New Batteries For EV's

drjohsmith

Joined Dec 13, 2021
1,613
https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/feb/25/battery-factory-in-hillyard-damaged-in-fire/
Lithium battery factory in Hillyard damaged in largest fire of its kind ever in Spokane
Anyone got any info as to why these fires happened ?
It would seem that a petroleum or gas plant is not inherently safe with all that explosive vapour around
, do they burn as often ?
I'm wondering why these battery things happen, as a battery itself is not inherently self ignition source without a external action.
 

nsaspook

Joined Aug 27, 2009
16,333
Anyone got any info as to why these fires happened ?
It would seem that a petroleum or gas plant is not inherently safe with all that explosive vapour around
, do they burn as often ?
I'm wondering why these battery things happen, as a battery itself is not inherently self ignition source without a external action.
Petroleum or gas plants are not inherently safe but it's a problem we been dealing with for a long time (with lots of fires and injuries during that learning period) and have pretty good methods, standards and safeguards to lower the danger.

These large scale battery fires are a fairly new set of dangers we don't have standard safety measures (even for how to fight those types of fires) for yet. I think it was known about the potential dangers of the Lithium Battery but it was pretty small scale until about a decade or more ago, the massive scale of Lithium Battery usage at higher energy densities started happening back then and the problem with fires started to grow.

The external action could be simple gravity or a random thermal event that starts process. Batteries are not neutral devices. They contain chemical energy (analogous to high pressure) and are designed to convert that to electrical energy that drains sway the chemical energy.

That chemical energy (pressure) is being converted to thermal energy (fire) during a self ignition event started from battery production defects or battery recycling forces from crushing, smashing, piercing, etc .. as they are being processed.

They are like hand grenades with a pin. Until the pin is pulled, it's a rock but after the pin is pulled (from various sources, due to age, handling, manufacturing defects) it becomes a bomb waiting for a small ignition source from a small starting charge event.
 
Last edited:

joeyd999

Joined Jun 6, 2011
6,327
Anyone got any info as to why these fires happened ?
It would seem that a petroleum or gas plant is not inherently safe with all that explosive vapour around
, do they burn as often ?
I'm wondering why these battery things happen, as a battery itself is not inherently self ignition source without a external action.
Electrons are small, compared to fuel molecules, and coulomb forces between electrons under high potential are exceptionally strong.

They are much harder to control -- and more apt to spontaneous reorganization -- under high-energy conditions.

The more high-potential electrons you pack into a smaller volume, the more catastrophic the unexpected energy release.
 

nsaspook

Joined Aug 27, 2009
16,333
Lots of things we use in the chip industry, are apt to spontaneous reorganization. ;) They might even be good for fuels, never mind, too unsafe.

DON'T DO THIS AT HOME.
 

nsaspook

Joined Aug 27, 2009
16,333
https://www.siad.com/diborane

In the semiconductor industry, diborane is used:

  • as a p-type dopant, for epitaxial silicon, (usually ppm mixtures with hydrogen balance gas)
  • for doping selected regions of a silicon wafer using deposition/diffusion techniques (usually high ppm mixtures with nitrogen)
  • for doping polycrystalline silicon for interconnects or certain capacitors and
  • for forming borophosphosilicate glasses (usually percentage mixtures with silane).
MSDS: https://www.airgas.com/msds/001071.pdf

It's only with very good chemical processing engineering safety that fabs are not blowing up like battery recycling centers.
 

joeyd999

Joined Jun 6, 2011
6,327

drjohsmith

Joined Dec 13, 2021
1,613
Petroleum or gas plants are not inherently safe but it's a problem we been dealing with for a long time (with lots of fires and injuries during that learning period) and have pretty good methods, standards and safeguards to lower the danger.

These large scale battery fires are a fairly new set of dangers we don't have standard safety measures (even for how to fight those types of fires) for yet. I think it was known about the potential dangers of the Lithium Battery but it was pretty small scale until about a decade or more ago, the massive scale of Lithium Battery usage at higher energy densities started happening back then and the problem with fires started to grow.

The external action could be simple gravity or a random thermal event that starts process. Batteries are not neutral devices. They contain chemical energy (analogous to high pressure) and are designed to convert that to electrical energy that drains sway the chemical energy.

That chemical energy (pressure) is being converted to thermal energy (fire) during a self ignition event started from battery production defects or battery recycling forces from crushing, smashing, piercing, etc .. as they are being processed.

They are like hand grenades with a pin. Until the pin is pulled, it's a rock but after the pin is pulled (from various sources, due to age, handling, manufacturing defects) it becomes a bomb waiting for a small ignition source from a small starting charge event.
Yep

I have been using lion batteries in products for years ,
Only problem I've seen was whensome one drilled through one.
That was spectacular.

