Huge Fire Sparked by a Mercedes-Benz EV Adds to Safety Concerns Dogging Industry

WSJ ^ | 7 AUG 2024 | Jiyoung Sohn

[DUMBGRUNT]

Blaze in South Korea prompts debate over whether electric vehicles should be allowed in the country’s ubiquitous underground parking lots

The blaze incinerated dozens of cars nearby, scorched another 100 vehicles and forced hundreds of residents to emergency shelters as the buildings above the parking lot lost power and electricity. Nobody died, but the fire took eight hours to extinguish.

Outdoor residential parking lots are relatively uncommon. The nation’s ubiquitous high-rise apartments often feature underground parking, where firefighters must contend with restricted access.

One of the country’s largest telecommunications firms, KT, has held discussions about barring EVs from parking underground.

The relative ease in finding EV-designated parking spots in South Korea had been one reason why Choi Kyung-seok bought a Kia EV6 two months ago. He also likes the fuel-cost savings.

[thecodont]

Do they allow EVs to go through long tunnels like the Chunnel? What is their policy and what provisions have they made for something like an EV fire?

Last I heard, there was no such restriction on EVs going through Oakland's Caldecott Tunnel, or Alameda's Posey Tube.

[hecticskeptic]

It took a Titanic to create a law that there needed to be enough lifeboat space for all passengers...

[thecodont]

It took a Titanic to create a law that there needed to be enough lifeboat space for all passengers...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caldecott_Tunnel_fire

https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/40th-anniversary-of-Caldecott-Tunnel-fire-17037648.php

"For what it’s worth, one major law came out of the Caldecott Tunnel fire: Trucks carrying hazardous materials, such as gasoline, can only use the tunnel between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. each day."

[hecticskeptic]

The reason I was so annoyed when I got no replies to my numerous messages and phone calls to the ferry operator is that it was sent shortly after a shipping vessel with thousands of vehicles on it went down in the Atlantic and it seemed clear that it occurred because of an EV fire that went out of control. Then I sent more messages when a second shipping vessel went down that was similar to the first. Here’s a link to the second one of the two.... https://www.euronews.com/2022/03/01/massive-cargo-ship-carrying-electric-cars-sinks-in-atlantic-ocean-after-fire

It is fortunate that I have an alternative way to travel that avoids the ferry but that obviously doesn’t make the danger go away.

[hecticskeptic]

I can’t imagine the EV inferno.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It’s called borrowed time.... I was in Shanghai a week after the fire that destroyed a 28 storey apartment building that was undergoing some ‘renovation’ and I made a point to visit it. They were applying insulation to the exterior of the building when it caught fire. Ever see polystyrene burn? The entire concept of the project was so unbelievably dangerous that it still astounds me that someone thought they could do it they way they did. https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/2010/11/16/dozens-cannot-escape-fire-that-hits-high-rise/28979047007/ By the way, when I went to get a link for this, there were enough other fires in high rises in China that I had to think for a minute which one was the one I saw....

[hecticskeptic]

The Caldecott Tunnel reminds me of the Mount Blanc one in a tunnel that joins France to Italy...

https://www.onlinesafetytrainer.com/the-mont-blanc-tunnel-fire-of-1999/

This happened in 1999 and it’s believed that it just started as a collision between two vehicles and then spread. The Mont Blanc tunnel is about 7 miles long...The important point that was driven home to me with this fire was to pay attention to which direction the air ventilation was going ... I could be wrong but all the people who died were on the one side of the fire and couldn’t get away from the smoke. The outcome to this was that major changes were made to tunnel ventilation design.