Water Spray Fire Suppression Tests Comparing Gasoline-Fuelled and Battery Electric Vehicles

The increased use of electric vehicles has raised a concern about the performance efficiency of water spray fire suppression systems (often denoted "drencher systems") typically installed on ro-ro cargo and ro-ro passenger ships. A test series was conducted involving testing of two pairs of geometrically similar gasoline-fuelled and battery electric vehicles in test conditions as equivalent as possible. During testing, key parameters such as the heat release rate, the gas temperature above the vehicle and the surface temperature of target steel sheet screens at the sides of the vehicle were measured. Fire ignition was arranged in such a way that the gasoline fuel or the battery pack was involved at the initial stage of the fire. It is concluded that fires in the two types of vehicles are different but have similarities. However, a fire in a battery electric vehicle does not seem to be more challenging than a fire in a gasoline-fuelled vehicle for a drencher system designed in accordance with current international recommendations.