A few days ago I posted a John Cadogan video on Open Mic about a ship off the Dutch coast having a purported EV fire. In his inimitable style, he expresses skepticism about the media reports coming out and how it is being downplayed. I haven’t noticed any other reports about this, even at WUWT. The ship (the Fremantle Highway) has 2857 cars on it with 25 known to be EVs. There were 23 crew members who were all evacuated with several suffering injuries and one dying. Seven of them had to jump off the ship to avoid the fire and from the pictures, you can see that his is a tall ship! To Cadogan, this suggests thermal runaway from an EV fire. The ship is expected to burn for a few days. The hull is being sprayed with water to keep it cool. Back in February 2022, another ship (the Felicity Ace) was carrying EVs, had a fire and sunk.

Well, Cadogen has just made an update video and it’s a must see!

The 25 EVs figure has been updated to 500! Cadogan has dubbed the Fremantle Highway, the Dutch Oven and he’s chiding everyone from EV evangelists, the media, dissembling automakers to Australian politicians. He corrects statements such as “difficult to put out” to “impossible to put out”. He notes that EVs are not more likely to catch fire than ICE vehicles, but when they do they are a much more serious situation. They of course can’t be starved of oxygen, because they carry their own supply. He stresses the need not to be downwind of an EV fire because of the toxic fumes. He notes that cobalt compounds can poison you just by getting on your skin. He says there should be more effort to make the public aware of this danger. He particularly warns about such fires happening in parking lots or garages.

He has an earlier video from 4 months ago where he elaborates on EV fires and includes advice for other lithium-ion batteries such as those for phones, laptops and tools. I just upgraded all my NiCad powered tools to Li-ion and I love the lighter weight with no more memory hassles, but I now make sure not to leave Li-ion devices charging unattended.

Since I’ve taken an interest in Li-ion batteries and done research for this and my posts on the Tesla semi and cobalt in batteries, I’m getting the feeling that the EV industry is headed for a significant setback. EV’s are already expensive and significantly subsidized. They may have to compromise on performance and shift to Li-FIP (which appear to be more fire resistant) or the newer Sodium-ion batteries, which should be quite cheaper with a more significant energy density penalty.

Tags: , ,

20 Comments

  1. I’ve always been of the view that we Aussies learnt the art of deadpan black humour overlain on hard fact from the British, whom I regard as the best in the world at it. But this video is pretty close to the top, as well as highlighting the seemingly abyssal depths of hypocrisy that the media indulge in over green stuff.

    As an aside, way back when (early 80’s) I did the initial geotech drilling for the underground Opera House carpark construction. Running a smallish drill rig in Hyde Park in full view of the lunchtime office crowds, buying my lunchtime sandwiches from the Opera House cafeteria …

    He’s right about the lack of panic exits. The political dynamic behind that carpark construction was that the Opera House cleaners complained to the Labour State Govt of the day that they had nowhere to park when they came to work. There is only one road down to the Opera House harbourside point for the last kilometre and it is always full 24/7.

    Liked by 2 people

  3. Mike,

    There has been some discussion about this under Jit’s “I Dream of EV” post. Probably of most relevant is Jit’s comment here:

    I Dream of EV

    The MSM have reported this, but the story has been given no prominence, so far as I can see, even though if it turns out that the fire was started by an EV battery and/or made much worse because of the presence of EVs on the ship, then the implications are very serious indeed.

    Unless EV batteries can be made safe, then their future is very problematic. Logically they need to be banned from passenger ferries, possibly from multi-storey car parks, and the idea of charging them overnight in a garage within the structure of a domestic residence (or even parking them there overnight) begins to look dangerous and possibly a hazard to life.

    My wife and I have on a couple of occasions taken the overnight ferry from Aberdeen to Shetland (and back, of course) and hope to do so again. However, I would be very nervous indeed about being asleep in the North Sea on a ferry if I thought there were EVs belonging to other passengers in the hold.

    Liked by 1 person

  4. I seem to have messed up the link. The comment I was referring to under Jit’s article is to be found at 6.15pm on 28th July 2023.

    Liked by 1 person

  9. The Fremantle has arrived at port, so it seems that a major pollution incident has been averted.

    An emergency responder was heard in a recording released by Dutch broadcaster RTL as saying “the fire started in the battery of an electric car.” Authorities have not confirmed whether that is the case, however.

