There are a reported 500 plus electric vehicles amongst the 3,500 plus cars on board.

Fires in Electric vehicles are notoriously difficult to extinguish and the fire is now well into its third day of uncontrolled burning. Adding extra water to try to extinguish will make the ship more unstable experts have said.

With temperatures starting to cool experts have boarded the freighter to inspect.

The world is really hoping the Fremantle Highway avoids the watery fate of the Felicity Ace, a car carrier that burned for a week before sinking 10,000 feet to the ocean floor off the coast of Portugal. The location of the Highway is even more problematic, according to the Associated Press:

Many workers jumped overboard when the fires got out of control, and were rescued by local authorities. It has been reported that one person is dead.

Fires in EVs have been cause for concern for a while. They can happen spontaneously, are difficult to extinguish and are extremely dangerous.

Will solid state batteries prevent this problem in the future, time will tell.

Lithium-ion batteries are the power source for EVs. This is the most common source of battery power now available. It’s in your smart phone, laptop, smartwatch, electric scooter of skateboard.

Most people are familiar with phones catching on fire, or how hot the battery can get in your phone or laptop.

Imagine a much larger battery in your car.

There is a lot of inbuilt cooling technology for the cars, as they discharge at a rapid rate while driving. They can also be rapid charged, which again heats up the battery pack.

Mostly though, fires in electric cars are because of a fault somewhere. A short circuit, accident etc. That’s not too dissimilar to normal petrol engines vehicles.

It will be interesting to see the final report on the cause and damage from the Freemantle Highway fire. In the meantime out thoughts go out to the injured workers and the family of the deceased.

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