Fire at Rivian’s factory damages multiple electric vehicles

3 weeks ago 12

A occurrence broke retired successful a parking batch astatine Rivian’s Normal, Illinois mill implicit the weekend, damaging respective electrical vehicles, local media is reporting. No injuries are being reported astatine this time.

A spokesperson for the Normal Fire Department told The Verge that a study of a occurrence was called successful astatine 9:43PM CT Sunday astatine the Rivian factory. That said, Rivian is present starring the probe into the quality of the blaze, on with the company’s security company, with the town’s occurrence officials lending their enactment arsenic needed, Normal Fire Department spokesperson Matt Swaney said successful an email.

“It is simply a precise intricate and analyzable probe truthful we bash not person a timeline of erstwhile and if immoderate root oregon origin whitethorn beryllium determined astatine this time,” Swaney added. “The assembly works itself is unaffected by the incident. There were nary injuries to firefighters oregon Rivian personnel.”

Rivian is present starring the probe into the quality of the blaze

Meanwhile, witnesses told 25 News Now they could spot flames and fume rising from the mill tract astatine a distance. The mill itself was not damaged, arsenic the occurrence was contained to the parking lot.

“We are investigating the origin of a occurrence that damaged a fig of vehicles successful a parking batch astatine our Normal works precocious Saturday night,” Rivian spokesperson Peebles Squire said successful a statement. “The works itself is unaffected. There were nary injuries. We are not providing further details astatine this time.”

Fire is progressively becoming a large hazard origin for EV manufacturers, arsenic lithium-ion artillery cells tin pain highly blistery and are resistant to accepted methods of prevention. Over a twelve radical person been killed successful fires linked to faulty e-bike batteries successful New York City. A Tesla Semi caught fire successful California past week, causing a large postulation jam.

Of course, gas-powered vehicles tin drawback fire, and often bash astatine a overmuch higher complaint than electrical vehicles. But the trouble successful containing and extinguishing EV batteries marque them a unsocial situation for occurrence departments, particularly arsenic EV income proceed to grow.

First responders are being trained to grip EV artillery fires since they can’t beryllium extinguished via immoderate accepted methods. Republican lawmakers, which person mostly opposed the subsidization of EV manufacturing, are pushing the connection that EVs are uniquely dangerous. And the Biden administration, which is trying to promote much consumers to bargain EVs arsenic a mode to combat clime change, is trying to get section departments to share accusation astir the champion ways to combat EV artillery fires.

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