New Delhi: In what could rekindle fears about security in electric automobiles, video of a Ola S1 pro scooter on fire has emerged from Lohegaon space of Pune on Saturday.
In the 31 second clip, the scooter is seen parked on the roadside of a busy industrial space and is totally engulfed in fire, probably affected by a thermal runway. Thermal runaway is an uncontainable exothermic response that may happen inside a lithium-ion battery when it’s broken or short-circuited. Once a lithium ion battery is on fire additionally it is troublesome to extinguish. Immediately upon contact with water it produces hydrogen gasoline and lithium-hydroxide. The hydrogen gasoline is a major impediment on account of its excessive flammability.
“We are aware of an incident in Pune that happened with one of our scooters and are investigating to understand the root cause and will share more updates in the next few days,” the company mentioned in a press release to ETAuto. “We’re in constant touch with the customer who is absolutely safe. Vehicle safety is of paramount importance at Ola and we are committed to the highest quality standards in our products. We take this incident seriously and will take appropriate action and share more in the coming days.”In most circumstances, batteries catch fire on account of poor high quality of lithium ion cells or an inefficient battery administration system. India doesn’t manufacture its personal lithium ion cell–a key part in a lithium ion battery, and firms supply it from suppliers in South Korea, Taiwan, China and Japan. Ola sources its cells from LG Chem in Korea.
There are several types of battery chemistries accessible in the market with two distinguished ones for EVs–NMC and LFP. NMC is extra dense in vitality as in comparison with LFP however is taken into account comparatively much less steady. LFP batteries have a considerably larger thermal runaway threshold of 270 levels celsius in opposition to NMC’s 150 levels. Ola makes use of a excessive voltage 56Volt 3.97 kilowatt hour NMC battery.
This will not be the primary such occasion of an electric scooter catching fire in India. In September final 12 months, two scooters from Pure EV additionally caught fire adopted by one other from Okinawa in October. In December, one other scooter from Manesar primarily based HCD India caught fire whereas being charged resulting in the tragic loss of life of a 60 12 months outdated man. Yet, this is likely one of the most excessive profile circumstances given Ola’s stature in the market as the perfect funded startup in the trade, which is on the forefront making an attempt to revolutionize the EV market in India.
“This is utterly shocking. We had heard reports that Ola was rushing through some protocols in product development but we never thought they would be negligent in batteries,” mentioned an trade insider. “This can be very damaging for the industry as a whole. Ola would need to answer a lot of things.”
The Ola electric story in India has been a curler coaster trip in itself and never every thing has gone as per plan. To start with, the company struggled with ramping up capacities at its mega 10 million unit futurefactory in Tamil Nadu. As a consequence, deliveries to prospects had been delayed for months. The first batch of shoppers additionally received the scooter with out a few of the promised options like hill-hold and cruise management features and voice command.
In February this 12 months, one buyer Malay Mohapatra additionally suffered from a weird malfunction when his scooter went into reverse mode and accelerated at 102 kph.
As the battery is the guts of any electric car, its security is likely one of the key points that the trade is dealing with not solely in India however the world over. There has been a gradual improve in the variety of fire incidents commensurate with the rise in gross sales throughout the globe. Last 12 months General Motors expanded the recall train for its Bolt EVs by 73,000 automobiles to now embody each Bolt ever manufactured, at a price of almost $ 2 billion. Similarly South Korean auto big Hyundai recalled 82,000 EVs after 13 incidents of fire had been reported in its compact crossover Kona electric. This consists of 456 items of the automotive that it offered in India.
With a considerably decrease variety of shifting elements, EVs are comparatively less complicated to provide. The battery nevertheless, is advanced and the car’s general security is determined by the effectivity of the battery administration system–how properly the battery is cooled and the way good the insulation of the pack is from outdoors components. India doesn’t produce lithium ion cells of its personal which invariably is imported largely from China. Industry sources say that’s the place many of the gray areas exist.
Low entry barrier, the promise of excessive development and a prepared made sourcing vacation spot in China–world’s largest electric car market, has led to scores of corporations mushrooming virtually in a single day. With the standard gamers not absolutely dedicated to the EV story, the sector is extensive open for newer gamers to emerge. Not all people is a long run participant and the worry is non critical gamers reducing corners to finish up giving the general trade a nasty title.
Why do batteries catch fire?
It is necessary to grasp right here why lithium ion batteries catch fire. Today, Li-ion batteries are throughout us in smartphones and laptops, energy banks and tablets, however the ones used in EVs are basically totally different from the remainder. For one, EV batteries retailer as much as 3 times extra vitality than laptops or some other family equipment. The abuse they should endure can be vastly totally different and embody publicity to extensive temperature extremes, mud and humidity, vibration on account of terrain, water, excessive charges of cost and discharge.
To improve a car’s driving vary, it requires excessive voltage, which in flip means lengthy strings of cells and excessive vitality storage. Batteries with flammable electrolytes are notably weak the place automobiles could also be charged in confined storage areas of personal residences and industrial companies.
Typically batteries include each an oxidizer (cathode) and gasoline (anode in addition to electrolyte) in a sealed container. Combining gasoline and oxidizer is never finished because of the potential of explosion therefore the state of cost (SOC) is a vital variable. Lower SOCs scale back the potential of the cathode oxidizing and the anode lowering. Under regular operation, the gasoline and oxidizer convert the saved vitality electrochemically (i.e., chemical to electrical vitality conversion with minimal warmth and negligible gasoline manufacturing). However, if electrode supplies someway begin reacting chemically in an electrochemical cell, the gasoline and oxidizer convert the chemical vitality instantly into warmth and gasoline. This is the start of a fire hazard state of affairs. Once began, this chemical response will seemingly proceed to completion due to the intimate contact of gasoline and oxidizer, turning into a thermal runaway. Once thermal runaway has begun, the power to quench or cease it’s troublesome. As a lot as wherever else, prevention is the perfect treatment right here.
What complicates this doubtlessly flamable combine is the usage of new electrode supplies to reply the wants of even larger vitality content material and better voltage operation. Electrode supplies signify a few of the most reactive supplies recognized and have a profound affect on the protection and abuse tolerance of the cell and battery pack. The selection of cathode is of specific significance. The materials of selection right now has lithium alongwith one or a bunch of different supplies like cobalt, nickel, manganese or aluminum. Each has totally different traits relying on the kind and ratio of the metals–Ni(Nickel) has excessive capability, manganese and cobalt have excessive security and aluminum will increase the facility of a battery.
The emergence of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) is related. They are cheaper, don’t use nickel or cobalt and are extra steady and safer. On the flip aspect, they’re comparatively much less dense in vitality so producers on the lookout for larger vary and efficiency nonetheless are inclined to go for NMC batteries. Ola does too.
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