EV fires are bad enough, but CarExpert reports the Chinese Vehicle Collision Repair Technical and Research Center and Joyson Electronics have proposed a “solution” that could make this problem far worse: ejecting burning batteries toward whoever is unlucky enough to be nearby.
A video shows a Chery iCar 03 modified to eject its two battery packs rapidly off to the right side of the car. The system is designed to detect a thermal runaway inside the battery and, within one second of detection, a gas generator similar to an airbag rapidly ejects the burning battery three to six meters away, seemingly with no regard for anything that happens to be there already. This saves the vehicle and its occupants, and instead unleashes the exploding consequences on anyone unlucky enough to be in the literal line of fire.
Now, since an EV battery can weigh as much as a Volkswagen, this has to be one of the worst “safety” ideas we’ve seen since a BMW with a flamethrower to deter auto theft. Somebody at the Chinese Vehicle Collision Repair Technical and Research Center has watched ‘2 Fast 2 Furious‘ too many times.
‘Ejecto batteryo, cuz’
I mean, I get the concept. I’ve seen many episodes of ‘Star Trek’ where the crew ejects a warp core that’s about to explode. But warp cores explode in the emptiness of space. These batteries would not only take out any pedestrians, cyclists, or even buildings unlucky enough to be in their path, but they could also set anything around them ablaze, causing a much bigger problem than if they remained inside the car. Perhaps the correct analogy is not ejecting the warp core, but firing photon torpedoes.
One less obvious issue is the fact that batteries can swell as they degrade, a condition that could occur before spontaneous combustion. It’s unclear whether a swollen battery would eject as intended, or indeed if the failed ejection process would likely cause even more damage to the vehicle, injuring occupants and allowing the fire to spread more quickly. While batteries ejecting out the side of a car may look great in a video, it’s probably best to leave the battery pack in the car (unless you’re exchanging it).
