A local tow company has introduced two new containment units to reduce the dangers of electric vehicles on their lots.
Mike's Towing & Recovery, based in Hanover and York, Pa., has introduced two dedicated "EV Units" to their lots, said owner Michael Walls.
As the popularity of electric cars has increased, the unpredictable nature of battery fires has left Walls and other tow operators to adapt to the risks of towing and storing damaged electric vehicles on their lots.
"They're just unpredictable," said Walls. "We don't know when they're going to catch fire."
Thermal runaway
According to guidance from the National Transportation Safety Bureau, a hazard of electric vehicles equipped with high-voltage lithium-ion batteries is "thermal runaway," where a chemical reaction in damaged battery cells creates a self-sustaining chain-reaction of heat.
In thermal runaway, the heat generated by chemical reaction increases the chemical reaction, which increases the heat. This can create a domino effect, where one damaged cell overheats and damages an adjacent cell, which can continue to produce enough heat to ignite a fire for hours or days.
A battery pack in an electric vehicle may contain several thousand cells, the NTSB guidance states, of which only one cell needs to be damaged to cause thermal runaway.
Thermal runaway can be triggered by battery cells being damaged during a crash, or started by external fire impinging on the vehicle.
"It may not catch fire today; it may catch fire a week from now," Walls said.
In one example cited in a report by the NTSB, a Chevy Volt caught fire three weeks after it was involved in a crash test.
When these fires occur, they can take first responders hours to put out and use thousands of gallons of water.
On July 10, 2024, in Cumberland County's Upper Allen Township, firefighters responded to one such fire, which involved a Tesla SUV that was charging at a gas station.
There, crews worked for over five hours to extinguish the fire and cool the battery, according to a press release by the fire department.
Containment units
While the issue is a major consideration for fire departments responding to such fires, it can pose just as much of a problem for towing companies, which have wrecked vehicles sit on their lots for extended periods of time.
The issue led Walls to begin looking into ways to manage holding wrecked electric vehicles on his lots, which grew into purchasing 35 roll-off dumpster containers that can fit most electric vehicles around two years ago.
By containing the vehicles in the roll-off containers, Walls' business can contain any hazardous runoff in the dumpsters, as well as insulate other vehicles around them from damage in the event the vehicle catches fire.
Walls had considered several other options, including containment walls and fire suppression systems to block off electric vehicles from the rest of the lots, but decided on the roll-off options due to the ease of bringing the system to the scene of a fire and moving vehicles around.
While the majority of the dumpsters are used for other purposes and rentals, the dedicated EV units will be kept on each lot solely to contain damaged electric vehicles.
When called for a damaged electric vehicle, the EV units will be loaded onto a roll-off dumpster truck and brought to the scene, with emergency response available 24/7.
Once on scene, vehicles can either be loaded into the unit by a rollback tow truck, or lifted by a heavy-duty rotator tow vehicle, which has a crane.
Walls and his staff have been taking classes about electric vehicles over the last few years, which has helped shape the company's procedures for damaged electric vehicles.
Staff will soon be attending a class in Tennessee on the topic, Walls said, and he looks forward to seeing if the industry has learned more about the issue.
For Walls, who has been in the towing business for 25 years, the issue is just another aspect of a service industry that has to continually adapt to the trends of the automobile industry.
"It's new to everybody," Walls said. "Everybody is learning as we go."
While Walls now has two dedicated units for the purpose, his business is continuing to investigate new and better ways to handle electric vehicles and their related hazards.
Most important,for Walls is safety for his staff and for first responders.
"Ultimately, our goal is to do whatever we have to do to get out there, get the job done as safely as possible, and get, our first responders back to their base," said Walls.
The units can be called for by contacting either location, with the Hanover location being reached at 717-637-4380, and the York location being reached at 717-848-2820.
Harrison Jones is the Hanover reporter for the Evening Sun. Reach him at hjones@gannett.com.
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