A top Florida state official warned Thursday that firefighters have battled a series of fires caused by electric vehicle (EV) batteries swamped by Hurricane Ian.
Electric vehicle batteries that have been flooded in the aftermath of the hurricane are at risk of corrosion, which could spark unexpected fires, according to Jimmy Patronis, the state’s chief financial officer and fire chief.
“There are a lot of EVs disabled by Ian. As those batteries corrode, fires start,” Patronis tweeted Thursday. “That’s a new challenge that our firefighters haven’t faced before. At least on this kind of scale.”
“Special training and understanding of electric vehicles is needed to ensure these fires are put out quickly and safely,” he continued in a follow-up tweet. “Thanks to [North Collier Fire Rescue] for your hard work.”
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Patronis posted a video of firefighters in Naples, Florida battling a fire started by a Tesla EV battery. A bystander is heard on the video saying that the crew had used hundreds of gallons of water to try and put out the fire.
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Last week, Hurricane Ian slammed into cities along Florida’s west coast, including Naples and Fort Myers, making landfall as a Category 4 storm. The hurricane caused more than 100 deaths and more than a million homeless residents. electricity.
It’s unclear how many electric vehicles were hit or destroyed by the storm.
Firefighters try to put out a fire started by a flooded electric vehicle after Hurricane Ian hit Florida’s west coast.
(Jimmy Patronis/Twitter)
Meanwhile, consumers are increasingly turning to electric vehicles as the Biden administration continues to push for a green transition involving zero-emission cars. Between April and June, electric vehicles accounted for 5.6% of new car purchases in the US, a slight increase from the first three months of 2022, according to Kelley Blue Book.
Shortly after taking office, President Biden announced a goal of ensuring that 50% of new car sales are electric vehicles by 2030.
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The Biden administration has also taken a number of steps to encourage Americans to switch to electric vehicles. The president signed the Inflation Reduction Act, a bill that included a provision giving Americans a $7,500 tax credit for electric vehicle purchases, which became law in August, and the Department of Transportation has worked to create a federal roadside electric vehicle charging network.
However, critics have criticized the administration for giving a “false impression” about electric vehicles, pointing out that they are expensive and often unreliable.
“[The EV push] it’s really kind of a scam,” Myron Ebell, director of the Center for Energy and Environment at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, told FOX Business in July. “It can be a good deal for some people in some places under some circumstances. But overall right now, it’s not a good deal.”