# [EVDL] Oregon State University solar vehicle catches fire while being driven



## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

They had it at our OEVA rally last weekend and it was looking great and was
a big draw.

But this week their car burned to the ground---the driver narrowly escaped
alive after hearing a pop and escaping with only 1st/2nd degree burns.



The article:
http://www.gazettetimes.com/news/local/article_803a17e6-afd8-11e0-bedd-001cc
4c03286.html 



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## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

"One thing for sure: We'll never use Lithium Ion batteries again":
Video interview in the aftermath:
http://www.gazettetimes.com/news/local/article_803a17e6-afd8-11e0-bedd-001cc
4c03286.html?mode=video


-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf
Of Myles Twete
Sent: Sunday, July 17, 2011 11:02 AM
To: 'Electric Vehicle Discussion List'
Subject: [EVDL] Oregon State University solar vehicle catches fire while
being driven

They had it at our OEVA rally last weekend and it was looking great and was
a big draw.

But this week their car burned to the ground---the driver narrowly escaped
alive after hearing a pop and escaping with only 1st/2nd degree burns.



The article:
http://www.gazettetimes.com/news/local/article_803a17e6-afd8-11e0-bedd-001cc
4c03286.html 



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## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

OSU solar EV fire

http://www.gazettetimes.com/news/local/article_803a17e6-afd8-11e0-bedd-001cc4c03286.html

[image] OSU student gets out just in time
By Graham Kislingbury Jul 16 2011 

[image (Joseph Fennimore/Contributed photo)
http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/gazettetimes.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/d/22/d22e4810-b041-11e0-9828-001cc4c002e0/4e22877ca719d.image.jpg
An explosion followed by a fire destroyed a solar vehicle Saturday 
morning on 15th Street on the Oregon State University campus. The 
driver, Nick Sitts, a member of the OSU Solar Vehicle Team, escaped 
with first- and second-degree burns. He was treated at Good Samaritan 
Regional Medical Center and released. 

http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/gazettetimes.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/e/a0/ea0821c0-aff3-11e0-8310-001cc4c03286/4e2204c7ebed1.image.jpg
Solar vehicle 2

http://www.gazettetimes.com/news/local/article_803a17e6-afd8-11e0-bedd-001cc4c03286.html?mode=video
Related Video 
Explosion, fire destroy solar vehicle]

Hai Yue Han, co-captain of the Oregon State University Solar Vehicle 
Team, talks about the explosion and fire July 16 on a campus street 
that injured driver Nick Sitts, an OSU junior from Scappoose. All 
that was left of the $100,000 vehicle, which Sitts was driving to the
Da Vinci Days parade formation area, was rubble.

Driver escapes seconds before solar vehicle explodes

Nick Sitts was driving a solar vehicle north along 15th Street toward
the formation area of the da Vinci Days parade shortly after 11 a.m.
Saturday when he heard a pop.

Moments later there was an explosion, and soon the $100,000 vehicle 
was engulfed in flames.

Sitts got out just in time - right after he heard that initial pop, 
said Hai Yue Han, co-captain of the Oregon State University Solar 
Vehicle Team, which constructed the vehicle from 2008 to 2010.

"If it had been a few moments later, he may have not made it out 
alive," Han said.

Sitts' sister, Danielle, also a member of the team, was in an escort 
car ahead of solar vehicle when the explosion occurred. She looked 
back and saw smoke.

"I was more scared than I'd every been in my life," she said. "My 
brother was in a car that was on fire."

Sitts' wife, Elizabeth, was in a trail vehicle with their 
soon-to-be-1-year-old baby Penelope and two others sisters of Nick, 
Nicole and Cheyenne Sitts. Elizabeth helped pull her husband away 
from the burning vehicle, Danielle said.

Sitts had first- and second-degree burns to his arms and face and 
some singed hair. "He looked like he had a bad sunburn, she said. 
"He lost a shoe; it disintegrated."

