Within a few minutes, the temperature of one of the 40 electric bicycle batteries stored on a pallet in a 270-square-meter hangar rises to 800 degrees. The cardboard catches fire, the flames quickly rise to the ceiling, the explosions follow one another and project embers towards other pallets stored a few meters away.
Sixteen minutes after the fire started, the rise in temperature activated the “sprinkler,” the automatic extinguishing system installed on the roof of the hangar, which sprayed the home for half an hour until the temperature dropped.
Monitored by multiple temperature and heat flow sensors, this fire, which occurred on November 12, was not accidental: it was a test, carried out and supervised by experts from the National Center for Prevention and Protection (CNPP), in a special place. equipped hangar at its headquarters in Saint-Marcel (Eure).
Tests of this type, in conditions that reconstitute a common storage configuration at a production site, the center plans to carry out several on behalf of the France Assureurs federation, which now considers fires related to lithium-ion batteries a risk. “emergent”.
This test campaign aims to better understand how these fires start and can spread, while measuring the effectiveness of a sprinkler system. In short, with the possibility of developing standard solutions that limit losses and, of course, reduce the overall cost of compensation.
Phenomenon known as “thermal runaway”
The precedents in France are still scarce, but several cases have already marked the profession, such as the spectacular fire of a Parisian electric bus in the middle of the street, in April 2022, the destruction by fire of 900 tons of batteries in a building of a collection and recycling company in Aveyron, in February, or the explosion of a scooter battery in an apartment in Dunkirk (north), in June.
But insurers are under no illusions: the widespread use of batteries in homes and businesses, whether in mobile phones, computers, scooters, bicycles or cars, implies a threat of repetition of this type of fire.
“The greening of the economy requires the multiplication of batteriessummarizes Florence Lustman, president of France Assureurs. But more batteries also mean more risks. And although this risk is very rare, when it materializes it can be tragic. »
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