Quickly delete e-car

Renault releases safety patents for everyone

Although electric cars do not burn as often as combustion engines, they are more difficult to extinguish.

(Bild: APA/FF Gerasdorf)

Fire sources inside e-car batteries are difficult for the fire department to reach. Renault has a solution - and is now passing it on to its competitors free of charge.

By releasing patents, Renault is now making its extinguishing aid for battery fires available to the competition. This involves the so-called "Fireman Access" - a type of extinguishing flap - which the French car manufacturer has developed together with the fire department.

The extinguishing access in the battery housing makes it easier to fight e-car fires.

(Bild: Renault)

The core element is a glass panel on the battery housing that can be removed by the pressure of the extinguishing water, allowing the extinguishing agent to enter the interior of the battery. In this way, the thermal runaway of the energy storage unit can be prevented with comparatively little water - according to Renault, only around a tenth of the usual amount is required.

Batteries are difficult to extinguish
Thermal runaway makes it difficult to extinguish e-car fires. Once started, the fire feeds itself like a chain reaction without the need for external oxygen. To make matters worse, all the elements required for the fire are present in the housing: the electrolyte, which is chemically related to petrol, the graphite, which is remotely similar to charcoal, and the separator, which is often made of organic material. The fire is difficult to reach from the outside due to the comprehensive metal battery housing.

No uniform standard yet
As with combustion cars, the fire department also uses water to extinguish and cool electric cars. To get the extinguishing agent into the battery pack, special extinguishing lances or - as used by Renault - extinguishing accesses are used. A uniform standard does not yet exist; in case of doubt, the fire department does not know whether a particular car model has an access point or where it is located.