loose, Texas City, Port Chicago, 3 mi island, again in West Texas, Exxon Valdez, the BP spill, carbeques beyond count, oil rig and tanker fires, etc. Liion might be somewhat cleaner but it like anything else it has its dangers and will cause mayhem at some point.
Yes but Tesla is expensive compared to the car cited by the earlier poster. Most cars have a limited mileage per year for a fixed number of years. Tesla though do seem to be making huge strides in making them practical. Selling them as high performance cars is clever, since they are expensive anyway.
Perhaps best not to buy one of the Chinese brands then, Uranusfire might be more of a prediction than a brand name.
This article from July. 2016 MIT is pretty good news. No air is exchanged in the charge/discharge cycle so the cell doesn’t swell which ages the materials and reduces cycle life, and charges only .24V above cell potential instead of 1.2V and with 1/5 the power loss during recharge there is much less heating allowing for faster charge cycles.
EV fires need to be suppressed with knowledge and not traditional methods like water.
Even first responder’s to EV accidents are reluctant to use ‘Jaws of Life’ until all electrical power is shut off.
These are problems to be solved and not reasons to turn away from EV.
Amen to that. Anticipating problems with new tech saves lives, and we don’t have a surplus of firefighters as it is.
I recall a guy who started a wildfire.
He drove his nice sniny new catalytic-converter-equipped truck into high grass.
The grass caught fire.
So, aha, he had a fire extinguisher.
He grabbed that, leaned over, pointed it under the truck, and triggered it.
He blew flaming grass out the other side into the field, where it spread rapidly.
California where I live is going to be an interesting test case for fire management, with all the EVs on the road and coming soon.
I’m not real sure what kind of fire extinguisher(s) I ought to be adding to my car equipment.
I always carry some firefighting equipment.
Because California where I live also has a surprising number of people who throw burning cigarette butts out their windows.
I’ve beaten down a few fires on the freeway margin, thanks to those guys — shovel and flail, not fire extinguisher.
See “dry grass” above.
My nephew is a Hot Shot crew member for the U.S. Forest Service and he has been quite busy in the west. 
When encountering a fire with a lithium-metal battery, only use a Class D extinguisher as water reacts with the lithium metal and makes the fire worse.
http://spectrumfx.net/blog/lithium-battery-fires-why-not-water
Yep. And if your truck isn’t carrying Class D extinguishers …. wait for it.
Oh, and if the vehicle has a magnesium engine block or wheels …. oboy.
Add the cost of appropriate fire suppression equipment to the equation.
I doubt many of us have a Class D extinguisher handy — or the right variety, since that’s a category not a unique type.
I sure don’t. Probably ought to.
https://smile.amazon.com/s/?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=class+D+extinguisher
Cars catch fire daily but don’t carry them.
Last night saw the report on the pipe line break in Alabama. We are dependent on the flow of oil for the convenience of the auto. Whatever form(s) of energy we end up relying on in the future, the more diverse the source(s) the less vulnerable we are. The news is portraying communities with long lines at the pump or no gas at all, is this accurate or is the story overblown? Of course, anyone with an EV would not have to deal with that in order to make their daily commute.
Also the EV charging infrastructure is already present in most homes, we already live with the dangers of electricity
There is no ‘free lunch’ most power plants for electricity are powered by fossil fuels.
Yea, most. Because of our history. But with EV we have options, and our children have options. There’s only one material that makes gasoline.