    …and…

    “The fire started in some of the top decks. We assume the eighth deck, that’s in a very poor state. Part of it is completely collapsed and it’s heavily, heavily destructed,” Peter A M Berdowski, CEO of Royal Boskalis Westminster, told Bloomberg.

    https://europe.autonews.com/automakers/fremantle-ship-fire-started-decks-cars

    Like

  10. Slightly O/T perhaps, but talking about shipping, and possible fires:

    “Full clean ahead: can shipping finally steer away from fossil fuels?”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/aug/07/full-clean-ahead-can-shipping-finally-steer-away-from-fossil-fuels

    AS surprising amount of realism about the problems is on display, but of course the conclusion – despite the problems – is that it must and can be done. It is the Guardian, after all.

    …That said, hydrogen is no magic bullet. While there may be no harmful emissions, its production is energy intensive, as it is currently sourced largely from fossil fuels. There are cleaner options, such as “green” hydrogen – extracted from water by electrolysis (or running electricity from renewable sources through water molecules to split them) – but this is not yet widely used.

    Moreover, storing hydrogen is a challenge. High-pressure containers are needed to store it as a gas; if in liquid form, hydrogen requires extremely low (cryogenic) temperatures because its boiling point is -252.8C (-423F). A lightweight yet sturdy tank is being designed in the US by hydrogen fuel cell developer HyPoint and tankmaker Gloyer-Taylor Laboratories for use in aviation and shipping. The Norwegian firm Marine Service Noord also designs double-walled pipes that can be used in pressurised hydrogen-storage systems.

    For shorter distances, electrification could become more mainstream than hydrogen, especially as batteries become smaller and prices go down. “Within short-range shipping, I think battery ferries will be dominant within the next five to 10 years,” says Henrik Hagbarth Mikkelsen, a master mariner and senior lecturer at Marstal naval academy in Denmark…

    ..It does, however, require investment in local charging infrastructure tapping into renewable electricity sources – and that, he says, “takes guts from local government”.

    The sourcing of raw materials to make electric batteries is an important consideration in how green the technology really is. European legislation is “looking good” in terms of promoting due diligence across the supply chain, says Armstrong, particularly around responsible mining for lithium from Chile and nickel from Indonesia…

    Like

  11. Calmac already have small hybrid ferries on the short runs which can do 1 round trip on battery alone, the rest on diesel. Small steps before you run, keep in mind the ferries still being built in Glasgow.

    Like

  13. According to this article, the EVs were in the lower decks and survived the conflagration.

    Upon inspection, it became clear that the bottom four of the twelve decks are largely undamaged. At first glance, about 1,000 cars, including 500 electric ones, are in good condition, said [salvage company boss] Berdowski. But it is still unclear how they can be recovered.

    We’ll see.

    Like

  14. “Sorry EV haters, big ship fire probably wasn’t caused by electric cars”

    Probably the most stupid headline the internet has ever come up with. The word “probably” rather kills the snark stone dead, I think.

    Sorry EV haters, big ship fire probably wasn’t caused by electric cars

    EV fires have become a cause celebre [sic – needs a few of those wonky things that the French like to adorn some of their words with] among the kind of people who need a reason to dislike electric vehicles.

    Whereas pretending EV fires are inconsequential and rare has become a “cause celebre” among the kind of people who need a reason to puff up EVs.

    I would like to know what caused this fire. I would be very surprised to find out that a parked ICE car spontaneously combusted – but I would not be surprised if a parked EV spontaneously combusted. When 498 intact EVs are lined up on the dockside after being extracted from the lower decks, the evidence against the EV fire hypothesis will be looking quite strong. Until then – watch this space.

    Like

  15. “Fremantle Highway Didn’t Absolve BEVs (Yet) – It Was Just Another Journalistic Confusion”

    Battery electric vehicle (BEV) advocates rushed to absolve them of wrongdoing after Automobilwoche declared they had nothing to do with the fire that destroyed the Fremantle Highway. Their story is based on something published by Automotive Logistics stating all 500 BEVs carried by the roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) cargo ship were on the lower decks, allegedly based on another story – from NL Times – in which Peter Berdowski would have declared this. The problem is that the Boskalis CEO hasn’t. The salvage company denied that it or its executives ever disclosed that information. In other words, all stories announcing that rely on a puff of nothingness.

    https://www.autoevolution.com/news/fremantle-highway-didn-t-absolve-bevs-yet-it-was-another-journalism-confusion-220250.html

    Like

  16. Charred intact EV pulled out of Fremantle Highway (with a crane), then starts smoking and catches fire — another great video by John Cadogan:

    Like

  20. John Cadogan visits the Sunro Li-ion battery storage factory in China and is very impressed. He has Sunro storage units attached to his house for his solar panels. He has never found an example of a Sunro storage battery fire:

    Like

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.