German Taycan burns down in Belgium

[AutoX]

Have you checked the VIN on Porsche recall site on web and NHTSA site?
(Also recall notice issued in US for ARB6/ARB7 in October 2024 stated: Production Dates : OCT 21, 2019 - FEB 01, 2024)

yes, nothing listed. CTI4Garage also pulled my vin, and no battery recalls were performed or listed.

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[Tooney]

ARB6 & ARB7
ARB5
ARA5
APB5
edited to add: ARA4 (March, 2024)

 

[snstevens]

First, I'm so glad the mother and daughter were not hurt in this fire.

At the same time, automobiles burst into flames every year, with an estimate of hundreds of thousands of ICE vehicles burning each year in North America alone. Here is the latest from the US Fire Administration for 2023, and most of these fires are labeled either unintentional or equipment failure. The estimate of the percentage of fires based on "cars on the road" is ~0.04%.

Based on my research today, the total number of J1.1 Taycan's sold for the 2020-2024 model years worldwide is 157,807. Of these there are 5 instances of Taycans bursting into flames for some reason (charging or not). If we apply the 0.04% ratio there should be ~63 fires over those 5 model years.

I for one find comfort in the fact that a) My HV battery is being monitored; b) The number of documented fires in Taycans is very small, and in fact less than might be expected based on the normal occurrence of fires in ICE automobiles; and c) Porsche has an active recall in place to deal with the issue.

 

[Tooney]

How many Taycan fires have to occur to cause 'discomfort'?

 

[ct14garage]

Of these there are 5 instances of Taycans bursting into flames

I know of 2 instances in Thailand and 4 in China… That’s 6 already, counting only 2 countries in the world.

Allow me to doubt the accuracy of your data.

Keep in mind all these cases Im talking about the car spontaneously combusted out of nowhere and it didnt happen during charging or after an accident (if we count these the number SKYROCKETS)

 

[snstevens]

I know of 2 instances in Thailand and 4 in China… That’s 6 already, counting only 2 countries in the world.

Allow me to doubt the accuracy of your data.

Keep in mind all these cases Im talking about the car spontaneously combusted out of nowhere and it didnt happen during charging or after an accident (if we count these the number SKYROCKETS)

I don't know why the data I can find online doesn't reflect the 6 fires you mention, but along with the 5 fires I am aware of we are at 11 fires out of 157,807 Taycans on the road and possible subject to the recall. That is 0.007% statistically (1 out of ever 14,346 cars).

But perhaps you miss my point. Unfortunately, fires happen in automobiles all the time (see above graphic just for North America). The number of Taycan fires would have to increase to 13/year for 5 years (total 63 over 5 model years) to just get "even" with ICE vehicles fires.

The irony of this is that we don't seem to sweat the fact that ~210,500 ICE vehicles burst into flames in 2023, but every time there is a report of a fire of one Taycan it becomes a big deal. I'm left with the impression that on this forum the only acceptable vehicle fire statistic for Taycans is zero fires even in the case of accidents. To my way of thinking that is simply unrealistic. YMMV

 

[Tooney]

APB5 December 2023:

Dealer notice for APB5 December 2023:

TSB to replace battery modules in APB5 issued June, 2024.

ARA4 March 2024:

TSB to replace battery modules in ARA4 issued Oct. 2024.

ARA4, ARA5 recalls March 2024.

ARB5, ARB6, ARB7 recalls October 2024.

May, 2025, Porsche TSB stated diagnostic software for ARB6/7 will be available by September 30, 2025.

2021 ---> 2025.
Nothing to see here, move along.

 

[snstevens]

How many Taycan fires have to occur to cause 'discomfort'?

@Tooney, you ask a fair question, and I'm sorry I can't give a precise answer.

Perhaps if we had 1 fire/mo in North America I'd have "discomfort", keeping in mind that there are 34,557 Taycans sold in the United States from 2019 through 2024, plus ~1,000 more in Canada.

However, even at one a month the statistical likelihood of my car having a fire would be so small that I'd have to remind myself not to freak out ?

 

[ct14garage]

But perhaps you miss my point. Unfortunately, fires happen in automobiles all the time (see above graphic just for North America). The number of Taycan fires would have to increase to 13/year for 5 years (total 63 over 5 model years) to just get "even" with ICE vehicles fires.

