Following Hurricane Idalia in Florida’s Big Bend last week, a local fire department has warned electric vehicle owners that exposure to salt water can cause the vehicle’s batteries to catch fire.
Palm Harbor Fire Rescue posted the warning on Facebook Wednesday, urging owners to move their battery-powered vehicles out of their garages if they came in contact with salt water.
The warning reportedly came after a Tesla caught fire during Idalia’s landfall in the nearby town of Dunedin.
“If you own a hybrid or electric vehicle that has come into contact with saltwater due to recent flooding within the last 24 hours, it is crucial to relocate the vehicle from your garage without delay,” the post said.
“Saltwater exposure can trigger combustion in lithium-ion batteries. If possible, transfer your vehicle to higher ground.”
“This includes golf carts and electric scooters,” the post added. “Don’t drive these through water. PHFR crews have seen numerous residents out in golf carts and children on scooters riding through water.”
From The Gateway Pundit:
In 2021, the NHTSA launched a Battery Safety Initiative. According to the website CNET, the goal is to “research areas such as battery diagnostics, management systems and even cybersecurity to ensure future cars with batteries onboard to power the entire vehicle are as safe as can be.” Considering that electric vehicles in large numbers are a fairly new development, it’s likely that the country even a year later just doesn’t have enough experience yet to fully know some of those answers to all of Patronis’ questions.
