<div id="readability-page-1"><div><h2>Topline</h2> 
<p>Two men were killed in Texas after a Tesla car with reportedly nobody driving crashed Saturday and triggered a battery fire authorities said repeatedly reignited after being put out, with the incident underscoring the need for better guidance on responding to relatively novel car battery fires – here’s what experts say about dealing with such fires as more carmakers switch to electric vehicles.</p> 
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 <p><img src="https://imageproxy.lbkrs.com/https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/607d75a4bf9d64f108371762/960x0.jpg/query-Y3JvcFgxPTImY3JvcFgyPTE4NzAmY3JvcFkxPTAmY3JvcFkyPTEwNTE" alt="Car burning at parking lot because electrical short problem" original-src="https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/607d75a4bf9d64f108371762/960x0.jpg?cropX1=2&amp;cropX2=1870&amp;cropY1=0&amp;cropY2=1051"/> 
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   <p>Car batteries burn differently to petrol.</p> 
   
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<h2>Key Facts</h2> 
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 <p>Harris County Constable Mark Herman said it took firefighters four hours and more than 30,000 gallons of water to extinguish a battery fire in a 2019 Tesla Model S Saturday, something he said responders would normally have controlled in a matter of “minutes” while crews had to call Tesla for advice. </p> 
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  <p>Despite responders to electric vehicle incidents often reporting batteries reigniting, it is not peculiar for an electric vehicle battery—which is often a large-scale version of the lithium-ion batteries found in mobile phones—to catch fire again after being put out and serves to underscore how unprepared many responders are to deal with electric vehicle fires. </p> 
   
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  <p>Batteries burn very differently to gasoline and can actually be expected to reignite after being put out due to the fact they still have stored energy, manufacturers say.  </p> 
   
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 <p>Tesla, in guidance for first responders, recommends firefighters allow the battery to “burn itself out” rather than continuously trying to put it out. </p> 
 <p>Tesla didn’t respond to a request for comment. </p> 
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<h2>Key Background</h2> 
<p>While first responders have over 100 years of experience in responding to innumerable petroleum vehicle fires, electric vehicles are a relatively new phenomenon. While the batteries used are safe—a replacement for the notoriously flammable gasoline—high-speed impacts can lead to ignition. Batteries burn differently to gasoline and contain a number of usually-contained chemicals that can prove hazardous, requiring specialized responses from firefighters. Regulators have expressed concern over how unprepared first responders are when it comes to electric vehicle fires. The National Transportation Safety Board called for better guidance from manufacturers on how to deal with the inevitable fires alongside more research into how the batteries respond to high-speed, high-severity crashes.     </p> 
<h2>What To Watch</h2> 
<p>As it stands, electric vehicles make up less than 1% of cars on U.S. roads, according to the New York Times. President Joe Biden, in a bid to reach carbon neutrality by 2050, has made expanding this a policy goal and unveiled new funding for EVs as part of his $2 trillion infrastructure plan. Meanwhile, some of the world’s largest carmakers, including Volkswagen, Ford and Toyota, have pledged to boost their EV production to meet EU carbon emissions targets.</p> 
<h2>Tangent</h2> 
<p>Officials said nobody appeared to have been driving the car, which has an autopilot feature that Tesla says does not make it an autonomous vehicle and requires active driver supervision. </p> 
<h2>Big Number</h2> 
<p>36,096. This is the number of people in the U.S. killed in a motor vehicle crash in 2019, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. This number could be drastically reduced with the advent and adoption of autonomous vehicles. Elon Musk recently promoted a Tesla safety report stating its Autopilot feature, which is not autonomous and requires supervision, is almost lowering the chances of accidents 10 times when compared to an average vehicle. </p> 
 
<h2>Further Reading</h2> 
<p>Two people killed in fiery Tesla crash with no one driving (The Verge)</p> 
<p>Electric Cars Are Coming. How Long Until They Rule the Road? (NYT)</p> 
 
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<p>Many carmarkers and governments are embracing electric vehicles as a cleaner form of transportation, but regulators are calling for better guidance when emergencies arise.</p>

Houston Tesla Crash Underscores How Little Is Known About The Nature Of Car Battery Fires – And Why They Burn For Hours