Jeep Wrangler 4xe hybrid battery explodes

[Pit Bear]

https://kdvr.com/news/local/jeep-wrangler-4xe-battery-explodes-smoking-fire/

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[Grumpy]

Was this your jeep and residence?

 

[VIRUS]

Obviously, they should have gone with a better garage door

 

[Pit Bear]

Was this your jeep and residence?

No and no.

 

[mjcutri]

A Jeep Wrangler 4xe hybrid was smoking and when crews started putting water on the vehicle, there was a small explosion,” Mountain View Fire said. “As the garage door was blown off its tracks, it just missed a Mountain View Fire Rescue captain, as it flew about 30 feet into the yard.

Something about this seems fishy to me. Why would the garage door be closed if the firefighters were in there putting water on a smoking jeep or if it wasn't closed, how did it get "blown off its tracks" and fly 30 feet into the yard? And somehow, the rest of the house didn't suffer any major damage?

They said no firefighters were hurt. Besides the far-flung garage door, the home sustained “very minor” damage from the incident.

 

[GreyZ]

Anything blowing a garage door like that is also blowing out the windows. Something seems fishy.

 

[Toccoa]

 

[cbrownabq]

I was actually on this call. The firefighters entered through the man door to the garage. When it exploded, it blew them off their feet into the wall. The garage door blew off and almost hit the battalion chief. So close, that it knicked his helmet. Nothing “fishy”. Still under investigation though. There have been many EVs and lithium ion battery fires.

 

[OrangecrushBronco]

Straight fire. Small explosion my ass any explosion is too much.

 

[MLRey]

Lithium battery fires burn very hot and when sprayed with water the chemical reaction splits the water into hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen is then ignited by the fire and add in the free oxygen in an enclosed space and boom. Firefighters need to use special equipment to deal with lithium ion battery fires.

 

[voxel]

I was actually on this call. The firefighters entered through the man door to the garage. When it exploded, it blew them off their feet into the wall. The garage door blew off and almost hit the battalion chief. So close, that it knicked his helmet. Nothing “fishy”. Still under investigation though. There have been many EVs and lithium ion battery fires.

Lithium-ion doesn't explode. A thermal runaway (short) causes a chemical fire.

The Wrangler 4xE is a PHEV. The OBVIOUS answer is the lithium-ion fire ignited the gasoline.

 

[hemiblas]

Lithium-ion doesn't explode. A thermal runaway (short) causes a chemical fire.

The Wrangler 4xE is a PHEV. The OBVIOUS answer is the lithium-ion fire ignited the gasoline.

Gasses can build up if the cells are compromised but don't ignite and then an explosion can occur. Lion cells are unpredictable when damaged. Pretty much anything can happen when you have lots of these cells packed tightly together in a container to protect the batteries.

 

[cbrownabq]

It was a hydrogen gas explosion basically. No gasoline involved. The garage door actually flew over the BC and knocked his helmet off.. UL is currently doing a study of EV fires blowing garage doors off. So stop pretending you know wtf you’re talking about unless you’re in the business. He’s lucky to be alive.

 

[voxel]

Lithium battery fires burn very hot and when sprayed with water the chemical reaction splits the water into hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen is then ignited by the fire and add in the free oxygen in an enclosed space and boom. Firefighters need to use special equipment to deal with lithium ion battery fires.

This is the source of the problem then. Why use water on a chemical fire in an enclosed area where hydrogen can be generated. Lithium-fires can not be doused. The theory is cold water will lower temps of the battery cells to slow the thermal runaway but we are talking thousands of gallons of waters needed. Once there is an electrical short (i.e anode and cathode cell layers are touching) there's no real way to stop it.

These fires is why we are moving to Lithium-Iron based batteries and away from the Nickel-Manganese-Cobalt ones.

 

[flip]

Sounding more like when these things go, make sure they're in the open and let them burn out. Any catastrophic battery malfunction is going to total the vehicle, only concern would be for structure or life at that point.

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