Boeing Battery Fires Highlight Folly of Obama's Electric Car Push

Investors.com ^ | January 30, 2013 | Editorial

[jazusamo]

Industrial policy: After lithium-ion batteries caught fire on Boeing's new Dreamliner, stories popped up about how dangerous they are. Turns out they're the same kind of batteries President Obama is forcing into U.S. cars.

This month, a Boeing 787 battery caught fire while the plane was sitting at Logan Airport in Boston. Another 787 was forced to land while flying over Japan, forcing Boeing to ground its fleet of state-of-the-art 787s.

In the wake of these events, the press suddenly took notice of the risks posed by lithium-ion batteries.

USA Today complained that the FAA should have been more cautious about letting Boeing use the batteries, given their "long-known vulnerabilities."

The New York Times reported that "the lithium-ion batteries used on the aircraft had experienced multiple problems that raised questions about their reliability," adding that "regulators have long known about the risks of lithium-ion batteries."

Another news story noted that "lithium-ion batteries are more dangerous because they store more energy" than traditional batteries.

Indeed, despite their advantages over traditional battery technology — longer life, more energy storage, less weight — and their widespread use in consumer products, lithium-ion batteries have something of a checkered past.

As USA Today notes, they've "set off explosions in some consumer products" and resulted in millions of laptop battery recalls.

In 2010, a UPS cargo plane crashed near Dubai, killing both pilots, after its cargo of lithium-ion batteries started burning.

[jazusamo]

I couldn’t agree more but they had better iron this problem out with a foolproof fix and pretty quick, it’s costing them now but nothing like it’ll cost them say a year from now.

[Seaplaner]

I agree, it does not make sense that they were not more skeptical, especially considering the CARGO safety record of Ni ion batts in flight (not to mention, the chevy (ugh) volt.)

One suspects, and hopes, that Boeing engineers are working up a replacement Ni-Cd battery and charging system, including all of the weight and balance calcs, safety sensors, and cockpit warnings and controls at this moment; and, that they will be doing the certification testing asap.

Maybe they are..."sparked" into action, eh?

.

[rbg81]

I remember seeing Boeing’s commercials about the Dreamliner for years and years. It seemed to emphasize globalism, diversity, and environmentalism. It kind of gave me the feeling that something like this would happen. And...sure enough.

[uncommonsense]

"catistopic"

Ok, you caught me. I can't see very well, compounded by using a Blackberry. It's challenging to function with myopia, hyperopia, and presbyopia at the same time. Luckily my right eye is the one that's far sighted (hyperopia) - it's my shooting eye (-;

[Navy Patriot]

Affirmative, but this is worse in the philosophy that we can build the better parachute on the way down.

[COBOL2Java]

Boeing up to this fiasco has had a stellar safety reputation and they knew of this lithium ion battery problem, I don’t understand this.

Perhaps the White Hut made Boeing an offer they could not refuse.

[COBOL2Java]

If Flat Screen TVs had been made mandatory early on and everybody were entitled to them, they would still cost $10k.

And they would explode. If I recall, the number one cause of apartment fires in the old Soviet Union was television sets suddenly catching fire.

[uncommonsense]

"but they had better iron this problem out with a foolproof fix and pretty quick, it’s costing them now but nothing like it’ll cost them say a year from now."

Indeed. I wonder if Juran Quality Engineering is still taught (the other quality guru without an award named after himself). The 1-10-100 principal is still relevant: it costs $1 to fix a fault during design, $10 while in production, and $100 while out in the field.

Also, I wish software engineering managers knew this and would stick to their guns...

[upchuck]

Remember they did not make the move to South Carolina.

They did make the move. Dreamliners are made in Charleston, SC.

[willk]

Good Grief!. The Volt and Karma problems were easily solved. How many ICE cars have caught on fire?

[jazusamo]

The Karma problem sure hasn’t been solved. Their battery was built by A123 systems and they’re bust and being sold to the Chinese the company Wanxiang. Will be interesting to see what happens.

[infool7]

I agree it’s probably worse then we both think it is but we’ve been in tighter spots and if only the adults would stand up and take charge we probably can make that parachute before we hit the ground.

[infool7]

I agree it’s probably worse then we both think it is but we’ve been in tighter spots and if only the adults would stand up and take charge we probably can make that parachute before we hit the ground.

[Navy Patriot]

...if only the adults would stand up and take charge we probably can make that parachute before we hit the ground.

Certainly we can gain more time in fall, Make the Volt hybrid with current reliable battery technology (already done), lower payload on 787 and use current reliable battery technology, back off from E-15% to E-0% and eliminate food riots in foreign countries, ban all boutique gasoline blends, build XL pipeline and jail environmentalists, just to name a few.

[MHalblaub]

Just the wrong batteries for the job:
http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/elon-musk-boeing-787-battery-fundamentally-unsafe-381627/

The lithium ion batteries installed on the Boeing 787 are inherently unsafe, says Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX and owner of electric car maker Tesla.

“Unfortunately, the pack architecture supplied to Boeing is inherently unsafe,” writes Musk in an email to Flightglobal.

“Large cells without enough space between them to isolate against the cell-to-cell thermal domino effect means it is simply a matter of time before there are more incidents of this nature,” he adds.