- There have been several recent spontaneous combustion battery fires in electric commercial and school buses. There have also been spontaneous combustion battery fires in electric vehicles. So far, the buses and most cars have been empty or the drivers have escaped the cars so no fatalities or injuries have occurred. However, these battery fires have randomly occurred and are an overwhelming threat hanging over electric vehicle use.
- What criteria and standards were used to select electric school buses. It appears being green, meaning electric, and not producing diesel fumes were the criteria. The selection. criteria and cost benefit analysis should be made public.
- Was the fire possibility even considered? Are random spontaneous fires acceptable? If not, why aren’t the bus manufacturers and operating companies required to perform tests and possible modifications to ensure the spontaneous fire possibility is minimized.
- Parents placing children on these buses should know the specific actions being taken to minimize a fire.
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Guess any school buying (buying into?!) electric busses will need much larger parking lots. If they are parked close together as is present practice, and one spontaneously catches on fire, there will go the fleet (and perhaps any nearby buildings)!! It’s extremely rare that a parked diesel bus with the engine off catches fire, and the fire intensity would never rise to that of one with lithium batteries and, as this article explains, it would be far easier to extinguish when fire equipment arrives. Oh well — if there is not much additional parking space, a school can always budget to provide for full-fleet replacement in case of fire!