A prominent Florida state official advised the media that firemen have been battling a variety of fires triggered by electric vehicle (EV) batteries damaged by flooding from Hurricane Ian.
EV batteries that have actually been soaked during the hurricane have a serious threat of corrosion, which could cause unanticipated fires, Jimmy Patronis, the state’s leading financial officer and fire marshal said according to Fox News.
“There’s a ton of EVs disabled from Ian. As those batteries corrode, fires start,” Patronis tweeted Thursday. “That’s a new challenge that our firefighters haven’t faced before. At least on this kind of scale.”
There’s a ton of EVs disabled from Ian. As those batteries corrode, fires start. That’s a new challenge that our firefighters haven’t faced before. At least on this kind of scale. #HurricaneIan pic.twitter.com/WsErgA6evO
— Jimmy Patronis (@JimmyPatronis) October 6, 2022
“It takes special training and understanding of EVs to ensure these fires are put out quickly and safely,” he continued in a follow-up tweet.
“Thanks to [North Collier Fire Rescue] for their hard work.”
It takes special training and understanding of EVs to ensure these fires are put out quickly and safely. Thanks to @NCFRPio for their hard work. #Hurricanelan pic.twitter.com/oN0RvQTG2U
— Jimmy Patronis (@JimmyPatronis) October 6, 2022
Patronis published a video clip of firefighters in Naples, Florida, fighting a fire started from a Tesla EV’s battery. An onlooker is overheard in the video clip stating that the staff had actually spent “hundreds of gallons” of water trying to put the fire out.
At the time of the report from Fox News, it was unknown precisely how many Electric Vehicles were impacted or destroyed by Hurricane Ian or subsequent fires.
At the same time, customers are significantly turning to EVs as the Biden regime has continued to push a transition to electric cars and trucks. Between April and June, EVs made up 5.6% of new automobile purchases in the U.S., up slightly from the first 3 months of 2022, according to Kelley Blue Book, in spite of a rash of fires widely reported by various outlets.
Shortly after taking office, President Joe Biden announced an objective to ensure 50% of new automobile sales would be EVs by 2030. This has been followed by new laws in California and other states that follow their emissions model to similar effect.
The Western Journal reported on August 3, that Chevy is now offering rebates to customers who bought the all-electric Chevy Bolt before the company decreased the sticker price for the 2023 model. They noted that The Chevy Bolt was plagued by battery fire reports dating back to 2017 and that GM actually recalled the variant in 2020 after multiple reports of battery fires from 2017-2019 as reported by Engadget.