Part 4/10:
A crucial aspect of testing involved triggering thermal runaway within the battery pack. This phenomenon occurs when a cell's temperature rises uncontrollably, leading to combustion. A specialized propane burner would be used to generate controlled heat under the car, pushing the battery pack towards this critical state. Once thermal runaway was initiated, a simulated fire department response would commence.
Adam noted the operational challenge for firefighters arriving at an incident scene, as they may encounter a blaze of unknown origins. The experiment aimed to replicate this scenario to assess fire service response techniques and how to best combat these specific types of fires.