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Yeah that 2nd part is kinda interesting. I mean, yes absolutely if the FD had no issues putting the fire out then clearly the battery pack hadn't caught fire bu

Yeah that 2nd part is kinda interesting. I mean, yes absolutely if the FD had no issues putting the fire out then clearly the battery pack hadn't caught fire but given the obvious lack of flammable liquids involved one is left wondering how the vehicle managed to catch fire in the first place.

akira2501 2y ago
> one is left wondering how the vehicle managed to catch fire in the first place. Any heavy vehicle with _friction_ brakes can generate enough heat to create fire, it turns out spinning metal is always a stored energy hazard regardless of how the motive power was originally supplied. Plus upholstery is pretty flammable. They lace it with chemicals to try to retard that tendency but after a certain point they're going to light up and fuel the fire.
- forgetfreeman 2y ago
  I'm sorry do what now? You couldn't start a vehicle fire on a bet if you soaked the wheel wells in brake fluid and held the brake pedal to the floor from that vehicle's top speed. You want to start a car fire with brakes that takes the kind of abuse only seen under track conditions combined with a fuel leak, oil leak, or both. So nah, why tf did this vehicle catch fire?
  - akira2501 2y ago
    You assume everything is in good working order. Perhaps it was. Is this the type of vehicle that is designed for offroad abuse? Is this the type of owner that would do that anyways? Was there a secondary malfunction or perhaps something caught in the area before or after the accident that contributed to the cause? Brakes get hot. Hot enough to burn you pretty good even on a car that hasn't been to the track and maybe even hot enough to light organic debris that comes in contact with it on fire. Which is probably pretty difficult normally but might be a lot easier if you bash a bunch of that structure to bits in a high speed accident. Real mystery though.
    - forgetfreeman 2y ago
      I encourage you to float this hypothetical to your mechanic the next time your vehicle is in for service. Their response is certain to be educational.
bigfatkitten 2y ago
Car hits something hard, deforms the bodywork, compromised wiring which causes electrical shorts which create heat, which then causes a fire. The battery pack doesn't need to be compromised to allow this, and even a fault in the LV system will do it. Electrical fires take out ICE vehicles every day. Most ICE vehicle fires are caused by electrical faults or oil leaks. Oil leaking onto a hot exhaust obviously isn't a factor in an EV, but nothing has really changed with respect to the electrical threat. On modern vehicles, fuel doesn't usually become a factor until the vehicle is well alight.

akira2501 2y ago

> one is left wondering how the vehicle managed to catch fire in the first place. Any heavy vehicle with _friction_ brakes can generate enough heat to create fire, it turns out spinning metal is always a stored energy hazard regardless of how the motive power was originally supplied. Plus upholstery is pretty flammable. They lace it with chemicals to try to retard that tendency but after a certain point they're going to light up and fuel the fire.

forgetfreeman 2y ago
I'm sorry do what now? You couldn't start a vehicle fire on a bet if you soaked the wheel wells in brake fluid and held the brake pedal to the floor from that vehicle's top speed. You want to start a car fire with brakes that takes the kind of abuse only seen under track conditions combined with a fuel leak, oil leak, or both. So nah, why tf did this vehicle catch fire?
- akira2501 2y ago
  You assume everything is in good working order. Perhaps it was. Is this the type of vehicle that is designed for offroad abuse? Is this the type of owner that would do that anyways? Was there a secondary malfunction or perhaps something caught in the area before or after the accident that contributed to the cause? Brakes get hot. Hot enough to burn you pretty good even on a car that hasn't been to the track and maybe even hot enough to light organic debris that comes in contact with it on fire. Which is probably pretty difficult normally but might be a lot easier if you bash a bunch of that structure to bits in a high speed accident. Real mystery though.
  - forgetfreeman 2y ago
    I encourage you to float this hypothetical to your mechanic the next time your vehicle is in for service. Their response is certain to be educational.

bigfatkitten 2y ago

Car hits something hard, deforms the bodywork, compromised wiring which causes electrical shorts which create heat, which then causes a fire. The battery pack doesn't need to be compromised to allow this, and even a fault in the LV system will do it. Electrical fires take out ICE vehicles every day. Most ICE vehicle fires are caused by electrical faults or oil leaks. Oil leaking onto a hot exhaust obviously isn't a factor in an EV, but nothing has really changed with respect to the electrical threat. On modern vehicles, fuel doesn't usually become a factor until the vehicle is well alight.