Lithium battery goes up in smoke at Gainesville….

Jeff Gillette and I talked a while back about building a Steel transport vessel for lithium batteries. Maybe it’s time now.
I think it was 2021, the Lanes heading to Pomona had a battery fire in the trailer. Vette I believe and I think it was Lithium? Maybe they can confirm?
Lithium’s aren’t in a great environment….

[SSDiv6]

I addressed the risks and use of Lithium batteries with NHRA in October 2016. Had a long phone conversation with Bruce Bachelder on the subject and he asked me to provide some technical information so he could share with others at NHRA, which I did a few days later. Of course, nothing came about it.

While still working at Boeing, I was part of the industry team as regards to the Lithium battery fires that took place on the Boeing 787 airplanes. As an outcome of the investigation, there were a lot of changes not only on the battery designs, but also on the provisions and installation.
As an example, we ended designing, manufacturing, and installing a stainless steel box enclosure with a vent to the exterior of the fuselage for venting the fumes on all the 787 airplanes. SInce at the time there were already fires that had taken place at various tracks with Lithium batteries, especially people buying Chinese made cells on eBay and building their own, at the time I suggested consideration to requiring a metal enclosure for Lithium batteries.

Unknown to me at the time was the number of events by various types of Lithium powered devices that had taken place since 1991 through 2016 on commercial flights, with Li-ion, Lithium-ion, Lithium Metal, Lithium Ion/Polymer, and Lithium Sulphur Dioxide batteries.

Let's not forget the number of fires we see all the time on social media of EV's, including a cargo ship fire due to an EV.

If I am going to err, I will err towards safety, especially when you have batteries sitting next to a fuel cell in most cars. Therefore, when I am asked about batteries, I recommend the LifeLine AGM racing batteries, or their Lithium Iron Phosphate battery that also has the BMS protection system.

[Cody Lane]

Originally Posted by Barry Polley

Jeff Gillette and I talked a while back about building a Steel transport vessel for lithium batteries. Maybe it’s time now.
I think it was 2021, the Lanes heading to Pomona had a battery fire in the trailer. Vette I believe and I think it was Lithium? Maybe they can confirm?
Lithium’s aren’t in a great environment….

It was an old lead-acid battery that we believe caused the issue.

We actually put lithium batteries into the Corvette after the fire, a new Comp car we are building, and all of the electric race cars we've built.

For those interested, check out Altronics Powerlite lithium batteries as they are incredibly light and reliable; the Battery Management System ensures they cannot overcharge or ignite.

As for transporting lithium batteries.... that's a whole other issue when done in high volume, so I like where your head is at!

Cody Lane

[FLEMING]

They are very sensitive to temperature hot or cold.. and vibration, if voltage drops too low they can combust.. I feel like the risk outways the benefit...