Electric Vehicle Fires Under Scrutiny from Florida Fire Marshal Patronis

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The impact of Hurricane Ian on electric vehicles is still unclear as reports of cars catching fire continue coming in to Jimmy Patronis, who is both Florida CFO and State Fire Marshal.

I spoke to Patronis who told me there is no way to know how many might have a problem because at least some of the electric vehicles (EVs) are ending up at the junkyard after the insurance companies are done with them.

Patronis told the Weather Channel on October 25 that there were 7,000 EVs in the three counties that experienced the flooding. There was likely no scenario where the car manufacturers planned for their battery driven cars to be submerged in salt water for hours at a time. Eight cases of EVs catching fire have been documented, so far, and there are more than 160 with insurance claims, he said.

Patronis spoke to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to learn about possible scenarios and learned that the batteries could short circuit as the saltwater dries. The problem going forward is that the cars could end up in a secondary market after the owner gets their insurance check. Then it’s a situation of “buyer beware.”

“Salt water is an incredible conductor. You think of all the minerals that are in salt water … They will then dry in certain ways where we it will short the battery. And, then, once that battery hits a certain temperature, it self ignites and then there’s nothing you can do but let it burn. And, if it happens to be in your house, it could burn down with you in it.”

Patronis said he has received a report of an EV from this market that had been impacted by the storm that made it as far as Minneapolis and had caught fire. He explained that gasoline fires would require 1,500 gallons of water to put out while an EV could require between 10,000 and 20,000 gallons of water to contain the fire.

“We have definitely got a technology, which is a fantastic technology, but we’ve got to have better methods than getting a hyperlink sent to me by a manufacturer or being told to go look at the owner’s manual,” he explained.

My heart goes out to Patronis and all the individuals who are working to navigate these difficult times. He needs our help in getting political and business muscle behind the push to keep track of all these vehicles. The key for Patronis is getting as much information from the public and the insurance companies when saltwater intrusion is confirmed as the source of the damage to an EV.

Patronis and his office want to hear from you. To get him the information, visit www.myfloridacfo.com/askFLDFS/.


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