Tesla Inc (TSLA)

[boston745]

Fire at Santa Ana energy storage facility prompts temporary evacuations in industrial area

A fire at a battery energy storage system facility prompted the temporary evacuation of an industrial area in Santa Ana on Wednesday, July 17, authorities said.

Around 7:45 p.m., a fire broke out at the facility in the 1300 block of East Warner Avenue, according to Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Sean Doran. At least one battery unit was ablaze when authorities arrived, though it was not clear if the fire had spread.

Then again, as lithium batteries are prone to spontaneously combust, more Tesla megapacks means greater chance Tesal battery packs spontaneously combust, further hurting the brand. This makes 3 battery storage facility fires in California that im aware of. One in each of its major cities. SanFran area, San Diego, now LA. Not surprising given the proximity to fault lines and thus greater EM radiation. There was a significant battery fire in China if i recall correctly as well.

https://www.ocregister.com/2024/07/17/fire-at-energy-storage-facility-prompts-evacuations-in-industrial-area-of-santa-ana/

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How does EMF cause lithium batteries to experience thermal runaway and thus spontaneously combust? One of two main ways:

#1 - Overcharge/Discharge

With various impressed external magnetic field intensities an effect was noticed on the charge and discharge curves as well as the charge and mass concentrations within the batteries. With the two-dimensional model starting from 0mT and going to 1mT had the effect of discharging the battery faster and charging the battery faster. With the two-dimensional model starting from 1mT and going to -1mT had the effect of charging the battery faster. In either case an effect on the various characteristics of the battery were studied. With the experiments conducted on the two types of batteries the effect was more profound than subtle. Discharge times were twice as fast and charge times were equally
affected. With the smaller batteries they all generally charged faster under the presence of a magnetic field due to more uniform penetration. In the presence of the field they also discharged faster. The larger batteries would not see the same uniform penetration because only a small area of the battery sees the center of the coil it is placed on

In this dissertation, they found that external magnetic fields significantly increased charge and discharge rates in individual lithium battery cells; like shown in the following image. They also found that smaller batteries were impacted to a greater degree than larger ones. This is likely a reason Tesla is switching to larger battery cells in addition to employing magnetic attenuating honeycomb sandwich battery pack.

Thermal Runaway of Lithium-Ion Batteries Triggered by Electromagnetic Interference
https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9025761

https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0378775320302172-fx1_lrg.jpg

#2 - Stimulation of Dendrite Growth

Thermoelectric current causes asymmetric growth pattern of dendrites.

thermoelectromagnetic convection occurs in the vicinity of the solid-liquid interface, and vortices are generated between dendritic arms. It is shown that the thermoelectromagnetic convection has a major influence on dendritic morphology.

Quote Sources:

#1:https://digitalcommons.njit.edu/theses/1743

#2:https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S001793101930225X