Hyundai’s New Device Injects Water Into Electric Vehicle Batteries To Fight Fires
Hyundai Motor Group has unveiled its latest device for combatting electric vehicle fires, according to Inside EVs.
EV fires can happen fast, but have a far-reaching impact and require hours to extinguish, such as the fire at a Rivian plant this summer that destroyed over 50 vehicles—the cause of which is still unknown.
The issue of EV fires continues to be a problem the automotive industry is seeking solutions to, especially Hyundai. The company has developed a remote control firefighting robot, a fire extinguishing blanket, and now, a drill lance that ejects water.
Inserted under an EV with an adjustable handle, the device is equipped with a drill that will penetrate the battery and inject it full of water from a hydrant. It was built with the intent of quickly extinguishing fires on cargo ships.
While it typically takes hours to drench an EV battery sufficiently enough so that it won’t spread, Hyundai Glovis—which created the device and operates as Hyundai Motor Group’s logistics arm—has claimed the drill lance is capable of eliminating a fire in less than 30 minutes.
Hyundai Glovis did not elaborate, however, on whether the risk of a thermal runaway exists from the drill piercing the battery. A trial run with the drill lance will be conducted with 32 of Hyundai’s car carriers, and afterward its chartered vessels.
