Porsche Cayenne Battery Tragedy

[Fleetlord]

Well this is a very sad and terrible tragedy that could have easily been avoided...

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/...004-story.html

The mysterious deaths of a mother and son on the Florida turnpike due to a "hazmat" situation has been solved.

The second I heard that they found out it was Hydrogen Sulfide poisoning, I thought....somebody, other than Porsche, put a non-OEM battery in that car.

The Cayenne battery is located behind the driver seat, so if it is not the right kind of battery for that installation, this is what happens...

It looks like she bought the car from a local independent, pay here kind of dealership....so either they or previous owner didn't go OEM (or equivalent) on the battery replacement.

So, if you are looking to buy an "exotic" kind of car with a bunch of special design quirks....such as a battery inside the passenger compartment, from a non OEM dealer....BE CAREFUL

[GradyPhilpott]

That is truly tragic.

I may be old fashioned and biased, but the battery belongs outside the passenger compartment, regardless of what kind it is.

There will be lawsuits, I'm sure.

[GB-man]

What an idiotic design decision. Particularly on such a large vehicle. Makes no sense.

[Kingair]

Originally Posted by GB-man

What an idiotic design decision. Particularly on such a large vehicle. Makes no sense.

Not at all !

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[SC11]

Originally Posted by GB-man

What an idiotic design decision. Particularly on such a large vehicle. Makes no sense.

There is valid reason why to locate the battery away from the engine bay but not really at the cost of lives!

The issue here is the battery used, an OEM battery would of prevented such risks.

Did someone cut corners along the line to save money or was it a genuine mistake, but regardless of this what a sad event.

[Cru Jones]

Originally Posted by GB-man

What an idiotic design decision.

x2

totally forseeable that non-OEM parts would be used.

anyway, shouldn't be the focus right now. let the laywers figure that out later. RIP to the victims and condolences to the family.

[kneedeep]

Originally Posted by gb-man

what an idiotic design decision. Particularly on such a large vehicle. Makes no sense.

x 3

[VICI]

Originally Posted by GB-man

What an idiotic design decision. Particularly on such a large vehicle. Makes no sense.

Totally agree. Completely stupid for any reasons!

[Abdullah71601]

I wouldn't have known what battery to look for in this application, and I doubt many others would either. Definitely would want a qualified mechanic to inspect any exotic not purchased from an OEM dealer.

Seems like a stupid place for a battery to me. In a crash, I would want the toxic bits outside the passenger envelop.

[Rock]

So where would the battery actually be - under the floor in the passenger compartment?
(Obviously it couldn't be sitting on the floor behind the driver's seat.)

[Runnin' Rebel]

Mine is directly under the drivers seat

[swatty]

Mercedes Benz and Audi have the battery under the drivers seat as well.
Sad that 2 people died but can't understand how you can stay in a vehicle with such a strong acid smell,

[onkyo]

Hydrogen sulfide stinks really bad . Strange the mother didn't get out of the car. A tragedy nonetheless.

[Alcan]

"The battery was not the original battery for the vehicle, nor the correct battery"

If it was similar to my Riviera with the battery under the back seat, it requires a vent tube through a rubber grommet in the floor.

[nick c]

I own Porsche Cayenne but you always have to use Oem parts very sad news

[Abdullah71601]

Originally Posted by onkyo

Hydrogen sulfide stinks really bad . Strange the mother didn't get out of the car. A tragedy nonetheless.

H2S desensitizes pretty quickly (olfactory fatigue). If the concentration was high enough to kill her she would not have smelt it long.

[RichM]

Many Corvettes have the battery located in the passenger cabin.

[Pix]

My 68 VW bug had the battery under the back seat.

[RW16610]

That's such a sad and unfortunate story. Hopefully this will make others get vehicles checked to make sure the correct parts are used.

