02/09/2023
“Hurricane Idalia and subsequent floods have created an electric vehicle (EV) fire risk in Florida as batteries exposed to saltwater become susceptible to combustion, based on statements from one of the fire departments in the state.
The issue with saltwater is that even if the water dries off, the residue can remain, potentially triggering electrical connections within the EV battery, which eventually sparks into a fire. In the post, PHFR pointed to two Tesla EVs in Dunedin that had caught fire.
A critical thing to note here is that lithium-ion batteries need not catch fire immediately after being exposed to water. Instead, the fires can break out later.
‘And it can take from days to weeks’
In an interview with the outlet, PHFFR training chief Jason Haynes said that while fire crews were towing vehicles, a submerged Tesla abruptly went up in flames.”