Photo: Milo Avidane
Ternary lithium cells are prone to thermal runaways. That’s why some companies such as ONE (Our Next Energy), BYD, and CATL are betting on LFP cells and why Toyota is going slow on electrification. The Japanese company prefers NiMH (nickel-metal hydride) cells for its hybrids. Yet, a 2022 Lexus RX450h with 2,000 miles on the clock caught fire on June 2.
His owner is Milo Avidane, who went to Twitter to report what happened to his car. According to Avidane, he was driving the hybrid vehicle when a fire started in the trunk. The Lexus customer said that that’s where the “lithium battery lives,” but that is not correct. The luxury brand talked to autoevolution and confirmed it also uses NiMH cells.
Avidane asked Lexus on Twitter for “a loaner at or above the car” he purchased. In the tweet where he first posted the blazing video, he said Lexus had not told him anything about that. In a second tweet posted five minutes later, he tagged Elon Musk and said he should have bought a Tesla instead. He must not have read our recent articles about the last three spontaneous fires with Tesla vehicles without any explanation from the company.
On the other hand, this is the first fire we are aware of that may involve the NiMH battery pack. And we treat that as a possibility because nothing so far confirms that the fire started at the battery pack. We only know that it seems to have come from the trunk of the RX450h.
We asked Lexus if it contacted Avidane to discuss the situation and if there were other cases it was aware of. The company told us only that it is aware of the problem and that it “will work with authorities to investigate the cause.” We also tried to contact Avidane, but he did not get back to us until we published this article. We’ll update it as soon as we hear back from him.
Avidane asked Lexus on Twitter for “a loaner at or above the car” he purchased. In the tweet where he first posted the blazing video, he said Lexus had not told him anything about that. In a second tweet posted five minutes later, he tagged Elon Musk and said he should have bought a Tesla instead. He must not have read our recent articles about the last three spontaneous fires with Tesla vehicles without any explanation from the company.
On the other hand, this is the first fire we are aware of that may involve the NiMH battery pack. And we treat that as a possibility because nothing so far confirms that the fire started at the battery pack. We only know that it seems to have come from the trunk of the RX450h.
We asked Lexus if it contacted Avidane to discuss the situation and if there were other cases it was aware of. The company told us only that it is aware of the problem and that it “will work with authorities to investigate the cause.” We also tried to contact Avidane, but he did not get back to us until we published this article. We’ll update it as soon as we hear back from him.
Yesterday while driving my brand new 2022 Lexus RX 450H F Sport with less than 2000 miles on it a fire started in the trunk where the lithium battery lives. For the time being all I'm asking for is a loaner car at or above the car I purchased-no help from #Toyota #LexusRX #lexus pic.twitter.com/BoL88X5U7L
— Milo Avidane (@AvidaneMc) June 3, 2022
@elonmusk - should have went with a #Tesla - my 2022 RX450H Fsport Hybrid with 2000 miles on it. A fire started in the trunk where the lithium battery lives. To date no help whatsoever from Lexus corporate or Lexus dealership. #LexusRX #lexus #toyota pic.twitter.com/OzAxpmQ09v
— Milo Avidane (@AvidaneMc) June 3, 2022
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