From karn  Sat Feb 26 02:33:37 2000
Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2000 02:33:35 -0800
From: Phil Karn <karn@ka9q.ampr.org>
To: ev1-club@cco.caltech.edu
Cc: rbygness@qualcomm.com
Subject: More on EV1 fire in San Diego
Reply-to: karn@ka9q.ampr.org

It has now been over a week since the fire that destroyed 1997 EV1 VIN
428 while it was charging in Ruth Bygness and Ron Brauer's garage in
San Diego. On Wednesday of this past week, Ruth and Ron invited me to
their house as three GM personnel from LA and three State Farm
insurance representatives opened the sealed garage to inspect the
damage.

In a word, the scene was not pretty. The EV1, the garage and most of
the contents were a complete loss. The front end of the EV1 forward of
the propulsion electronics box was almost totally gone, along with
almost everything made of plastic, rubber or paper (i.e., burnable)
above or within several feet of the front of the car. Only the rear of
the car (i.e. the trunk and rear tires) was relatively intact.

This was a VERY serious fire. It happened in the evening when the
owners were home and awake to notice the smoke and to call 911.  When
the fire was first seen, it was relatively small and limited to the
front bumper area of the EV1. Despite Ron's attempt to fight the fire
with a garden hose and a quick response by the San Diego Fire
Department, it grew rapidly to engulf much of the EV1 and the garage,
burning through the closed garage door and igniting a nearby tree
before it was put out. Only the fact that the garage is detached from
the house kept the house itself from being damaged.

I shudder to think what would have happened had this fire occurred in
my own (attached) garage, sometime after midnight while I was asleep.

Last week I said the evidence initially pointed to the EV1's inductive
charge port. Of course, it is still too soon to draw any official
conclusions about the cause of the fire.  I emphasize that I am not a
professional fire investigator; I am merely a graduate EE with a
strong interest in the EV1.  But in the last week, I have only
strengthened my PERSONAL OPINION that the charge port was indeed
responsible for the fire.

I base my opinion on these things:

Ron's description of the initial fire as being under the center of the
front bumper;

My visual examination of the remains of VIN 428, comparing them with
the component layout and materials on my own EV1;

My conversations with the fire origins investigator retained by State
Farm (though these opinions are mine, not his);

The EV1 recall history, which includes a recall on the charge port for
a design defect that could cause a fire if water gets into the port;

and

The first- and second-hand reports I've gotten in the past week of
several "close calls" involving paddles melting into and/or smoke
emanating from inductive charge ports during charging.

I have formulated a preliminary theory of how the fire started and
propagated that I believe is consistent with all these things.

I FULLY understand the adverse effects that could result from
publishing this information on such a widely read list. Yes, it's
possible I'm wrong.  And I would prefer to leave this sort of thing to
the pros. So don't bother, uh, flaming me.

But I keep struggling with my conscience, and I keep coming to the
same conclusion: given the total lack to date of any kind of public
reaction from GM regarding this incident other than the reported "no
comment" from last weekend's meeting, it would be just plain *wrong*
to keep this information to myself if I sincerely believe it to be
true, as I do. I keep having the same nightmare of an even worse fire
occurring -- one where people die -- that could have been prevented
had they been warned. No car program, not even one as great as the
EV1, is worth a human life. It's not even close.

So here are my thoughts on ways to mitigate the potential fire hazard.
Try to do as many as you can:

1. Charge your EV1 only when you are at home and awake. Don't set the
timer for delayed charging.

2. Use public charging, or park your EV1 outside your garage while
charging. (Remember, the wall charger is not waterproof).

3. Place a pan of water on the ground under the inductive charge port
to quench any burning debris that may drip out of the bottom.

4. Install a smoke detector in your garage. Consider a "power dump"
scheme like that in computer rooms that would automatically drop AC
power to the charger if the detector trips.

5. Do not store or place flammable materials near, above or underneath
the charger or EV1.

6. If you leave your EV1 for any length of time (especially while
parked in your garage), pull the pack disconnect switch behind the
driver's seat.

--Phil