Back when I owned an e36 BMW 3 Series there was an issue with those crappy aftermarket batteries. It stared to leak / corrode a lot after just a few months. So much so that the leads were literally welded on. The shop had to cut them off and install new ones. Thankfully that battery had a warrant that covered the work but NEVER again. Truly saddened by the story originally posted above.

[PatrickJ]

Terrible tragedy

[Hairdude1]

Sad

[Etschell]

Battery on my charger is in the trunk.

[G8RDPM]

Truly tragic.
Wifey had a Cayenne to tote the kid around.

Now has a Macan.
I'll check out the battery tomorrow.

[greggsiam]

Um, non-oem batteries have vent tubes, you just need the right model.

I have seen Audi and Mercedes with batteries under the rear seat and never heard of a death due to hydrogen sulfide. I don't remember any of them being vented either.

911's have always had the battery under the hood (which shares air space with the interior), and they started venting them from the 80's on. Most users never replaced them with OEM batteries or vented them either. (I used to be a 911/930 Porsche tech) Again, I have never seen a death or even a complaint.

Why would anyone continue to drive with a choking gas in the car without opening the window? Seems dumb or the wrong cause of death.

[CDNWatchNut]

Originally Posted by greggsiam

Um, non-oem batteries have vent tubes, you just need the right model.

I have seen Audi and Mercedes with batteries under the rear seat and never heard of a death due to hydrogen sulfide. I don't remember any of them being vented either.

911's have always had the battery under the hood (which shares air space with the interior), and they started venting them from the 80's on. Most users never replaced them with OEM batteries or vented them either. (I used to be a 911/930 Porsche tech) Again, I have never seen a death or even a complaint.

Why would anyone continue to drive with a choking gas in the car without opening the window? Seems dumb or the wrong cause of death.

H2S concentrations in air of several hundred parts per million can not only knock out your sense of smell very quickly but can cause immediate death due to respiratory arrest. There may have been little warning.

[Abdullah71601]

Originally Posted by CDNWatchNut

H2S concentrations in air of several hundred parts per million can not only knock out your sense of smell very quickly but can cause immediate death due to respiratory arrest. There may have been little warning.

IDLH (immediate death) concentrations for H2S are around 0.1%. Hydrogen sulfide is not a normal lead acid battery byproduct. It's hard to imagine the circumstances that would need to occur for a car battery to generate percent levels of H2S without simultaneously off gasing copious quantities of hydrogen, sulfuric acid vapor, and SOx.

To Greggs point, the acid fumes would be pretty offensive, and the burning eyes and throat from acid vapor would not desensitize or go away. Something else had to be going on.

[CDNWatchNut]

Originally Posted by Abdullah71601

IDLH (immediate death) concentrations for H2S are around 0.1%. Hydrogen sulfide is not a normal lead acid battery byproduct. It's hard to imagine the circumstances that would need to occur for a car battery to generate percent levels of H2S without simultaneously off gasing copious quantities of hydrogen, sulfuric acid vapor, and SOx.

To Greggs point, the acid fumes would be pretty offensive, and the burning eyes and throat from acid vapor would not desensitize or go away. Something else had to be going on.

Correct, 0.1% H2S in air, or 1000 ppm can result in immediate death. I don't understand battery chemistry and the potential for abnormal conditions to know if the level of H2S off-gassing is enough to drive such a concentration in a rapid manner. Either way, if the battery was the cause of death, it seems like a tragedy that could easily have been prevented by (first and foremost) putting safety ahead of other factors in the vehicle design. Designers should not rely on the average person to understand proper mitigation of the risks inherent to a poor design.

[bmrisko]

Mine is under the front pass. seat...2015 Jeep SRT.

More and more vehicles are getting their batteries relocated to under the pass. compartment floor.

[fmc000]

My BMW 320 Touring has that battery in the trunk and my former Audi A6 had it under the backseats.

[kilyung]

I'm surprised more companies aren't using sealed or lithium batteries.