Due to the involvement of lithium, which is sensitive to high temperatures, EV battery fires need covering with thousands of litres of water to cool the battery.
However, with this new direct-injection system, the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency has showed that 240 litres of water is enough to stop the spread of flame from one battery cell to the other. The system has been developed in order to prevent thermal runaway, occurring when the energy contained in battery cells is released and serves to increase the spread of fire.
This becomes a major issue in enclosed spaces such as multi-storey car parks, where roof height is limited and existing fire engines can't access the scene of the fire, as was seen at a high-profile incident in Liverpool in 2018, when more than 1000 cars were destroyed by a fire. The Prospeed Hiload response truck is a Hilux extended by 1230mm and fitted with a third axle, a 1200-litre water tank and a torque-splitting differential. Using the Coldcut Cobra system, 20% of this 1200-litre tank is used on one fire.