A Norwegian shipping company does not take electric cars on board for safety reasons. Other shipping companies welcome Stromer. But now another company is reporting safety concerns, at least for used electric vehicles.
The ban on electric cars on Norwegian ships from a smaller but well-known shipping company has made waves in the electric car scene. Havila Voyages does not transport electric and hybrid vehicles due to battery fire hazards. With lithium-ion batteries, the fire is so difficult to extinguish that enormous amounts of water are required and highly toxic vapors are produced. On a passenger ship that would of course be a huge risk that the shipping company apparently does not want to take.
The actual background to the precautionary measure, which is causing a lot of trouble in the electric car lobby, is the spectacular fire on the car freighter “Felicity Ace”. The ship burned out completely at sea in February 2022 and sank. An ignited electric car battery was suspected to be the cause of the fire. In addition, the batteries of numerous electric vehicles fueled the fire so severely that all attempts to put it out were in vain.
According to a report by “Automobilwoche”, a second company has now announced restrictions on electric vehicles on board. However, only used vehicles are affected. “One of our other measures is that we do not transport any used electric cars, as they pose a higher fire risk than fully electric new vehicles due to potential battery defects,” says Sebjørn Dahl from “Höegh Autoliner” at “Automobilwoche”.
Explosive: Höegh Autoliner operates 50 large car ferries that transport, among other things, new VW and BMW cars. The company can hardly afford to miss out on this deal, because by 2035 at the latest, much earlier at VW, there will only be new electric cars for the EU market. The electric ban therefore does not apply to new vehicles. “There are highly developed smoke and fire alarms on our ships, and our crew is specially trained to detect and extinguish a possible fire at lightning speed,” Dahl continues.
Incidentally, not all shipping companies are restrictive in dealing with electric vehicles. The TT-Line takes a completely different approach and even offers charging stations for the crossing. “The charging station at which your electric car is charged during your crossing depends on the utilization and availability of the respective departure. Allocation is the responsibility of the loading officer. The plugs of the two charging stations are compatible with all connections of the electric cars,” says the company on its website.
On our e-mobility portal EFAHRER.com you will find all e-vehicles available on the German market
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