Sitts, 23, a junior chemical engineering major from Scappoose, was 
treated at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center. He was released 
mid-afternoon Saturday and was resting at home in Corvallis. His 
parents arrived from the Portland area to assist him.

"He seemed to be in very good spirits considering the accident and 
injuries he suffered," said Steve Clark, OSU vice president of OSU 
relations.

Han believes the explosion was caused by a short in one of the 
battery cells. Each of the 28 battery packs contains 20 small 
cylindrical lithium-ion battery cells - a total of 568.

Some of the battery cells landed in the OSU parking lot on the east 
side of 15th. The explosion occurred about 50 yards south of the 
Kerr Administration Building.

Sitts had driven the solar vehicle from 30th Street and Washington 
Avenue, where the vehicle was stored, Han said.

In the rubble, the titanium frame was still intact but warped. "We 
recovered nothing from that car," Han said.

The heat from the fire also caused minor asphalt damage a few feet 
away in the southbound lane of 15th.

Da Vinci Days organizers sent a truck to haul the rubble elsewhere 
on campus. The OSU Solar Vehicle Team did some quick research and 
found that there were no hazardous materials, Han said. The rubble 
was then placed in a campus disposal bin.

Han said there was some liability coverage on the vehicle, which was 
built with mostly donated parts. He guessed it would be 2014 before 
the team completes another solar vehicle.

Next time, he said, the team will use lithium iron nanophosphate 
batteries instead of lithium-ion batteries.

"They are inert. They do not explode," he said of lithium iron 
nanophosphate batteries. "It's a cutting edge technology that is 
coming out and we will be adopting that technology."

What worked Saturday was the solar vehicle team's recently upgraded 
egress system.

"With every solar vehicle, you have to be able to get out in 10 
seconds," Han said. He and others estimated that Nick Sitts made it 
out in two to five seconds.

Corvallis Fire Department, OSU Department of Public Safety, Oregon 
State Police and Corvallis police responded to the fire.
[Copyright 2011 gazettetimes.com. All rights reserved.]






{brucedp.150m.com}

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View this message in context: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/Oregon-State-University-solar-vehicle-catches-fire-while-being-driven-tp3673782p3673804.html
Sent from the Electric Vehicle Discussion List mailing list archive at Nabble.com.

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## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

> Lee Hart wrote:
> > On 7/17/2011 1:12 PM, Myles Twete wrote:
> > > http://www.gazettetimes.com/news/local/article_803a17e6-afd8-11e0-bedd-001cc
> > > 4c03286.html?mode=video
> ...


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## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

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## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

Good quote: "Next time, he said, the team will use lithium iron 
nanophosphate batteries instead of lithium-ion batteries."

Sounds like they used just plain-ole lithium batteries. Those DO burn. 
I was at a conference in Osaka where someone's brand-new laptop caught 
on fire. The photo of that fire was all over the internets. The thing 
the photo didn't show is just how bad they smell when they burn.

Kid was lucky to get out with only 2nd degree burns.

Cheers,
Peter

Read more: 
http://www.gazettetimes.com/news/local/article_803a17e6-afd8-11e0-bedd-001cc4c03286.html#ixzz1SOEVyZdU


On 7/17/11 1:08 PM, Willie McKemie wrote:
>


> Lee Hart wrote:
> >> On 7/17/2011 1:12 PM, Myles Twete wrote:
> >>> http://www.gazettetimes.com/news/local/article_803a17e6-afd8-11e0-bedd-001cc
> >>> 4c03286.html?mode=video
> ...


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## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

So how badly will the media and anti EV crowd distort this?




> Myles Twete wrote:
> >
> > They had it at our OEVA rally last weekend and it was looking great and
> > was
> ...


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## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

What's there to distort?

> Date: Mon, 18 Jul 2011 10:57:05 -0700
> From: [email protected]
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: Re: [EVDL] Oregon State University solar vehicle catches fire while being driven
> 
> So how badly will the media and anti EV crowd distort this?
> 
> 


> > Myles Twete wrote:
> > >
> > > They had it at our OEVA rally last weekend and it was looking great and
> > > was
> ...


