Parking EVs indoors

[Eagle1]

Propane flame/ammonia cycle refrigerator.

True but not running on propane at the time. Plugged to shore power. I'm pretty sure both were started due the Insulation Displacement Connections in the outlets. I've repaired more of those I can remember. Many burned though the wiring without catching anything else on fire.

 

[CliffordK]

Fundamentally I don't think building codes have changed in 40+ years.

Cover the inside of the garage with 5/8" Sheetrock. Not enough to stop a fire from spreading, but only to slow it down a bit.

A few changes are GFCIs, AFCIs, centralized smoke detectors, etc.

The new centralized smoke detectors might help detect a fault early. Otherwise, a garage fire still takes down the whole house.

One could build a garage that would withstand two side-by-side Tesla fires. Or a biodiesel reactor fire if you want. Perhaps some damage to the garage, but the house would be fine.

I would think 8" of concrete on the 6 walls (including ceiling/floor) would be sufficient. Perhaps add some insulation like rock wool, or kiln bricks.

I'm not sure all EV batteries are equally fire prone. And some battery packs will survive a vehicle fire. So, the EV world could also use some regulation.

Perhaps also more research into putting out EV fires.

One could add tow hooks to the Tesla if one wants to get close enough to throw on a cable or chain, and to yank it somewhere safe. But, by the time one is ready to tow it, it may already be too late.

I've been parking my non-Tesla EV under a tree. 110V charging rather than 220V charging. However, there would be times mid August when a fire outside of the house might be worse than on inside the house.

 

[3930dave]

I'm not sure all EV batteries are equally fire prone. And some battery packs will survive a vehicle fire. So, the EV world could also use some regulation.

Doing some light-reading lately, was going thru some Euro news, checking on their continued used of dunk-tanks.....

Among those recent reports, was an article that touched on regulating JUST standardizing HV disconnect placement and identification....... which was immediately rejected as it might "negatively impact the global competitiveness of Euro EV OEMs".

Which ^ caused my mind to drift back to the actuarial and other calculations done @ Ford, Back When, which deemed it cheaper to kill people, that put that low-cost correction into the Pinto tank design. Rien sa change....

I'm unfortunate enough to work for a company where the main culture revolves around Make No Decision, Take No Action in general...... so I have little/no faith that this slightly complex (brain-surgery, in the case of my Company) issue that this thread pertains to will be dealt with at all, let alone pro-actively.....

EVs are hardly new.... Jay has at least one really old one, and a buddy of my Dad's (served in the Canadian Army WWII) described them as common, London UK, circa 1940. While some people may oversimplify my comments as Anti-EV, I'm really just in Evaluation Mode..... in the case of this thread, to do with a looming situation @ work.

Of what has been produced in recent times, the design that suited me the best was the Chevy Volt, but the ICist Ghad has terminated that one.

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

Perhaps also more research into putting out EV fires.

Looks like the latest is using a pick to penetrated the HV pack, so that high pressure water can be injected into the pack....

Specialized equipment, easiest to do with the vehicle not on it's wheels (normal rest position)...... even if it works, there's a lot of extra Moving Pieces......

Any which way.... an EV fire takes extra resources.... IF available, at a minimum, means that those resources are tied up and not available to fight "normal" fires......

Robbing Peter, to Pay Paul..... yep, that sounds like @ Work, to me......

Rgds, D.

 

[ponytug]

@3930dave I think that you and @CliffordK touch on some great issues. I do think that when something new rolls out, it is genuinely very hard to foresee all the unintended consequences.

I like the suggestion of increasing the Sheetrock thickness to increase the fire resistance. Living in a rural area, I tend to think that either I put the fire out, or it is self limiting, or whatever is burning will be a total write off. I'm a fan of our local fire departments (plural), but half an hour is a long, long, time in fire terms.

Note to self to work on increasing water storage...

All the best,

Peter

 

[Too many Kubotas]

One could build a garage that would withstand two side-by-side Tesla fires.

I dunno. That closest steel I-beam, about 18 inches tall and quite thick, is obviously bent from the heat. The far one survived much better.

Yep, there was a Tesla under the bent one.

 

[3930dave]

I dunno. That closest steel I-beam, about 18 inches tall and quite thick, is obviously bent from the heat. The far one survived much better.

Yep, there was a Tesla under the bent one.View attachment 827067

What do the Software guys say..... It's not a Bug, It's a Feature !

So... in a post-apocalyptic world..... EVs could serve as a One-Time-Use-Forge, for roving blacksmiths ! They burn for hours/days.... could probably get a a lot of metal-bending done...

Rgds, D.

 

[CliffordK]

I dunno. That closest steel I-beam, about 18 inches tall and quite thick, is obviously bent from the heat. The far one survived much better.

Yep, there was a Tesla under the bent one.View attachment 827067

Is that a photo from Hawaii.

So, a wildfire, not a Tesla fire. So, the whole house would have burnt independent of an EV parked in the garage, and the heat came from far more than an EV.

One issue is the duration. The wildfire burns for hours, although the burn over may be relatively short. But still a lot of heat on all sides of the beams.

If we can build a Space Shuttle that can survive 3000 °F reentry, then we could design a structure that could withstand a car fire, whether it is 100% passive, or also includes active elements such as sprinklers, or cooling pipes.

Australia is building their fire trucks to withstand wildfire burnovers, or at least saving the entire crew inside the truck. Lots of water.

Nonetheless, if one has a $500K house, and a less expensive garage. Design it so the car damages the garage, but doesn't also take out the house.

 

[CliffordK]

Looks like the latest is using a pick to penetrated the HV pack, so that high pressure water can be injected into the pack....

Specialized equipment, easiest to do with the vehicle not on it's wheels (normal rest position)...... even if it works, there's a lot of extra Moving Pieces......

Any which way.... an EV fire takes extra resources.... IF available, at a minimum, means that those resources are tied up and not available to fight "normal" fires......

Robbing Peter, to Pay Paul..... yep, that sounds like @ Work, to me......

Rgds, D.

Most EVs have a built in cooling system for the battery pack. It likely gets damaged quickly during a runaway heating event. But, perhaps it could be designed to push all the onboard radiator water into the pack, then allow an external hookup if the pipes would be designed to endure at least for some time.

As far as extra resources. I hope that most fire departments spend more time waiting for the next call than actively fighting fires. One of the reasons they are also doing some paramedic jobs.

Hardening a house against garage fires would help prevent a number of fires including gasoline vehicles burning as mentioned earlier in the thread. Using the garage as a workshop?

 

[CliffordK]

EVs are hardly new.... Jay has at least one really old one, and a buddy of my Dad's (served in the Canadian Army WWII) described them as common, London UK, circa 1940. While some people may oversimplify my comments as Anti-EV, I'm really just in Evaluation Mode..... in the case of this thread, to do with a looming situation @ work.

EVs have been around for over a century. However, the big change has been the move from lead acid batteries in one form or another to higher energy density batteries.

There was an issue with laptop computer fires a few years ago, but I think that has largely been resolved.

However, society still needs to look at the thousands of cells that make up modern EV battery packs.

Gasoline car fires along the road are probably more common than EV fires, but it is the EV fires that make the news.