On the morning of the 11th at the indoor parking lot of Inspire Resort in Yeongjongdo, Incheon. Small nozzles were installed in the floor of the electric vehicle charging area. When the artificial intelligence (AI) closed-circuit (CC) TV on the opposite wall detects heat, smoke, or flames, water gushes from the nozzles to cool the battery under the vehicle. It supplements the limits of the existing method that required a person to approach the burning vehicle with a fire blanket.
This device can be installed not only in new buildings but also in existing parking lots. As more companies introduce related technology, the approach to responding to electric vehicle fires is shifting from "manual suppression" to "automatic detection and cooling." However, with about two years since commercialization, deployment is in the early stage.
The "upward automatic direct-water device" installed at Inspire Resort uses one AI CCTV to monitor three sides of the electric vehicle charging area 24 hours a day. Eight nozzles are installed in the floor of each parking space. When it detects heat of 70℃ or higher, smoke, or flames, it sprays at least 240 liters of water per minute in the parking space where the fire occurs. It can begin cooling the battery in the early stage of a fire without anyone approaching.
An official at Yuksong, a fire safety specialist company that manufactured the device, said, "In a proof-of-concept test conducted by the National Fire Research Institute, we confirmed the effect of suppressing battery thermal runaway within 10 minutes after the fire started." Yuksong supplied this device to business sites such as the LG Electronics Magok R&D Center and Cheongna Hana Financial Center, and to multifamily housing projects such as "HAUTERRE Banpo" in Jamwon-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul, and "Raemian La Grande" in Imun-dong, Dongdaemun-gu.
The reason battery cooling is important in electric vehicle fires is because of "thermal runaway." Hundreds of lithium-ion battery cells are installed in a pack on the bottom of an electric vehicle. If the temperature of a single cell rises abnormally due to external shock, internal short-circuit, overcharging, or manufacturing defects, the heat can spread sequentially to adjacent cells. Once thermal runaway begins, even if the visible flames are suppressed, the inside of the battery can reignite.
At present, at fire scenes, responders cover the vehicle with a fire blanket to block the spread of flames and smoke, then cool the battery with a mobile water tank. However, it is difficult to stop thermal runaway with a fire blanket alone. Depending on the product, a fire blanket for a passenger car can weigh 20 to 30 kilograms and measure 6 to 9 meters in width and length. It is hard for a civilian to unfold and cover a vehicle at a scene with high heat and toxic gases.
Kim Pil-soo, a professor in the Department of Future Automotive Engineering at Daelim University, said, "When an electric vehicle catches fire, the temperature rises rapidly, and in an enclosed space, smoke can accumulate, increasing the risk of suffocation," and added, "It is practically difficult for a civilian, not a professional firefighter, to put on a fire blanket, and it is not easy to extinguish a battery fire with just a fire extinguisher."
The upward automatic direct-water device can cool the battery even before a person approaches the burning vehicle. While a ceiling sprinkler slows the spread of fire to surrounding vehicles or facilities, the underbody water-spray device suppresses temperature rise by spraying water close to the battery pack.
It can also be installed in existing parking lots. The installation cost is about 25 million to 30 million won per parking space. After an electric vehicle fire at an apartment complex in Cheongna, Incheon, in 2024, several fire equipment companies developed devices that combine fire detection and underbody water spray and have been supplying them to office facilities and multifamily housing. Because the technology has not been commercialized for long, the market is forming as early installation cases accumulate.
The remaining task is to establish a system to evaluate each company's device by the same standards. Conditions for detecting heat, smoke, and flames, water volume, spray duration, and the number of covered parking spaces can differ by product, but there are not enough common performance standards to compare them comprehensively. There are also not many cases where the devices have operated for a long time in actual electric vehicle fires. Post-installation inspection cycles, responsibility for malfunctions, and who bears maintenance and management expense must also be defined.
Equipment used after fire crews arrive on scene is also being developed. The Busan Fire and Disaster Headquarters deployed a penetrating suppression device to the scene of an electric bus fire in February. The hydraulic device pierces the battery pack on the top of the bus and injects water directly into the interior.
While penetrating devices can cool the inside of a battery directly, the position and structure of batteries vary by vehicle, making it difficult to apply uniformly to passenger cars or apartment parking lots. If a normal battery cell is penetrated incorrectly, it could worsen the fire. Its purpose and operating point differ from underbody water-spray devices that automatically detect fires and activate in the early stage.
Technology development to enhance the inherent safety of batteries is also continuing. Samsung SDI unveiled its "No-TP" technology, which blocks heat generated in a specific cell from spreading to adjacent cells. LG Energy Solution developed technology that uses current signals and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) to detect early signs of abnormalities inside a battery.
Experts note that it is difficult to prevent or extinguish electric vehicle fires with a single piece of equipment. They say a multi-layered response system is needed that detects battery abnormalities early, slows the spread with ceiling sprinklers, and concentrates water on the vehicle's underside.
Kang Yun-jin, a professor in the Department of Fire Protection System Engineering at Daelim University, said, "A penetrating device can put water directly into the battery, but if it hits a cell incorrectly, it can worsen the fire, and it is also hard to apply in multifamily housing," and added, "For now, activating ceiling sprinklers together with underbody water-spray devices to cool the battery is the most practical approach for early response."