Fire extinguishment tests of electric vehicles in an open sided enclosure

Abstract

Electric vehicles may represent a new type of risk and require a change in fire protection and firefighting techniques in vehicle carriers and parking garages. This study presents an experimental assessment of firefighting techniques and fire dynamics of electric cars in an open-sided enclosure. The enclosure had dimensions of 12.2 m by 7.1 m, and openings of 7.1 m by 2.4 m on either end of the enclosure. A total of nine tests were performed, of which seven were conducted on the same type of car (Renault Fluence ZE). The other two electric cars tested were Tesla Model 3 and Nissan Leaf. The electric cars were surrounded by conventional internal combustion engine vehicles, and ignition was induced by short circuit of the battery. When this was not possible an external fuel load was used. The results of the tests show a significant variation in fire growth rates. Gas temperatures peaked at 1000 °C in some of the tests. The flame spread to neighboring cars occurred between 3 min and 46 min depending on the firefighting method used.