RealTesla

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dragontamer

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It Took 36,000 Gallons Of Water To Extinguish A Burning Tesla (jalopnik.com)

submitted 11 months ago by dragontamer to c/realtesla

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A new crash recently in Alabama, but a reminder to something that we all know. Burning Teslas are far more difficult to extinguish than any other car.

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[–] totallynotarobot 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

What is your job and would one get into that field if one were so inclined. And how much of your job involves setting things on fire for science

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I don't get to set stuff on fire as much as I did in grad school, but I still get to do it occasionally (typically cost, safety, time, etc limitations). I got a degree in mechanical engineering then stayed on to do experimental fire research on lithium ion batteries. Now I help design battery packs that can withstand single cell failures without blowing up completely. Basically I keep a small fire from turning into a big fire. The main trade off is mass/volume of the battery pack, but the latest tech is getting really good in terms of performance.

In grad school, I would've tested the hell out of all my ideas. Now, my time is worth something and I have to be smarter about it. Typically model/simulate several ideas, optimize the best of those ideas, then test the best ideas based on preliminary simulation results. Iterate based on test results and so on.

[–] totallynotarobot 2 points 11 months ago

Even the grown-up version of that sounds incredibly cool. Thanks for sharing!