How an eco electric bus burns in an accident

[luvrbus]

The Gillig CNG the tanks on top covered with fiber glass cover,the HVAC is under the cover too ,Valley Metro runs a lot Giiig buses,wirh  the Cummins L9  O  % emission CNG engines. They have 30 nice MCI's for the express routes with ISX 12 Cummins engines   

[Nova Eona]

https://www.carscoops.com/2022/04/cng-powered-bus-catches-fire-looks-like-a-scene-from-a-hollywood-movie/

[dtcerrato]

So there you are! Same video, different text, simply amazing. No social media brain drool here BW. We don't do social media except to shop or in the interest of buses.

[luvrbus]

So there you are! Same video, different text, simply amazing. No social media brain drool here BW. We don't do social media except to shop or in the interest of buses.

If all the tanks went off at 1 time the bus would be orbit  ,I broke a valve off a oxygen bottle with 2200 psi and the heavy joker took off like a bottle rocket and those are probably 8,000 psi tanks

[Nova Eona]

I know we have our heated ICE vs EV debates, but I think we can all agree we don't want ECE vehicles.

[windtrader]

Looking at the video again, it appears to me that the flames are escaping from windows and a hole in the roof. As I have first hand experience watching a lithium ion pack go off, the fire just sends flames like you see. I suspect when the batteries lit up, the explosion and heat and pressure directed the escaping flames upward into the passenger area then it melted a window and started blowing out. You can see the seccond burst of flames on the back side escaping once the heat created a weak place to direct the heat.
It may be a design feature to shield the sides of the battery compartment and direct the heat up rather than sidewways. you can imagine how much damage would occur if those side flames burst out at 3ft.

[luvrbus]

Don you can see the CNG tanks on the roof there are no batteries in the 1st video.

[dtcerrato]

If all the tanks went off at 1 time the bus would be orbit  ,I broke a valve off a oxygen bottle with 2200 psi and the heavy joker took off like a bottle rocket and those are probably 8,000 psi tanks

I've witnessed a SCUBA tank turn torpedo! Scary and it didn't happen underwater thankfully...

[windtrader]

Don you can see the CNG tanks on the roof there are no batteries in the 1st video.

Clifford, You have more detail looks than I. Either way, it seems a gas tank in a car is the least explosive of the bunch. lol, once they got past the tanks behind the ford PU design.

[luvrbus]

CNG has a good safety record for fire ,the bus being in Italy we will never know what happened, here the NTSB would be all over it to find out what caused the fire.   

[oldmansax]

are scantily clad empty head influencers next?

buswarrior     

Not pointing this to anyone, just thought it was funny, considering things I hear nowadays.

"If your brains were clothes, would you be decently dressed?"  LOL!

TOM

[Jim Blackwood]

Flammable compressed gas tanks generally come with a melt plug that prevents explosion by venting the gas if the internal pressure gets too high. In the case of a propane tank external combustion is probably better than internal combustion, but without oxygen how would you have internal combustion anyway? Guess you have to draw the line somewhere between very rapid expansion and combustion and explosion but with enough gas I can see where it might be hard to tell the difference.

Jim

[Gary Hatt - Publisher BCM]

I agree with others, that is a CNG fuel fire.  Lithium batteries are generally mounted below the floor due to their weight.

I added a Protang fuel suppression tube system in my Generator compartment last summer and installed another tube in my Series 60 main engine compartment while in Quartzsite.  It was installed by Aaron Jones, The Mobile RV Tech guy who advertises with us at the top of this page. 

A lot of buses burn and many are started by engine fires as you can read in this article on our Blog by Ted Boothroyd https://www.busconversionmagazine.com/bcm-blogs/buses-really-burn-the-talk/

I had an engine fire last summer when leaving Denver climbing a hill when a coolant hose started coming off and blew coolant all over my turbo.  I was able to extinguish it with a fire extinguisher, but I didn't even know it was on fire until I noticed the engine overheating and went back to look for the problem and noticed flames pouring off my turbo and exhaust pipes.

From now on, if/when my engine catches on firre, this fire tube will extinguish the fire without me having to even go back there.  This will make me feel safer when traveling down the road in this old bus.

[luvrbus]

I agree with others, that is a CNG fuel fire.  Lithium batteries are generally mounted below the floor due to their weight.

I added a Protang fuel suppression tube system in my Generator compartment last summer and installed another tube in my Series 60 main engine compartment while in Quartzsite.  It was installed by Aaron Jones, The Mobile RV Tech guy who advertises with us at the top of this page. 

A lot of buses burn and many are started by engine fires as you can read in this article on our Blog by Ted Boothroyd https://www.busconversionmagazine.com/bcm-blogs/buses-really-burn-the-talk/

I had an engine fire last summer when leaving Denver climbing a hill when a coolant hose started coming off and blew coolant all over my turbo.  I was able to extinguish it with a fire extinguisher, but I didn't even know it was on fire until I noticed the engine overheating and went back to look for the problem and noticed flames pouring off my turbo and exhaust pipes.

From now on, if/when my engine catches on firre, this fire tube will extinguish the fire without me having to even go back there.  This will make me feel safer when traveling down the road in this old bus.

Antifreeze fires when they really get rolling can be hard to control, I tell people to fix a hose leak because antifreeze will burn, and they look at me like I am crazy.