Electric cars do not burn more than normal cars. But one particular type of electric car fire is frightening – those that start by themselves in the batteries while the cars are parked. This year there have been several such fires.
Hyundai Kona at Sinsen, Oslo
On 16 June this year (2021), a Hyundai Kona started burning in Båhusveien in Oslo. Avis Oslo published images of a crane truck lifting the Hyundai into a container of water to cool burning lithium batteries. Other photos clearly show that the fire was concentrated at the batteries. The fire in Båhusveien is said to have been the 17th Hyundai Kona fire worldwide that started by itself in the batteries. This has not only worried owners, but also the manufacturer. Already after the 13th fire of this kind, Hyundai decided to recall all affected cars to replace the battery packs. It concerns cars produced from 2018 to 2020 - a total of 77 cars worldwide - 000 in Norway. The first cars have already received new batteries, and the rest - mainly 6000 models - have had their batteries replaced during 2019.
Hyundai is replacing 77 battery packs after 000 self-ignitions were found in the batteries.
Is your Hyundai affected?
If you are wondering whether your Hyundai is affected by the recall, you can check the link below:
We have tested the recall link on cars registered just before and just after the turn of the year 2020. Cars registered up to 31.12.2019 December XNUMX must have their batteries changed. They are manufactured in South Korea and have VIN numbers beginning with "K". Cars from 01.01.2020 are manufactured in Czech Republic and is not affected. We also tested some Ioniq (mk1) but none were part of the recall.
More cars affected?
The problem with the fire in Båhusveien is that it happened in a 2020 model that was not on the list of recalls. It raises several questions. Can cars registered after 1 January 2020 also be affected? Are parallel imported cars more exposed? From 2020, cars through the dealer system were taken in from Czech Republic. A large proportion of 2020 models have also been introduced via parallel imports - and several of these have been produced in South Korea. If the car that caught fire was brought in as a parallel import, it could therefore have been manufactured in Korea - not the Czech Republic.
Peugeot e-208 at Holmen, Oslo
On September 8 this year, another mysterious thing happened car fire in Oslo. At a municipal charging point on Holmen in Oslo, a new Peugeot e-208 caught fire while charging. First there was a lot of smoke, then sparks erupted from under the car near the batteries. The neighbors were asked to keep the windows closed while the fire brigade placed a fire blanket over the car and lifted it into a container of water. This unsolved fire is frightening because the same type of battery pack is supplied in a number of relatively new models from Stellantis, - including Peugeot e-2008, Partner and Expert, Opel Corsa-e, Mokka-e and Vivaro-e, Citroen ë-C3 and ë -Berlingo, as well as Toyota City Electric and Proace Electric. A fault in the battery packs on these cars can have a large scale. We have trawled French, German and British newspapers without finding posts about similar fires. The fire at Holmen was thus the first and hopefully the only one.
Porsche Taycan in Skjeberg, Østfold
In April, a Porsche Taycan completely burned up after catching fire while charging. It is suspected that the fire started in the batteries. This was the 2nd fire of the same kind. The previous one happened in Florida and got a lot of publicity. Not much has been written about the fire in Skjeberg. According to the blog article below, the Taycan has a problem with the on-board charger for low voltage charging that can overcharge and destroy battery cells - which in turn can be a source of spontaneous combustion and fire. According to unconfirmed rumours, Porsche is now in the process of solving the problems in secret through its dealer apparatus. It is about repairs and replacing batteries if necessary. Should more Taycans self-ignite, it could be difficult for Porsche to keep it under wraps.
BYD Tang in Kristiansand
On 16 November this year, a BYD Tang started to burn while it was in a workshop in Kristiansand. Those present managed to push the car out before the fire could do any damage. In the pictures in The Friend of the Fatherland you can see the flames shooting out from the underside of the car, right where the batteries sit. BYD Tang is now being rolled out with new battery technology called "Blades" which require less physical space and which can more easily get rid of excess heat to reduce the risk of fire. We do not know whether the batteries that burned in Kristiansand were of new or "old" type. BYD Tang has not yet gained a particularly large foothold in the Norwegian market. If you experience more fire incidents like this, it is unlikely to spread.
ID.3 on Ringerike
The last car fire happened on 14 September this year. It was an ID.3 that started to burn while driving along the E16 near Lunner. Ringerike's Newspaper covered the issue, but spent most of the column space explaining to readers that electric cars do not burn more easily than other cars. Politically correct, but it gave no answer to what everyone is wondering: Where did the fire start? In the pictures, you cannot see whether the fire started in the battery.
When the fire starts in the batteries
The fires that start in the battery packs are the most dangerous. They can develop almost explosively. The fire cannot be extinguished in the usual way. The Oslo Fire Brigade has found a method where they lift the car down into a container filled with water and let it cool down for 72 hours. This has worked well in the open air. It is worse if the car is in a garage, in a tunnel or on a car ferry. Fires that start in the "engine compartment" are then less serious, as they can are extinguished before the batteries are ignited and because the fires that most often occur in connection with driving - do not self-ignite while parked.
Charge sensibly!
Regardless of the car model, electric car owners should exercise caution. Even if a safety margin has been entered between the battery's physical capacity and how much you are allowed to charge, you should not charge the battery up to 100%. You should also avoid leaving the battery at 100% for a long time, and you should not fast charge every time you charge. Not only does one extend the life of the battery. One can prevent it from one day catching fire.
Fortunately, there is no basis for saying that electric cars burn more than other cars. On the contrary. The fact that several electric cars self-ignite in their batteries is nevertheless very disturbing.
On what basis do you base the claim that you should not be able to charge electric cars to 100% and leave them standing?
It sounds more like scaremongering than fact. For example The BMW i3 must be charged to 100% and must be connected to the charger if it is parked for a long time. Not because it is drained of energy, but because BMW and Samsung SDI think it is best for the health of the battery.
There are approximately 300 BMW i000s on the road, all of which are charged to 3% when the cable is plugged in. How many of these have burned up as a result of battery failure during charging?
That lithium batteries should not be charged above 80% in daily use is a completely general recommendation - among other things given by NAF. The point is that you top-charge only when there is a need for it, for example before a long trip. It is not the risk of fire that is the reason for this recommendation, but rather economics in the form of charging time and battery health. I still include the risk of fire as a factor here, because car manufacturers with models where there is a risk of self-ignition in the batteries advise the affected owners not to charge above 90% until the batteries have been replaced. This currently applies to the Hyundai Kona and Opel Ampera-e.
It is correct that BMW recommends i3 owners to leave the car charging when not in use. I often charge the i3 in my garage - and also fully charge every time. Incidentally, I also do that on plug-in hybrid cars - and consider it absolutely necessary to benefit from the technology. Here we have to trust that the car manufacturers have put in a sufficient safety margin in the form of how much of the gross battery capacity is usable. For the BMW i3, the margins are good. For the latest model, you can only use 89,8% of full capacity - for older models, the margins are even greater. In the Tesla Model 3 LR (2020), by comparison, the usable part is 94%. If the charge limit is set above 90%, the owner is notified that this may have consequences on the battery's lifetime.