Techno Chronicle | An emergency gun for controlling fires

There is now a small but useful pistol, a safety device capable of correcting certain anomalies which caused a lot of damage in the not so distant past.

Context first. It is important to know that until now, many car manufacturers have unfortunately found themselves obliged to launch recall campaigns on some of their electric vehicle models due to abnormally high fire risks that can be caused by the sudden combustion of their battery. Worrying, we agree.

That said, even with this rather alarming eventuality, electric vehicles are still safer than thermal vehicles.

According to a study carried out in 2020, gasoline and diesel cars are actually 60 times more at risk of catching fire.

The fact remains that the first wish of any driver remains that of eliminating any risk, of course, if not to limit at the very least the consequences of a potential fire. However, this is precisely what the new safety pistol could allow.

Promising machine

It was a Dutch company called Total Safety Solutions which decided to tackle the problem and created this gun which makes it possible to immobilize and easily secure an electric vehicle in the event of an accident, or in the event of emergency. The company called this machine its Emergency Plug, or its emergency plug, in good French.

We are talking here about a small gun that looks strangely like a charging station for electric vehicles, except that this terminal would be wireless. However, it has a completely different function, since it is entirely dedicated to safety. In this context, we will not be surprised to learn that the two inventors of the gun are former firefighters.

The two men had this happy idea, therefore, to design a part that could block all the primary functions of a vehicle in a problem situation, without anyone having to board it or perform complex operations to be able to bring that vehicle to a complete stop.

It is important here to know that in the event of an accident or mechanical glitches, one of the problems encountered by the emergency services is that they always do not know whether the vehicle involved is in “driving” or “walking” mode. back “. Moreover, in the case of electric vehicles, no motor noise indicates whether the vehicle is likely to move suddenly. Which is nothing to help. Hence the usefulness of this emergency socket which will simply make the vehicle believe that it is in charging mode, which will have the effect of putting all its main functions into dormancy.

This can prevent a lot of damage, because electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles still have a fairly high pulling power thank you, so that considerable damage can occur in a very short time.

But where is the problem ?

However, there remains a major question, namely what are the reasons why an electric vehicle battery can ignite?

The main cause of this problem lies in lithium, which is one of the components of the batteries used in most car models currently on the market.

The causes of a fire can be multiple. The problem may be due to a manufacturing defect, poor sealing of the battery, or even a faulty resistor which would have the effect of increasing the temperature of the vehicle abnormally and causing unexpected short circuits. Improper lithium charging at the time of manufacture could also cause overheating.

But still, it is also possible that the driver himself is the cause of the problem due to abnormal use of his battery.

If the vehicle is regularly exposed to high heat, or if charging is performed too often at 100% capacity instead of the manufacturers recommended 80% rate, the chemical structure of the battery may be affected and cause damage. fires.

However, the major problem with these fires of electrical origin is that they are very difficult to control. It takes a considerable amount of water to put out the flames, and many firefighters are not yet properly trained to contain them. Finally, to add to the complexity, even once the threat has apparently passed, the flames can resurface several hours later.

This shows how a tool like the small pistol from the Dutch company could save the emergency services a lot of trouble and, above all, ensure good safety for drivers in the event of a fire.

Currently, the system is offered in several emergency departments in the Netherlands. The company would soon like to extend the service elsewhere in Europe and subsequently has global ambitions. All that remains is to wait for it.