BYD e6 Electric Taxi Burns After 112-MPH Drunk Supercar Driver Crash

[msirach]

BYD: Up in flames

Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield - GREENCARREPORTS - May 29, 2012

How far will this travel in the USA? --Ed.

Over the weekend we heard the disturbing news that a BYD e6 electric taxi in Shenzhen China had burst into flames and killed three of its occupants after being hit by a speeding drunk driver.

According to eyewitness reports, the BYD e6 taxi, one of around 400 e6 electric taxis being used in the area, was hit at around 3am on a popular downtown route by a Nissan GT-R driven by a drunk driver traveling at 112 mph or more.

The impact was so great that the e6 was sent slamming into a tree, whereupon it burst into flames.

ChinaAutoWeb says local television stations report its occupants, two women passengers and the taxi’s driver, were unable to escape before the flames engulfed the car.

All three died in the ensuing fire.

Meanwhile, the drunk driver and the occupants of the second car he hit, a gasoline-powered taxi, all survived.... [Read More]

[50 mpg by 2012]

Wonder what fueled the flames ...

I would think there are LIMITED source of combustables in an EV.

Obviously I am wrong ... at least with respect to the e6.

[civic94coupe206]

I think a normal ICE car will burst into flames too if it was hit by something traveling 112 mph...

[msirach]

As the article pointed out, a standard car could burst into flames as well. It will be interesting to see if journalists start dissing BYD in a witch hunt that has became all to common. ie: Toyota Prius and Chevy Volt.

I have witnessed very low quality display vehicles for 2 years at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

[WriConsult]

Originally Posted by 50 mpg by 2012

I would think there are LIMITED source of combustables in an EV.

Depends on the chemistry. Lithium-ion cobalt (what's used in laptops and cellphone) is EXTREMELY combustible. But no one to my knowledge is powering a BEV with it.

Lithium polymer is also pretty volatile at high temperatures, I am somewhat concerned about Hyundai's use of it in their hybrids.

IIRC both the Leaf and the Volt use Lithium-ion manganese, which is pretty stable.

The BYD e6 uses Lithium-ion iron phosphate, also pretty stable. I would consider it safer than a tank filled with 15 gallons of gasoline. So I'm a little surprised by this incident. Maybe a short circuit caught the normal combustibles (upholstery, seat padding, etc) on fire. A battery pack the size of the e6's could generate an enormous amount of current -- and extreme temperatures -- in a hurry. I suppose it's possible that the toxic emissions of that combustion could have overwhelmed the passengers and prevented them from getting out -- or that they got trapped inside because of damage to the doors.

[Jay]

It doesn't look good. The car obviously didn't take a direct hit at 112mph or it would be in much worse shape and the passengers would have died from the collision. It probably took a glancing blow which forced the taxi into the tree. The fact that the drunk driver was unhurt and ran away, and another gasoline-powered car that he hit didn't burn just adds fuel to the fire. The BYD chairman claimed, “Batteries from BYD would not explode even if you throw them into a fire.”

Fail.

[PaleMelanesian]

What would happen to a gas-powered car if it was hit from behind with that much force, and then ran into a tree backwards with that much force? There's a good chance of fire there as well.

The second collision was lighter because much of the energy went into the first one.

This gas-powered car caught fire with no collision at all:
http://jalopnik.com/5914282/ferrari-...polish-freeway

[50 mpg by 2012]

Originally Posted by WriConsult

The BYD e6 uses Lithium-ion iron phosphate, also pretty stable. I would consider it safer than a tank filled with 15 gallons of gasoline. So I'm a little surprised by this incident. Maybe a short circuit caught the normal combustibles (upholstery, seat padding, etc) on fire. A battery pack the size of the e6's could generate an enormous amount of current -- and extreme temperatures -- in a hurry. I suppose it's possible that the toxic emissions of that combustion could have overwhelmed the passengers and prevented them from getting out -- or that they got trapped inside because of damage to the doors.

IIRC, a gallon of gasoline has the explosive energy content of 5 pounds of dynamite. How is that for putting things in perspective?

But there is no question in my mind ... regarding a short circuit dump of 10 to 20 kWhs of electrical energy.

Also ... many types of polymers are toxic when burned. Hopely those types are no long in common use, but who knows.

[WriConsult]

Wow, I just looked up the E6 ... it actually has a 60kWh pack. Dang, that's big. Still less energy equivalent than 2 gallons of gasoline. Errrr, so 10 pounds of dynamite.

[herm]

and it is LiFePO4 chemistry so at least 1000+ lbs for the battery alone