Electronic Vehicle Car Charger Fire Accident Attorney

Electric cars are all the rage, from people intent on saving the planet, to others interested in reducing their carbon footprint. The technology is soaring right now, with the use of Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries in cars, as the component used to charge the car battery. This technology is not new, but it is newly used as mass produced in cars, with over 40 models of cars using Li-ion batteries in their vehicles. The Li-ion battery is dangerous for a number of reasons, and the use of these batteries will be the reason for many car fires and possible worse consequences, resulting in great personal injuries for people who own electronic vehicles (EVs).

Lithium-ion Batteries Are Just Dangerous, Period!

Li-ion batteries need to be charged to be able to run in an EV. The Li-ion battery is charged on your home garage EV charger, if you are out at a charging station, or in a parking garage. The use of Li-ion batteries for vehicles is a technological innovation, but these batteries are highly dangerous and highly explosive. We will need to put on our Physics Teacher hat on for a few minutes here, to understand the serious nature of using these batteries and car charger use in EVs.

EVs run on Li-ion batteries, and there is a great risk of electrochemical failure, accidental ignition of the flammable electric solvents in the Li-ion battery system and the high-voltage factors present that can hurt a driver and passenger if there was a crash with this vehicle, or if it is overcharged at the charging station. There is also a risk of fire with the car charger use in a home or parking garage. At the time of an over charging of the battery or in a crash, the high voltage can short circuit the Li-ion battery, creating a highly explosive thermal event and high voltage exposure to the inhabitants of the vehicle. Now it is time for you to put on your Physics Teacher hat.

How Do Li-ion Batteries and Li-ion Home and Garage Chargers Work?

The Li-ion battery is made up of lithium and component parts. An electrical current flows into the EV battery, with separators that channel the flow of ions, to move positive charged ions from an anode to a cathode. This movement uses energy in the battery, and the Li-ion battery then turns around and recharges itself, for a constant source of power. When there is an over charging of the LI-ion battery, or a car crash or accident with an EV, the car Li-ion battery which is already hot can get overheated, short circuit and start to decompose the electrodes.

Going further, it is the case that when the battery is over charged, the electrodes dissolve. Then, it triggers a flammable hydrocarbon gas, melting the polymer separator which basically can explode. The electrode then releases oxygen, and voila, oxygen onto an explosion fire creates a more powerful blast. This is called thermal runaway. If you are nearby to a charging station in your house garage or in a parking garage, or are stuck in a fire in an EV, you need extra help. The fire department has to know how to put out this type of highly flammable blaze.

An EV battery in a car crash is unstable, and the battery needs to be deactivated, before it can:

• Leak and spill
• Explode
• Ignite
• Generate intense heat and energy
• Produce highly toxic gasses
• Produce highly toxic fumes

As a final word on the mechanics of Li-ion battery vehicles, when a gas-powered car hits another car in an accident, it crumples the frame and the car engine dies. When an Li-ion battery EV hits another car in an accident, there is a high likelihood that the car will explode and burst into highly toxic chemically based flames and lethal gases.