FIRES CAUSED BY ELECTRIC VEHICLES

[Anchor Lead]

Electric kickboards or bicycles have become a popular means of transportation for many people. But riders must be aware of the dangers of fire caused by overcharging or external shocks. Take a look at how dangerous such fires can be.

[Pkg]

A flame erupts inside a parked car. An electric unicycle left in the backseat caught fire and torched the car’s interior. Personal electric vehicles like e-scooters or electric unicycles and bicycles have caused a fire at least once a month on Jeju-do alone. The ignition point was most frequently the lithium ion battery attached to the electric motor. The fires were mainly caused by either external shock or overcharging.

[Soundbite] Jo Ho-ryong(Electric Vehicle Renter) : "The vehicles are equipped with a shutoff functions that turns off when completely charged. But since these are electric vehicles, there may be errors or other variables."

Several experiments were carried out. This electric bicycle was charged at six volts higher than the appropriate voltage to show the danger of overcharging. Before long, smoke begins to rise from the bicycle being charged and soon after, a red flame shoots up. Excessive charging heated up the battery and started the fire. In the next experiment, a completely charged electric unicycle was hit with a hammer. The wheel immediately erupts in fire. Applying similar impact directly to the vehicles, like running over a pothole or falling, could also damage the battery separator inside and cause a fire.

[Soundbite] Kim Seung-suk(Fire Marshal, Jeju Fire Safety HQs Fire Investigation Team) : "Statistics show that fires are caused by external impact or damage from long-term use."

Fire investigation team from the Jeju Fire Safety Headquarters emphasized that using uncertified batteries or chargers could supply more than the allowable current ampacity and run the risk of fire. They also asked personal electric vehicle users not to charge their vehicles unattended, since more than half of the fires occurred when the vehicles were being charged.