I was wondering if these fires are because of system problems ,
 

drjohsmith

Joined Dec 13, 2021
1,613

https://www.pv-magazine.com/2025/02...ipped-home-destroyed-by-explosion-in-germany/

Solar, battery-equipped home destroyed by explosion in Germany
In the German state of Schleswig-Holstein, an explosion tore away the outer wall of a show home equipped with solar panels and a residential battery. The badly-damaged building, which was vacant at the time of the incident, will likely be demolished.
Just for reference

https://electrek.co/2022/01/12/gove...e-significantly-more-prone-to-fires-than-evs/
 

nsaspook

Joined Aug 27, 2009
16,333
"When driving any vehicle, there is a risk of fire..."

What is the risk of fire when not driving the vehicle?
That's the problem. The Lithium Battery is often the trigger event for a much larger conventional class A or B fire. The A B combustibles are safe until some critical condition is meet like high temperature from sparking batteries. Those sparks (the fire starter) start a chain of increasing energetic fires and the class A and B combustibles spread the fire back into other batteries sources or fuels.

Bad joke we had in Navy firefighting school about the types of combustibles ABC, etc..., fires that result from them, and how to extinguish them. People were described as, "screaming Alpha's" when burning during firefighting practices.
1741012755275.png

 
Last edited:

drjohsmith

Joined Dec 13, 2021
1,613
Given that EV car batteries practically cost more to replace than those cars are worth, what's the point? Not only that, they have no distance. And you actually have to wait hours to charge them at a gas-station, if you can find a charging station AND one where the stations work.

Law Enforcement will NEVER move away from Gasoline Power-trains. Why? Because EV is an attempt to control the population, not save the Earth. Buy forcing people to eventually move to electric, you now have no hauling power, no speed, no capability.

Sorry, but a V8 is cheaper, more cost effective- and the truth is, more environmentally friendly than EVs. Simply Google it and look for facts, not absolute crap like from the brainwashed little Greta Whatever, who got brainwashed and in the end humiliated world-wide with nothing to stand on because it's all crap.

People forget that it was under President Clinton and his catemite Al Gore (who claimed to have invented pants). Al Gore pushed 'the earth is dying' until it the main scientist involved came forward publicly and admitted it was all a lie to push Democratic Agenda.
So. Ev battery cost more to replace than car . Yes , I've had my two EVs 8 and 10 years, and the second hand value is about the same as a new battery , but
Both cars still get ,250 to 300 miles on a charge , charge up in around 45 mins , or overnight at home on the lower rate electricity .

No distance ? What distance do you need ?

Must admit , on my recent drive around California for a month , ev chargers were very hard to find , but over hear in Europe , it's a very different story.

Law enforcement and EV is to control the nation ?
Well , the fastest acceleration cars now are ev,
They have been banned in drag racing here as they were winning everything .

A V8 engine is more environmentally friendly than an EV ?
I just don't know what reliable source your using !
The batteries now in Europe are being recycled , 99 Percent is re used..
Yes the plastic of all cars , be that has or ev is a pain to recycle , but that's not an EV distinction.
All the electrics in the EV are re cycled , it's copper and steel ,
Look at the gas engine
The gas itself is polouting
All the oil and stuff the car needs also
An ev is just a simple sealed electric motor . No gears, no complications .
The power for EVs is sent over standard power lines. These are none poluting , very long life and can be recycled .
Compare that to all the trucks moving gas around , chucking out black soot , and the gas that evaporates on route , also adding to pollution.
Evs can use any electricity source , make it as green as you want .

As to why you go on a vendetta and name calling , I do not know .

So do i take it that you don't believe pollution is causing an atmospheric problem ?

That's another question.

But please post these references to ev are not as environmentally friendly as a V8
 

nsaspook

Joined Aug 27, 2009
16,333
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news...-bikes-after-concerns-over-igniting-batteries
TfL bans most e-bikes on trains amid concern over igniting batteries
Only folding models will be permitted on London Underground, Overground, Elizabeth Line and DLR trains from 31 March
Transport for London (TfL) said the ban was to ensure the safety of customers and staff, in the wake of union threats to strike after a series of fires.

Last month, an e-bike exploded into flames on a London Underground platform at Rayners Lane, an incident the train drivers’ union Aslef said could have caused mass casualties.

TfL said it had been working closely with the London fire brigade on a comprehensive review of the safety of e-bikes. While it said most were safe, there had been a small number of incidents where non-foldable e-bikes had caught fire on its network.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Top