Well I have always said that the worries about open pen count for nothing in comparison to the risk of fire from electric vehicles. I was referring to the charging side of things but the intensity and stubbornness of these vehicle fires is a particular concern.

The London Fire Brigades approach to putting out an EV fire is to do absolutely nothing.

www.bedsfire.gov.uk/.../Fire-in-Electric-Vehicles.aspx

From Jon's link....

"Electric vehicle fires are known to reignite hours, days or even weeks after the initial event, and they can do so many times.

Not only does this pose a safety issue, but it also poses a legal issue: recovery firms are increasingly concerned about dealing with electric vehicles."

Z.

This is a rather dated video showing why the army do not advise to put batteries out of use  by shooting at them (unlike things like encrypted radios or other hi tech kit where a 'shoot here' symbol is often affixed over the most sensitive parts. The procedure is only to be followed in the event of it being about to fall into enemy hands to put it beyond use . Its also a fun test to witness on your latest prototype design you are so proud of, after the immersion tests, heat test, vibration tests, drop tests etc. It is the only one where it must not work after the test)

The 2590/U battery is the only lithium based battery pack they test (about 30 seconds into the video ) I think any unbiased viewer will agree it is the most impressive. Internally these have 8 off 18650 cells, that are basically the same sort of thing a modern electric car has a few thousand of, so scale your expectation of the wow factor of the fire accordingly.

Mike.