Essay by Eric Worrall
First published JoNova; … They explode “as if packed full of toxic dynamite” …
China bans electric vehicles from underground carparks
They explode “as if packed full of toxic dynamite” – and one nation has already started cracking down on electric vehicles as a result.
Jamie Seidel@JamieSeidel
September 14, 2024 – 2:16PMThey flare out in a jet of flame with vicious intensity. They explode as if packed full of toxic dynamite. And when lithium-ion batteries burn, nothing can extinguish them.
This is why Chinese hotels and property managers have begun to ban all electric vehicles – scooters, e-bikes, family cars or commercial vans – from their undercroft car parks.
…
“Hotels and other buildings in Hangzhou, Ningbo, Xiaoshan and other places in Zhejiang have banned electric vehicles from entering underground garages for safety reasons, sparking heated discussions,” Chinese online dissident “Mr Li is not your teacher” reported in a post to X (which is banned in China) in September.
One of three photos attached to the post shows a sign in front of the Huigang Building in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, instructing owners of electric vehicles to divert to a nearby parking lot with “wide open spaces”.
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Local news reports that property owners were spurred into action after 11 intense battery fires in Zhejiang’s capital, Hangzhou, in May of this year.
…For the moment, Tesla recommends that – in the event of a battery fire – it’s best to let it burn.
“Instead of snuffing out the flames, water could actually fuel the fire and cause it to intensify,” says Zhar.
“This is because the water’s reaction with the lithium can produce flammable hydrogen gas – adding more of a hazard to an already perilous situation.”
Likewise, water on a petrol fire can simply cause the fire to spread. That’s why foam and dry powder fire extinguishers were invented to smother the flames.
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Read more: https://www.news.com.au/technology/motoring/on-the-road/china-bans-electric-vehicles-from-underground-carparks/news-story/b7c07b8e942cb3076b704029e327d6cf
EVs are vehicles which if they catch fire cannot be extinguished, which burn at a similar temperature to a welding torch, melting concrete and steel in the immediate vicinity, threatening the structural integrity of any nearby supports, which emit hideously toxic fumes, and which can react with water to produce large quantities of highly explosive gas.
This ban has been a long time coming.
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“Hotels and other buildings in Hangzhou, Ningbo, Xiaoshan and other places in Zhejiang have banned electric vehicles from entering underground garages for safety reasons, sparking heated discussions,”
Not quite the same as “China bans Electric Vehicles from Underground Car Parks”
Have the Israelis not demonstrated the potential for hostile action for electric battery devices? All you need in an EV is a telephone connection and you’re probably in the firing line.
what is “toxic dynamite”?
Not sure. It sounds like something that can explode like a stick of dynamite and in the process release toxic chemicals into the environment. I suspect the dynamite part of it is hyperbole.
This is ironic, coming from the country which wants to produce massive numbers of road going incendiary devices and sell them all over the world. To misquote the jab at Elon Musk/Tesla, “98% of Chinese EVs are still on the road, the other 2% made it home”.
My sons live in Maryland, and my wife and I live in Northern Virginia. When we drive north to see them, I avoid the Chesapeake Bay tunnels. I’m naturally claustrophobic, and didn’t like driving through them even when I was commuting to work. Even after 9/11, the very real terrorist threat didn’t dissuade me from using the tunnels. But the recent proliferation of EVs in the District of Columbia/Virginia/Maryland area has me firmly set on avoiding those tunnels.
hmm. I reside in an urban multi unit condominium building with underground parking beneath the building complex, and am seeing more and more EV (mostly Tesla) being bought by residents and they are installing specific electrical box panels to their assigned parking space to plug in charging units. These appear to be 120 or 240 volt, none are in the 400 volt range, but this article is disquieting to know that cities in China are beginning to ban EV parking inside enclosed garages.