A Rivian battery pack in its EV plant in Normal, Illinois, caught fire on May 28, the Normal Fire Department reports.
(Photo : Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - MAY 09: A Rivian electric pickup truck sits in a parking lot at a Rivian service center on May 09, 2022 in South San Francisco, California.
The plant of the electric vehicle (EV) startup, Rivian Automotive, in Normal is home to the manufacturing of its all-electric cars and their components.
On top of that, Rivian also assembles its batteries at the same site.
The Normal Plant is the first factory of the automaker, followed by its upcoming facility in Georgia.
The second automobile facility is expected to be five times bigger than its counterpart in Normal, according to Inside EVs.
Rivian EV Plant's Battery Pack Catches Fire
But the manufacturing facility of the EV maker in Normal experienced the fury of engulfing flames this weekend, forcing an evacuation in its facilities.
(Photo : Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 09: Rivian employees stand beside the new all-electric pickup truck by Rivian, the R1T, as it sits at one of its facilities on November 09, 2021 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City.
As per a news story by WGLT.org, the fire department of Normal responded to the manufacturing site of Rivian after its battery pack caught on fire.
The Rivian battery pack had a thermal runaway, wherein the battery cells overheated and drew fire during one of its tests in the Normal plant.
The fire reportedly started from the southwest part of the Rivan facility, where the EV maker manufactures the batteries that power its cars.
The Normal Fire Department reports on Facebook that a "defective battery pack ignited inside the Rivian Automotive plant." Their firefighters responded to the Rivian facility at exactly 10:38 in the morning of May 28.
The Fire Department disclosed that they had to move the battery pack outside of the plant once they had successfully cooled it down.
The report says that their firefighters "continued to cool the pack with water until it was released to Rivian engineers for investigation and disassembly."
So, even if the battery pack had been booted out of the Rivian plant, the firemen did not stop cooling it with water to avoid overheating along the way.
Rivian Battery Pack Fire: What Caused it?
According to a recent report by Teslarati, the specific cause of the fire is still subject to investigation. Perhaps to end up with an accurate conclusion.
However, the Normal Fire Department disclosed that the fire began when the battery was being repaired.
It further states that the fire did not affect any vehicles on the production site. Instead, it only burned the battery pack that ignited the whole incident, along with a test booth equipment and a carrier.
It is worth noting that it is not the first instance that the Rivian Plant in Normal has caught fire. The Fire Department has already responded to three incidents since 2021.
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Written by Teejay Boris
