Article - Danfoss SEM-SAFE high-pressure water mist systems effectively suppress fires in EVs

Article - Danfoss SEM-SAFE high-pressure water mist systems effectively suppress fires in EVsArticle | By Henrik Bygbjerg High-pressure water mist systems effectively suppress fires in EVs A test by Danfoss Fire Safety and Siemens indicates that fire suppression solutions combining fast detection with high-pressure water mist systems are very effective against fires in EVs in parking garages, preventing damage to nearby vehicles and preventing fires from spreading from burning cars. Danfoss Fire Safety’s SEM-SAFE® high-pressure water mist system is easy to retrofit in existing buildings, providing scalable, dependable, and future-proof protection of life and property against all types of vehicle fires. Electric vehicles (EVs) are on the rise: according to one estimate quoted by Forbes 1) , European sales of battery electric vehicles grew to just over 2 million in 2023 (compared to 1.6 million in 2022) and could reach 4.8 million in 2025. Political regulations also favour the continued adoption of EVs; in the European Union, Regulation (EU) 2023/851 of 19 April 2023 2) states that incentive mechanisms will continue to support the deployment of vehicles with emissions from zero up to 50 g CO2/km, including battery electric vehicles, until 1 January 2030. For the foreseeable future, EVs look set to remain a popular means of combining convenient transportation with reduced climate impact, but even though the risk of fires in EVs is sometimes overstated, the increased popularity of EVs does have implications for fire safety design. 1) forbes.com 2) eur-lex.europa.eu 3) spectrum.ieee.org Lower risks but different challenges While the fire risks in connection with EVs are frequently regarded as higher than with internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, fires in EVs are actually comparable to fires in ICE vehicles in terms of fire load, fire intensity, and smoke production. Indeed, statistics indicate 3) that the risk of fires is significantly lower with EVs than with hybrids or ICE vehicles. Fire Risk Subjective perceived fire risk by engine type and reality 35% 10% 7% Electric Petrol LPG Data Source: Statista GmbH 2023 20% 19% 4% 3% 3% Diesel Hydrogen Hybrid Engine irrelevant Do not know Perception Reality 3,47% Hybrid 1,35% Combustions engine 0,03% Electric Data Source: Autoinsurance EZ 2020 While the general public perceives the fire risk of EVs as significantly higher than that Classified as Business of ICE vehicles, insurance data indicates that the actual fire risk of ICE vehicles and hybrids is far greater than that of EVs. ® Danfoss Fire Safety A/S · Phone: +45 7488 7800 · firesafety@danfoss.com · www.semsafe.danfoss.comPage 2