I know how difficult it is for an EV (even with a flaw as big as the Taycan to catch fire) which is why every time I post how we do the battery repairs and start getting heat from Porsche dealer techs: “You’re gonna cause a battery fire and burn down the shop” - “How can you put the battery over 4 pallets it’s gonna catch on fire” and so on…. I just laugh at them cuz I know very well it’s impossible.

But this comes with considerations.

1. There’s no stifling a battery fire, once it happens it will burn until there is nothing but the metal chassis left. Unless you have a fire blanket to cover the car and starve the fire of oxygen but even then there will be damage!

ICE fire specially on early stages can easily be put out with a handheld fire extinguisher.

2. Many people sit in their car while DC charging. If a short corcuit were to occur in such a poor condition battery charging at 300kwh…. There’s a big probability the human wouldnt make it out the car. This is biggest concern that spontaneous combustion even.

3. As I said on my video a bigger yet concern over fire is electrocution. Which several of my customers have reported.

4. Tesla and BYD among others have long solved this problem. BYD specifically has also pretty much solved the battery fire on impact problem. Their blade batteries simply wont combust even if ruptured!

Porsche should up their game

 

[snstevens]

I know how difficult it is for an EV (even with a flaw as big as the Taycan to catch fire) which is why every time I post how we do the battery repairs and start getting heat from Porsche dealer techs: “You’re gonna cause a battery fire and burn down the shop” - “How can you put the battery over 4 pallets it’s gonna catch on fire” and so on…. I just laugh at them cuz I know very well it’s impossible.

But this comes with considerations.

1. There’s no stifling a battery fire, once it happens it will burn until there is nothing but the metal chassis left. Unless you have a fire blanket to cover the car and starve the fire of oxygen but even then there will be damage!

ICE fire specially on early stages can easily be put out with a handheld fire extinguisher.

2. Many people sit in their car while DC charging. If a short corcuit were to occur in such a poor condition battery charging at 300kwh…. There’s a big probability the human wouldnt make it out the car. This is biggest concern that spontaneous combustion even.

3. As I said on my video a bigger yet concern over fire is electrocution. Which several of my customers have reported.

4. Tesla and BYD among others have long solved this problem. BYD specifically has also pretty much solved the battery fire on impact problem. Their blade batteries simply wont combust even if ruptured!

Porsche should up their game

While I’m not worried about cooking in my Taycan while charging, I totally agree that with regard to battery safety, Porsche should “up their game”. Nicely stated.

 

[GTSS]

For a car in this price range, no one should be worrying about spontaneous fires. A Taycan just burned to the ground — almost certainly on ARB6/7, officially “safe to drive.” And some still find excuses for Porsche? Will it take someone dying for people to wake up?

 

[Sly_North]

1. There’s no stifling a battery fire, once it happens it will burn until there is nothing but the metal chassis left. Unless you have a fire blanket to cover the car and starve the fire of oxygen but even then there will be damage!

Oh it's even worse: the lithium in the battery burns by consuming the cathode, not oxygen. Even blocking the oxygen source won't stop the fire.
The only solution is to cool down the battery until there's not enough thermal energy left to cause the chemical reaction.

 

[ct14garage]

Oh it's even worse: the lithium in the battery burns by consuming the cathode, not oxygen. Even blocking the oxygen source won't stop the fire.
The only solution is to cool down the battery until there's not enough thermal energy left to cause the chemical reaction.

No, but the EV fire blankets we use at the shop while may not fully extinguish the fire without constant water to cool it down… They will contain the fire and make sure it wont spread.

 

[Sly_North]

...the EV fire blankets we use at the shop while may not fully extinguish the fire […] They will contain the fire and make sure it wont spread.

Ah yes that makes sense. Definitely still useful, then!

 

[Vanko91]

WRS0/WRS1 are independent of ARB6 and ARB7… Also ARA4/ARA5 is another independent recall

even if they all concern the battery and the symptoms / failure mode are basically identical…. The reports are not!

Can you

LOL... As I so often see... The dealer lied once again.... I guess that just dont wanna take the heat.

I bought a Taycan in late November last year with 26,000 km. According to the service book, the battery was replaced in August 2024. I recently checked the battery health at 31,000 km, and it showed 98% SoH, which supports that the replacement likely took place.

I haven’t received any recall notifications and I'm unsure if there are any outstanding recalls for my vehicle.

Do you know if recalls related to the battery are still active for cars that have already had the battery replaced?

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