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Originally Posted by ThirdOfFive
From what I was able to gather, you are correct. The unfortunate thing is that Lithium-ion powered vehicles are media and environmentalist darlings, and as such are pretty well insulated against much of anything being said to tarnish that image.
The NTSB website has an interesting article (Safety Risks to Emergency Responders from Lithium-Ion Battery Fires in Electric Vehicles) on the dangers that lithium-ion battery fires can pose to first responders, which of course means that uneducated consumers experiencing such a fire are a whole lot more at-risk than assumedly-trained first responders. There is a very real risk of dangerous or even deadly electric shock to those dealing with the fire, as well as something that the article terms "thermal runaway", where the process of combustion of the battery produces situations and conditions that exacerbate the danger to the area.
The Miami Herald ran an article this morning dealing with this subject (Electric Vehicles and the Untold Secret: Are They Actually Worse For The Environment and More Dangerous Than Gas?). One of the dangers is that a burning lithium-ion battery produces hydrogen gas at a rapid rate, which is itself extremely flammable (remember the Hindenburg). Hydrogen gas is rated as a 4 on the NFPA 704's flammability scale, which is the highest rating possible, because it can combust in even small amounts of ordinary air.
But the dangers to people dealing with a lithium-ion battery is only part of the story. The Miami Herald article pointed several things that I was completely unaware of. First, the environmental impact of the mining for battery materials. Earth.org points this out: "the extraction methods for lithium and cobalt can be very energy intensive – leading to air and water pollution, land degradation, and potential for groundwater contamination". But that is not the only environmental danger. The Herald article also points out that the manufacture of lithium-ion batteries itself is a large contributor of pollution due to the use of fossil fuels (coal and natural gas). But the danger to the environment doesn't stop with the manufacture of the batteries. It takes 100 years for a lithium-ion battery to decompose after use, releasing toxic substances into the environment all the while.
Seems as if our Cinderella needs a little more cleaning up before the big ball.
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According to Firehouse Magazine there is also a new concern for parking garage collapse since they reach extreme temperatures and burn for hours:
“Further, the temperatures of fires that involve internal combustion engines can reach 1,500 degrees F; temperatures of fires that involve EVs can reach 4,500 degrees F and hotter. The temperature of an EV fire is a major concern for parking garages.
When concrete is exposed to temperatures that are hotter than 212 degrees F, the moisture in concrete turns to steam. If the temperature rises more rapidly than the steam can escape through the concrete matrix, the rising pressures exceed the strength of the concrete, and it begins to spall. This spalling can be explosive in extreme cases and can cause major damage, including collapse.”