As just reported by TV news a U S destination freighter from Europe carrying 4000 new autos is afire. The crew of several hundred has been airlifted off. The ship contains all of the usual autos and the usual high end cars. It was quoted by the news that the fire was caused by a malfunctioning battery in an electric car. I am sure this will be a highlight for many TV's tonight.

Wayne

 

Huh..a battery for an electric car...imagine that 🤔🤔🤔

 

It's one thing when your 20 volt laptop battery gets too hot; but it's a completely different situation when your 480v car battery starts to melts down! And that's not just a fire, it's a chemical reaction gone haywire and not likely to be extinguished until the reaction is complete. Here's a question for all my Green New Deal friends; what kind of toxic substances are being released into the atmosphere from this fire? Something to think about.

 

Long as it's not a form of carbon emission, it doesn't count.🙂

Apparently a lot of special order Porsches on this ship.

 

The Felicity Ace had 22 crew, all were safely evacuated

 

But how can this make any sense? The OP stated the crew size was several hundred. The OP stated a malfunctioning battery in an electric car started the fire. Of course, everyone jumps right to conclusions....nothing different about this forum.

I heard there were camels on board, and their $hit had spontaneously combusted.

https://nypost.com/2022/02/18/felici...tlantic-ocean/

 

https://gcaptain.com/felicity-ace-ca...-mid-atlantic/

Lithium-ion batteries in the electric cars on board the vehicle carrier Felicity Ace have caught fire and the blaze requires specialist equipment to extinguish, captain Joao Mendes Cabecas of the port of Hortas said.

It was not clear whether the batteries first sparked the fire.

Around 1,100 Porsches and 189 Bentleys were on board, spokespeople for the car brands owned by Volkswagen said. Audi, another Volkswagen brand, confirmed some of its vehicles were also on the ship but did not state how many.

 

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2022/02/18/was-the-felicity-ace-fire-caused-by-electric-vehicle-batteries/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=was-the-felicity-ace-fire-caused-by-electric-vehicle-batteries


We may never know if an EV started the fire, but even if the EVs didn’t start the fire, they are certainly making it a lot more difficult to extinguish the fire. EV battery fires are chemically comparable to thermite fires, hot enough to melt steel, so there may not be much left to analyse by the time the ship fire finally burns itself out.

This disaster could have real consequences for the EV market, both transporting EVs by sea or land, and consumer desire for a product which is potentially such a severe fire hazard. I would not be surprised if in the future, once insurers understand the hazard, owning an EV could make your home uninsurable, unless you can prove it is parked well away from your house. At the very least insurers may start demanding strict end of use dates on the batteries. .

 

On lesser things than this have entire market trends pivoted.

 

Porsche and other high end car dealers in Dallas area are scrambling to appease customers that were waiting for their cars. Mostly Porsche, Bently, and Jags.

 

U S Destination Cargo freighter afire. I grabbed the information when I first saw it. Quoted what they said on the TV. The most important part is that there is a whole bunch of cars that somebody ordered that aren't going to make it to their destination. I am correct about what was stated and that the fire was started by a battery in an electric car.


thanks
Wayne

 

Wayne - I agree with you regarding the terrible loss of vehicles and to the Ro-Ro cargo ship. I was making fun of the fodder which gets produced from sources when a Li-Ion battery is always suspect without validation - which, still remains the case. I have found absolutely no admission anywhere from any news source or otherwise which states the "source" of the fire was an EV Li-Ion battery. Much like stating if it's not a form of carbon emission, it doesn't count. Really? The number one source & highest source of emission gases from a Li-Ion combustion is, in fact, carbon dioxide. The combustion of carbonates always releases plumes of carbon dioxide - which demonstrates the novelty of not knowing what makes up a Li-Ion battery.

 

If an EV battery was the casue, am doubtful that anyone will readily admit that. As stated in the article above, that could have very bad implications for future shipping, storage, and use of these things.

 

🤣😂🤣😂

 

Would that be called a "supply chain" issue ?

 

And once again my sarcasm went right over your head. Though I admit I wondered how long it would be before you took the bait.

After a career in the fossil and nuclear electric utility industry, I keep forgetting I don't know anything about electricity- stored, generated or otherwise.🙄

 

Fox will probably be the only network to report on this. This would not be popular with the other networks.

 

You'd have to have extremely large kahonies to suggest/speculate/validate or otherwise attempt to place the source anywhere at the moment. Sounds like we're talking North of $500 million dollars worth of damage - sizeable, indeed. I can only imagine the repercussions when & if the source is identified - big $$$.

 

I won't be surprised in the least if we hear something such as the ship sank and there is no way to determine the cause of the fire.

 

I thought the exact same last night.

 

Fox was the one that reported it this morning. Had film of the ship being towed.

Wayne

 

The (much) older homes had detached garages a good distance from the house for fear of car fires due to combustible fumes, etc.. Looks like it's the 1910's all over again.

 

That's because they used to be stables and were fearing other fumes.

 

I also heard Otis Redding has 100K CD's "Sitting On The Dock of The Bay"

 

lol!

 

"Wastin' time"

For our younger members

 

Yep. GM even recommended Bolt owners don't park in the garage due to a fire hazard. I learned of this from a coworker who had one and went through the "fixes" and recalls.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/18/cars/...cks/index.html

GM had warned that some of the cars could have a manufacturing defect that might cause them to catch fire. For safety’s sake, the automaker recommended Bolt owners restrict their use of the car to avoid straining the batteries, and park them away from their homes.

GM first announced a recall of the Chevy Bolt electric vehicles in November 2020 due to fire risk, but it didn’t have an immediate fix. In May, it announced a software repair, but then there were two fires involving Bolts that had received that fix, prompting another recall in July of 70,000 vehicles. A month later, the automaker issued a recall on another 70,000 cars.

 

Interesting thread. Here's an updated article on the Felicity Ace:

https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/22/tech/...p-fire-update/

 

2 words: Lucas Electric

 

Speaking of Lucas Electric’s, anyone back in the 1960/70’s that had Triumph motorcycles. The words “Zener Diode” would make one cringe. The Triumph would still run to get you home but no lights. The Dealers had you by the short hairs on parts and cost. What was a $30 part in 1966 was a 25 cent fix at Radio Shack years later.

 

Estimated 150M to salvage the ship and a 150M more for the cars. I wonder if there will be a serious article about how the fire started?


Wayne

 

Whatever caused the fire, all those batteries turned it into a near unextinguishable fire.

Combustible metal fires are especially difficult and nasty to fight. I hope I never see another one.

 

I like to work on my cars. I am not sure how much I could care for a hybrid on my own.

 

Incorrect. There were 4,000 cars on board. "The giant cargo ship has $334.5 million in burning cars on board. The salvage cost alone is estimated to be$150 million - bringing the total loss for the ship to half a billion dollars..."

Of the 4,000 cars on board, "an estimated 1,100 Porsches and 189 Bentleys were lost on the ship, including many high-end, customized models that collectively would exceed $140 million in value."

The total cost is likely to exceed far North of $500,000.00 (USD).

 

A friend had a Triumph and a Norton and always complained about "Lucifer Electrics".

 

Ditto x2. One friend the Triumph another the Norton.

 

The Prince of darkness

 

Saw this.... https://www.usatoday.com/story/money...an/6906735001/

 

Wow, a navy caption, huh? I suppose it was below the picture of the burning ship.

On Tuesday, a navy caption confirmed the smoke and visible flames aboard the cargo ship were gone.

 

Lucas Electrics ? I had more trouble keeping headlight bulbs burning because the filiments broke. I have 15 or so BSA's and Triumph's, to late.