There are many videos of escooter battery fires, but the following is probably one of the most dramatic ones (not related to OP): <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBUGEFErXxA" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBUGEFErXxA</a><p>It's crazy how quickly shit goes south.
Yes, there really needs to be some form of certification for lithium-ion (and other...) batteries used in personal transportation devices.<p>The recipe is really simple: insufficient structural integrity of the entire product leading to flexing the battery pack, leading to a short-circuit in one or more cells, leading to a violent-and-very-smokey fire.<p>The previous scare was with "hoverboards", where kids burnt down their parents' houses after bumping into something. And now it's apparently e-scooters, which are a bit more difficult to dismiss as "just a fad toy"...<p>In any case: safety markings are not <i>just</i> rent-seeking behavior. In some cases, certification (and subsequent enforcement of the presence of authentic markings) are literal life-savers.
There was a veritable epidemic of these in Singapore, with many fires and some deaths. Almost all were attributable to no-brand Chinese manufacturers that skimp on everything they can, including forging certifications. The government since instituted a UL2272 certification requirement and offered free disposal of non-compliant devices.<p><a href="https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/over-1700-pmds-disposed-of-since-fatal-woodlands-lift-fire" rel="nofollow">https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/over-1700-pmds-dispos...</a>
“ Boom Corbett 14 ”<p>That scooter brand has an unfortunate name.<p>We collectively have nearly a hundred years of learning how to deal with the hazards of gasoline, we will need to learn the hazards of batteries the same painful way.
As battery tech improves, by definition we are going to reach ever increasing energy densities, ideally on the order of magnitde of hydrocarbons'.<p>Moreover, people will want for devices to charge fast. This implies a lot of waste heath, which negatively impacts energy efficiency and requires smart electronics to keep temperatures under control (I suspect this second aspect is what failed in this case).<p>However, once we get to high densities, we'll have to consider safety seriously: who would want to sleep close to all that energy stored in a small space, with zero activation energy to protect from a runaway?
There has been sooooo many fires in singapore caused by these e-scooters. They should be banned or heavily regulated because it’s a bit ridiculous how many fires there are.
Fires from electric vehicles getting more and more often. Few days ago Paris decided to withdraw 149 electric buses [1] after two have catch fire.<p>[1]: <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/paris-withdraws-149-electric-buses-after-two-catch-fire/vi-AAWJZZm" rel="nofollow">https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/paris-withdraws-149-ele...</a>
Depending on whether it was the "Boom Corbett 14" or "Boom Corbett 14-EX", it had either a 2.3KWh or 4.6KWh battery. That's a lot of hazardous material in your living room either way. Probably 25-50lbs (11-22 kilos) of it?
I've heard people say recently that electric vehicles catch fire at the same rate as gas vehicles. Proof that they're basically safe enough.<p>Except that has vehicles catch fire after an accident, or after 200k miles when someone let's an oil leak go on for way too long.<p>Electric vehicles are catching fire while basically new, and while being used in standard ways like being parked and charging in your garage. It's not common at all for newish gas cars to catch fire while parked.
Ather, one of the first e-scooter makers in India, had claimed that imported Li-ion batteries aren't suited for Indian weather, so they designed their own. Many parts of India easily hit 40C and more in the summer. Given the spate of e-scooter fires here recently, they may have been right.<p>(I'm not associated with Ather in any way.)
An opportunity to improve fire stations across the world to handle battery fires. Also pretty sad that beta adopters of new tech like this get hit with shit like this. I wonder if batteries are going to get demonized like nuclear energy.
This situation is tragic. Why isn’t there a better setup to keep bikes outside at night? Even having a petrol bike in the house isn’t ideal so close to where people are sleeping.
Honesty it's truly amazing that we haven't had a huge surge in house fires, since every single electronic device is holding this kind of energy.