Ferry operator's ban on recalled EVs highlights need for more safety rules, experts say

A decision by an Ontario ferry operator to ban recalled Chrysler Pacifica plug-in hybrids from its boats has highlighted the potential fire risk posed by electric vehicles — and some experts say governments and businesses need to do more to establish safety standards for their use and storage.

The risk of EV fires appears to be low, and vehicle makers have been responsive to the problems that have emerged, said George Iny, the president of the Automobile Protection Association.

But EV fires, when they happen, are hard to extinguish with conventional firefighting equipment.

The fire doesn't need external oxygen so water does nothing to choke it off, Iny said. 

All it can do is cool the fire below the temperature of combustion, but the amount of water needed to fight the fire is at least 10 times what's needed to fight a fire involving a gasoline-powered vehicle, he said.

"I was stunned when APA consumers let us know that, in fact, there is no special guidance for ferries to date," Iny said.

"Ferry boats are in service for decades. They have fire suppression systems. Those were developed for gasoline vehicles, not for EVs."

Ferry operators will have to put their own safety protocols in place, such as not allowing vehicles with active recalls, he added.

Ferry company bans certain Chrysler minivan hybrids

The Owen Sound Transportation Company (OSTC) operates the Pelee Island ferry in southwestern Ontario, as well as the MS Chi-Cheemaun serving Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron, and the MV Niska 1 to Moose Factory Island near James Bay.

The operator has banned 2017 to 2021 Chrysler Pacifica plug-in hybrid models until the automaker's service recall on them is complete.

But Iny said ferry operators aren't the only people who should be taking a closer look at EV safety.

Building owners looking to install chargers in parkades and parking lots should also consider how they will fight fires should they arise.

Keven Lefebvre, who serves on the board of the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs, said Canada needs a national fire administration to advise ministries on how to set safety standards for the technology. 

"My first question is, 'Why [are] electric vehicles on the road before the safety is in place to deal with them?'" asked Lefebvre, who is fire chief in Leduc County, Alta., and also an electrician.

Lithium ion batteries are in everything now, he said, from electric toothbrushes to electric transport trucks.

'They almost kind of explode'

"In an overcharging situation, they overheat," he said. 

"It's not a slow, all-of-a-sudden-you-get-smoldering-and-then-a-fire-erupts [situation]. They kind of almost explode, and … we don't really have the proper products to deal with the lithium ion battery fires."

Lefebvre saw one fire involving an EV parked next to a pile of wooden pallets, he said.

"Not a good practice. … But there's no requirements for spatial separation."

There are also no rules preventing people from parking electric bicycles in the hallways of their apartment buildings, he added. 

"They're trapping themselves from their only path of egress. And so it's becoming a problem," he said. 

Engineers working for vehicle manufacturers are working to build systems for cars that can extinguish fires on the spot, Lefebvre said.

"That could be in every vehicle in the future, but somebody has to step up and say, 'That's our code requirement.'"

Windsor-Detroit Tunnel Corporation not planning to bar any EVs

EV fires can be controlled using a type of fire blanket, said Cara Clairman, the president and CEO of the EV education non-profit Plug'n Drive.

Clairman acknowledged that the fires are harder to put out than those involving internal combustion engines, she said but she added, that reality needs to be placed in context. 

Electric vehicle fires are occuring far less often, she said. 

"So it does seem out of proportion to the concerns about it."  

The CEO of the Windsor-Detroit Tunnel Corporation, which operates an underground crossing between the southwestern Ontario city and Detroit, said the corporation has procedures in place to deal with an EV fire should it happen.

"The number one protocol is going to be to clear the area and to remove the EV from the tunnel," Tal Czudner said.

The tunnel corporation has yet to deal with a burning EV, he said, but it has vehicles that are capable of removing one from the tunnel.

"At this point, we're not making any policy to limit EVs through the tunnel," he said. 

"We feel that it's still safe to bring an EV through the tunnel."