Burning Teslas Are Delaying LA Wildfire Recovery as EVs' Lithium Batteries Fuel Fires and Release Toxic Fumes

Burning Teslas and other electronic vehicles are delaying recovery efforts for those affected by the Los Angeles wildfires as their lithium batteries help to fuel the fires and release toxic fumes.

"A lot of the cars in the evacuation area were lithium batteries," Jacqui Irwin, a state assembly member representing the Pacific Palisades, told Bloomberg. "We've heard from firefighters that those lithium batteries burned fires near homes – like those with power walls – for much longer."

Due to the amount of energy stored in lithium batteries, when these batteries catch fire it can be much harder to put out. A Los Angeles firefighter Lyndsey Lantz told the Express, fires fueled by the batteries "take different means to extinguish."

While water can be used to help quell the flames, lithium battery fires could require up to 40 times more water than a regular car fire might need, according to a 2023 article by The Conversation.

California is one of the leading states in electric vehicles. More than 430,000 Teslas were being driven in Los Angeles at the time of the wildfires, according to S&P Global Mobility.

"The state has seen other fires, but nothing this urban, with so many neighborhoods and structures where you'd expect to see more electric vehicles and other energy storage systems," Robert Rezende, a San Diego firefighter and specialist in lithium battery hazards, told Bloomberg.

Residents are being told to avoid trying to inspect the damage themselves until it has been looked at by officials due to possible hazardous waste and fumes from materials that were not meant to be burned.

"It's a little different world now today, with batteries — not just car batteries, but battery packs, people with solar, those Tesla wall batteries and the like," Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a Jan. 13 interview with CNN. "The hazmat side of this is made a little bit more complicated, which is fine. We'll work through that."

More than 40,000 acres have been burned by the wildfires tearing through greater Los Angeles County. As of Friday, at least 27 people have died from the blaze, as reported by CBS News.

Originally published by Latin Times.