I don't know about all the cases of fires associated with the battery pack in the Chevy Volt, but the fire that started two weeks after the test crash was not initiated by the lithium-ion cells, but rather by the liquid battery coolant (external to the cells) that dripped on a circuit board while the car was stored in its upside-down crashed position. When enough of the coolant evaporated, the circuit board became conductive and burst into flame using the energy still stored in the battery to which it was connected.
My conclusion from all this is to not store a crashed Chevy Volt upside-down, any more than you would store a crashed gasoline-powered car upside down. In both cases, its a good thing to drain the tank/battery to limit the amount of stored energy available to fuel a fire. Donald Borowski EMC Engineer Schweitzer Engineering Labs Pullman, WA, USA From: "Aldous, Scott" <[email protected]> To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>, "[email protected]" <[email protected]> Cc: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>, "[email protected]" <[email protected]>, "[email protected]" <[email protected]> Date: 01/12/2012 02:37 PM Subject: RE: [PSES] Thermal Protection of Lithium Ion Batteries http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/2011/11/29/could-chevy-volt-lithium-ion-battery-fires-burn-out-interest-in-evs-and-hybrids/ These conditions were certainly quite abnormal, but it is interesting that the fires were not initiated immediately following the crash tests. Scott Aldous Compliance Engineer AE Solar Energy -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of [email protected] Sent: Thursday, January 12, 2012 2:55 PM To: [email protected] Cc: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected] Subject: Re: [PSES] Thermal Protection of Lithium Ion Batteries As I understand it, there are different lithium-ion battery chemistries, so not all Li-I batteries are susceptible to starting a fire. Donald Borowski EMC Engineer Schweitzer Engineering Labs Pullman, Washington, USA From: [email protected] To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> Cc: [email protected] Date: 01/12/2012 10:37 AM Subject: Re: [PSES] Thermal Protection of Lithium Ion Batteries Sent by: [email protected] With just about everything now manufactured in developing countries with inexpensive labour, I wonder if quality control of these batteries could be a contributing factor towards acute thermal failure. As I understand it, of this battery chemistry is charged/discharged correctly, there shouldn't be a problem, but how do they wear out? _____________________________________________________________________________________ Ralph McDiarmid | Schneider Electric | Renewable Energies Business | CANADA | Regulatory Compliance Engineering From: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Date: 01/12/2012 07:24 AM Subject: Re: [PSES] Thermal Protection of Lithium Ion Batteries Forgot to ask ? I believe current Standards require thermal protection, but are they enough? John Allen President Product Safety Consulting, Inc. 605 Country Club Drive, Suites I & J Bensenville, IL 60106 P - 630 238-0188 / F - 630 238-0269 1-877-804-3066 [email protected] http://www.productsafetyinc.com Although PSC maintains the highest level of virus protection, this e-mail and any attachments should be scanned by your virus protection software. It is the responsibility of the recipient to check that it is virus free. PSC does not accept any responsibility for data loss or systems damage arising in any way from its use. This message is confidential and intended only for the individual to whom or entity to which it is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient or addressee, or an employee or agent responsible for delivering this message to the addressee, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, or copying, in whole or part, of this message is strictly prohibited. If you believe that you have been sent this message in error, please do not read it. Please immediately reply to sender that you have received this message in error. Then permanently delete all copies of the message. Thank you. From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, January 12, 2012 9:18 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [PSES] Thermal Protection of Lithium Ion Batteries Interesting article and findings by John Hopkins University? http://gazette.jhu.edu/2012/01/09/discovery-warns-of-catastrophic-failure-of-lithium-ion-batteries/ John Allen Product Safety Consulting, Inc. 605 Country Club Drive, Suites I & J Bensenville, IL 60106 P - 630 238-0188 / F - 630 238-0269 1-877-804-3066 [email protected] http://www.productsafetyinc.com IEEE PSES - http://ewh.ieee.org/soc/pses/ IEEE PSES Chicago - http://ewh.ieee.org/r4/chicago/pstc/ IEEE PSES Risk Assessment Technical Committee - http://ewh.ieee.org/soc/pses/TAC/RATC/index.html - ---------------------------------------------------------------- This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc discussion list. To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to <[email protected]> All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: http://www.ieee-pses.org/emc-pstc.html Attachments are not permitted but the IEEE PSES Online Communities site at http://product-compliance.oc.ieee.org/ can be used for graphics (in well-used formats), large files, etc. Website: http://www.ieee-pses.org/ Instructions: http://listserv.ieee.org/request/user-guide.html List rules: http://www.ieee-pses.org/listrules.html For help, send mail to the list administrators: Scott Douglas <[email protected]> Mike Cantwell <[email protected]> For policy questions, send mail to: Jim Bacher: <[email protected]> David Heald: <[email protected]>
