After a number of of its electrical battery-powered vans caught hearth Friday morning at their Phoenix headquarters, the Nikola Motor Company implied foul play was at hand within the blaze.
“Early this morning behind our Phoenix headquarters, a fire occurred which affected multiple battery electric trucks. No one has been injured. Foul play is suspected as a vehicle was seen in the area of the affected trucks just prior to the incident and an investigation is underway,” the corporate wrote on Twitter.
Nikola Motors indicated that extra info could be launched when it was obtainable; the corporate has not posted something on the platform since. At least 4 of the corporate’s vans had been misplaced to the flames.
Only 63 Nikola Motors vans had been made complete within the first three months of 2023, with 31 of these being delivered to sellers in line with Reuters.
Hazardous supplies crews and firefighters from the Phoenix and Tempe, Arizona hearth departments arrived on the scene to place out the fireplace after receiving stories of the incident at round 4:30 a.m. native time.
Burning electrical automobile batteries will be tough to douse, as power saved inside can re-ignite new chemical fires even after an preliminary hearth is snuffed out. As an electrical automobile heats up, it may well additionally enter a “thermal runway,” which implies it is going to keep its personal warmth in a self-destructive loop.
“In situations like this, there’s thermal runaway, which is an uncontrollable self-heating state,” These are extraordinarily arduous to extinguish,” Phoenix Fire Department Captain Todd Keller instructed KPHO-TV.
Instead, water was directed on the burnt vans for hours with the intention to settle down the batteries sufficient to maneuver them to storage, whereby they could possibly be immured in sand or submerged solely in water.
The conflagration was simply the newest setback for Nikola Motors, which laid off 150 staff at a European manufacturing unit — and 120 at its Phoenix and Coolidge, Arizona amenities — simply final week.
Content Source: www.washingtontimes.com