Are you sure your gem wasn’t an 99-04?
Gem was in the shop to replace a bad Speedometer Module…which is another long story! Only two of the batteries originally caught fire. Two others caught fire the next day. Dealer dumped them into a big barrel filled with that fire retardant stuff. Allied said it was the dealer’s fault (without any factual evidence to back up their claim). Rather than fight with Allied, I turned the matter over to my insurance company.
Any pictures of a battery that caught fire?
I see at least three that did NOT burn.
A lithium battery fire cannot be extinguished…
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Thanks for the info. We all learn from events like this.
What was the dealer doing to the car at the time of the fire?
Was the car in a charge cycle?
I’m also going to check, But I thought Allied batteries had built in BMS units?
I also want to know what this big barrel of retardant is all about. Is it a liquid or a powder?
I guess it was good that the batteries were not strapped down!! Maybe it would be a good idea to design a way to rapidly “Jettison the Antimatter Core” .
I would like more info as well,
Was the car charging when fire started?
AGMs aren’t 100% safe either, my neighbor 2 houses in front of my house left her golf cart plugged in when she was away and car caught on fire inside the garage. Her car had flooded batteries.
I’ve seen a lot of lfp stress tests and it’s considered a safe chemistry
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Terminal bolts unscrewed from 3 of the 4 batteries. If they were in the car and charging, one would think that the cables would have been connected and just cut by cable shears or bolt cutters.
That extinguishing agent looks lile the standard yellow ABC stuff.
I’d like to shake the hand and give a cigar to the guy whose balls are big enough to unbolt a burning lithium battery, pick it up, huck it into a drum of marginally effective extinguishing agent, and then go do that 3 more times.
@TheVillager - What was going on with your speedo that made you bring it in for repair?
I do not see evidence of a battery fire.
Certainly seems improbable.
I’m confused, I see the 4 batteries but don’t see anything like damage from a lithium fire. The top edge of one battery appears to be split or something but any kind of fire would have melted the plastic battery housing.
Maybe someone shorted out the battery pack and some wire insulation caught fire? Sure does not look like any of the 4 batteries had ignited. Odd that they removed all the wires from the batteries.
Speedometer failed so that the car would not run. Dealer brought it in to troubleshoot the car for several days before they determined that the speedometer had failed. The car sat in their lot for 2 months. The dealer did not charge the batteries during that time. It’s my belief that they had disconnected all of the cable connections (but I wasn’t there so I can’t confirm it.) The fire started in two batteries. I believe the dealer used their own ABC fire extinguishers and the Fire Department deployed more. The two batteries were dropped in a large barrel filled with water and fire retardant material. The next day ( after the pictures I posted earlier) two more batteries started to cook. The dealer placed the two additional batteries in the barrel too. The two remaining batteries (I had six 48V 30ah batteries) did not catch fire and the dealer eventually disposed all of the batteries in a hazardous material station. Not sure how hot the fire got, but as I said, there was no fire damage to the structure or body.
Shenanigans called…
And i am no fan of these overpriced batteries.
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How? They weren’t connected…
Obviously not very hot. Might want to look up the ignition temp of burniing metal there sparky
I swear to god, i will pistol whip the next person who says shennagans…
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Sorry Jar Jar Java. Go find your own answers. I don’t appreciate your condescending comments/questions.
I just don’t get how people can be paid to work on vehicles and not even understand the systems they emply. Even with lead based batteries you do not work on a vehicle for days and then let it sit for months. Especially with lead. you charge them up and throw the disconnect switch. So they should have noticed the batteries were NOT lead but even if they didn’t, they should have charged them and the thrown the master disconnect. Sounds like they are a sales shop and NOT a maintenance/repair shop. $0.02
Way too much effort when all you had to do was throw the master disconnect.
VERY unlikely to be a “fire” but something could have triggered thermal runaway which will cause lots of outgassing which some might call a fire. There’s no sign of ignition. They could have pulled the cables once the batteries started outgassing.
Now, what caused the thermal runaway… only those at this dealership really know because what you were told and figured out isn’t a complete enough picture to say for sure. I’ve heard some lithium batteries will go into thermal runaway at very low SoC but have not read any details on if that’s factually correct.
The whole experience must have been a PIA.
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Oh, tough guy. I figured you for the construction worker, maybe the Indian, but appatently you’re the cop.
So, first off, I’m not actually asking you anything. Anyone with half a brain can figure out what happened.
Its your story. Tell it how you like.
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