With sales of EVs in Australia growing, it is important to understand, any electric car that has suffered damage in an accident has a higher risk of concern regarding the integrity of its battery pack. A heavily impacted, or comprised battery pack can cause a short within a battery cell, leading to thermal runaway resulting in a fire.

With an EV-rated fire blanket, available from many leading automotive parts resellers in Australia, a vehicle can be stored indoors with the blanket deployed, reducing the risk of wider facility damage if a fire were to start.

With an electric vehicle fire blanket on hand, first responders can also deploy the blanket, if the vehicle is already on fire, reducing the overall damage and water often required in a EV based vehicle fire.

From Australian automotive repair workshops to the collision repair segment, we are seeing an increase in the number of electric vehicles being brought in. As such, the probability of an EV fire increases, which is why these businesses need to consider how they would respond to this type of incident.

Damage

When an electric vehicle arrives on site following a crash, the health and safety of the technicians working on the car is paramount. As outlined, the risk of an electric vehicle catching fire is far greater if it is damaged in some way. It’s worth noting that certain types of damage cannot always be seen or quickly identified. That’s often the case with an electric vehicle battery, the most common source of an EV fire.

If the EV’s battery has sustained damage, or it is faulty this can cause the cells inside the battery array to heat up. Days and even weeks after an accident, the car is susceptible to self-igniting. Once the battery cells heat up, they do so very quickly and a fire can break out. It only takes one cell to heat up and that one cell has the capacity to compromise every other cell. When a fire starts it will spread fast throughout the whole battery and create a phenomenon known as ‘thermal runaway’.

EV fires and thermal runaway

Thermal runaway is practically impossible to stop once it has occurred and, due to its nature, any vehicles, property or people close by are in danger as the fire can disperse and cause extensive collateral damage. Furthermore, any EV fire will result in toxic fumes and smoke being produced which can be highly hazardous.

If a technician thinks a fire is probable, an electric vehicle fire blanket can be used to cover the entire car. This will reduce available oxygen and stop any flames or sparks extending to any other vehicles in the workshop and reduce the overall temperature in a EV based fire. The fire brigade should always be contacted for professional firefighting.

Safety is paramount

Safety is paramount in our industry which is why every business of this kind should have a minimum of one EV fire blanket on the premises. An essential item of health and safety equipment, these products are easy to use and could protect lives if an EV fire ever breaks out.

Available in Australia from our partners Bosch Australia, hsy autoparts, Cool Drive Auto Parts, and Volt Safety.