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## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

I don't know that any distortion is needed.
This event once again teaches us that using laptop batteries in an EV is a
very bad idea.
They used TrustFire 18650 cells [don't you love the name] in a 20 cell
parallel modules by 28 modules in series.
see slide 20 in
http://classes.engr.oregonstate.edu/eecs/fall2010/ece111-001/SolarVehicle.pd
f

Gerhard

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf
Of AMPhibian
Sent: Monday, July 18, 2011 1:57 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [EVDL] Oregon State University solar vehicle catches fire while
being driven

So how badly will the media and anti EV crowd distort this?




> Myles Twete wrote:
> >
> > They had it at our OEVA rally last weekend and it was looking great and
> > was
> ...


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## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

Good thing they didn't by the 'Ultrafire' lithiums
http://www.dealextreme.com/c/batteries-400

They also carry 'UniqueFire', 'FandyFire' and 'Nextorch' 


----- Original Message ----
From: Gerhard Randers-Pehrson <[email protected]>
To: Electric Vehicle Discussion List <[email protected]>
Sent: Mon, July 18, 2011 2:26:27 PM
Subject: Re: [EVDL] Oregon State University solar vehicle catches fire while 
being driven

I don't know that any distortion is needed.
This event once again teaches us that using laptop batteries in an EV is a
very bad idea.
They used TrustFire 18650 cells [don't you love the name] in a 20 cell
parallel modules by 28 modules in series.
see slide 20 in
http://classes.engr.oregonstate.edu/eecs/fall2010/ece111-001/SolarVehicle.pd
f

Gerhard

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf
Of AMPhibian
Sent: Monday, July 18, 2011 1:57 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [EVDL] Oregon State University solar vehicle catches fire while
being driven

So how badly will the media and anti EV crowd distort this?




> Myles Twete wrote:
> >
> > They had it at our OEVA rally last weekend and it was looking great and
> > was
> ...


----------



## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

Sounds like they are looking into LiFePO4 now. That would be a good move
and make battery assembly much easier :-D

Mike



> Rod Hower <[email protected]> wrote:
> 
> > Good thing they didn't by the 'Ultrafire' lithiums
> > http://www.dealextreme.com/c/batteries-400
> ...


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## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

Maybe that all production EV's using lithium could suffer the same fate? You
don't think the media and the general public differentiate between lithium
chemistries? People already constantly try to use the exploding laptop
argument to spread FUD about EV's. 



> damon henry wrote:
> >
> > What's there to distort?
> >
> ...


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## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

> Date: Mon, 18 Jul 2011 14:41:33 -0700
> From: [email protected]
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: Re: [EVDL] Oregon State University solar vehicle catches fire while being driven
> 
> Maybe that all production EV's using lithium could suffer the same fate? You
> don't think the media and the general public differentiate between lithium
> chemistries? People already constantly try to use the exploding laptop
> argument to spread FUD about EV's. 
edu/mailman/listinfo/ev

Aaah, but any of them can. The charger can malfunction and cause a fire, a loose connection can get hot and cause a fire, a shorted cell can overheat and cause a fire... Of course, gas cars have been known to catch on fire as well  
I know what you are getting at, that this will be used to discourage the general public from trying EV's. Who knows though we may even some recalls some day on some OEM ev's after some unforeseen condition causes a fire or two. 
Unfortunately this event seems to be every bit as bad as you can make it out to be so there really is no room for distortion. 
Fortunately, the driver got out ok. That's about the only way that it could have been worse.Personally I do not charge my truck in my garage. If something bad happens during charging in my driveway, my house and my family are all still safe. My truck is not likely to have a problem during charging. With my flooded Nicads sitting in the bed I am definitely none going to have a scenario like the one in this article, but the truck stays outside anyway damon 
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## EVDL List (Jul 27, 2007)

> damon henry wrote:
> >
> > Aaah, but any of them can....
> >
> ...


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