Five cars destroyed at Sydney Airport after EV battery explosion
Five cars destroyed at Sydney Airport after EV battery explosion
Firefighters confirm sparks spread from a detached lithium-ion battery from a luxury electric car to four nearby vehicles parked at Sydney Airport last night.
The media loves an EV fire.
Yes it's a great way to sow doubt about EV safety
And yet, people are quite happy to forget it's the same battery technology in their pockets (phone) next to their balls, and in their ears (wireless buds etc), on their heads lol
I just did a quick count, and I've got 8 devices/things on or within 3m of me that have lithium-ion batteries in them. Goddam I need help lol.
the owners of the cars are yet to be notified
They might have found out now
they might come back from a holiday in 3 weeks to find a crater where they left their car!
This smells like the owners left the car for an extended period of time for a trip and decided unplugging the battery would be a way to maintain its charge during the time, like a normal AAA battery.
Except that's not how an EV's lithium battery works at all, and by manually disconnecting it, they've either damaged it, or disconnected it from any active monitoring that's needed to keep it stable.
Wouldn't be surprised if it comes out that the owner is some tech enthusiast or amateur mechanic/electrician.
In an Australian winter where it's cold but above freezing, you don't need to do anything to an EV battery to keep it stable. Below -10 and above 40 degrees, maybe.
I'd bet money that the battery was damaged removing it. They're very heavy and the plugs can be damaged if it isn't lined up properly. You want a hydraulic scissor lift to position and raise or lower the pack, it's not something you can cowboy with a couple of jacks. Unless you want pack damage and a fire, I mean.
EVs are designed with a service disconnect for the high voltage pack which is what mechanics should be using. Disconnecting the 12V battery should also work, the main pack's contactors open and disconnect it.
The card yard does not look like your typical park it yourself airport carpark the way the cars are boxed in. The car in question is an MG EV and the battery tray has been completely removed from the underside of the car shown sitting on the ground forward of the front wheels. It was probably removed prior to the fire for some reason perhaps theft and could have been deliberately or accidentally damaged.
If you're going to steal a 400 kg battery pack, it'd be much easier to steal the whole car.