Hurricane Ian’s damaging floods have led to intense fires caused by waterlogged batteries in electric vehicles.
When EV batteries take on a large amount of water, they’re at risk of corrosion that can lead to unexpected fires, according to a top fire official in the state.
‘There’s a ton of EVs disabled from Ian. As those batteries corrode, fires start,’ Florida’s fire marshal and top financial officer Jimmy Patronis tweeted Thursday. ‘That’s a new challenge that our firefighters haven’t faced before. At least on this kind of scale.’
‘It takes special training and understanding of EVs to ensure these fires are put out quickly and safely,’ he continued in a follow-up tweet. ‘Thanks to [North Collier Fire Rescue] for their hard work.’
The massive storm has caused 101 deaths and billions of dollars. This has made it one of the nation’s costliest hurricanes on record. It also knocked out power for 2.6 million people statewide.
The news about the battery-caused fires comes as the Biden administration makes a big push for electric vehicles – including the Inflation Reduction Act that had a $7,500 EV tax credit.
Multiple states are passing legislation to gradually phase out gas-powered cars, including California and New York, which will both ban them by 2035.
These measures will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and minimize the effects of climate change in the coming years.
However, both states lack the infrastructure to power thousands of new zero-emissions vehicles.
Additionally, EVs are extremely expensive, almost $20,000 more than a gas-powered car.
According to Kelley Blue Book, the cost of EVs is ‘well above the industry average and more aligned with luxury prices versus mainstream prices.’
Another enormous uncertainty about the statewide policies banning gas cars is how quickly valuable minerals, like lithium, will be available to produce large amounts of batteries needed to fulfill the 2035 EV target.
Laurie Holmes, senior manager of government affairs for Kia, told California officials Thursday that the industry could have difficulty meeting sales targets.
