EV owners face battery-fuelled discrimination on ferries

Electric car owners may soon have to jump through extra loopholes each time they board a ferry after a stern warning from Australia’s shipping watchdog about the potential for battery fires.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) has this week asked owners of ‘ro-ro’ vessels – roll-on, roll-off car carriers such as ferries – to start planning for the possibility that an electric car onboard will one day spontaneously catch fire.

It says an EV fire can be more challenging compared with a conventionally engined vehicle due to the risk of a condition called “thermal runaway”, where a burning lithium-ion battery quickly builds in intensity.

As part of its recommendations, AMSA has advised that electric cars be parked separately from conventionally engined ones in a special area on the boat so if a battery fire should break out, it will be safer to fight.

Also coming under the spotlight are concerns that battery-fuelled cars are around 25 per cent heavier than conventional vehicles, and the battery could be susceptible to damage while loading or unloading via a ramp.

“Care should be taken in identifying these vehicles before boarding to ensure damage is not sustained to the battery,” the AMSA safety notice says.

“Physical damage to the battery can lead to thermal runaway. BEVs which have been damaged should not be loaded.”

AMSA said electric vehicles on boats should be clearly marked so that crews can easily identify them.

They should also be loaded in designated spaces away from vital equipment and passengers and with easy access to onboard firefighting equipment and shore-based fire and emergency services.

Because of the toxic fumes and potentially explosive gases that lithium-ion battery fires generate, AMSA suggests that electric cars should not be parked in enclosed or partially enclosed decks unless the boat is equipped with a water-drenching system – lithium-ion fires need a lot more water to extinguish than a conventional fire.

The marine safety watchdog has also suggested boats fit thermal imaging cameras in their parking areas to spot a lithium-ion fire as soon as it starts.

Lithium-ion batteries only need to heat up to about 60 to 70 degrees Celsius before they risk being hit by thermal runaway.

When burning, they give off toxic hydrogen fluoride fumes.

Early signs of a thermal battery fire include hissing, whistling or popping sounds, a possible sweet chemical smell, thick black smoke made up of nanoparticles of heavy metals, and white vapour.

Even if a lithium-ion battery fire appears to have been put out, there is a high risk that it will spontaneously re-ignite.

Electric cars have had a chequered past on ferries, with one Norwegian carrier earlier this year announcing it would ban them after deciding they posed too high a fire risk to have onboard.

European studies have shown there is less chance of an electric car catching fire than a conventionally engined car. However, lithium-ion fires are much more spectacular and therefore tend to stand out.

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