Sorry but this is incorrect. For the alkali metals group of the periodic table, reactivity increases as you go down the group, hence lithium is the least reactive of the group being the smallest atomic size. Some revision for you all :-)
Chemical properties of the alkali metals - Group 1 - the alkali metals - Edexcel - GCSE Combined Science Revision - Edexcel - BBC Bitesize
I remember the old chemistry experiments from back in my school days. Lithium fizzed about on the surface when dropped into water, potassium burst into flame, and caesium explodes (well it would if we had had any, had to make do with a video).
Those exploding mobile phones and laptops obviously have something that causes them - the Li-Ion batteries, so they still must be reactive to something - presumably heat. Perhaps CO2 extiguishers would be of more use. Water may cool them down, but the 'fizzing' may well be a lot worse as the concentration of Lithium in battery packs is so much higher, combined with the heat.
Even with our not-so warm climate, I'm still surprised that more EV fires haven't occured, especially in early cars like the Nissan Leaf mk1 which don't have much (if any) proper battery cooling system.
I also wonder if other metals in the cars have an effect after accidents as I mentioned above (aluminium or magnesium), especially when high temperatures are involved, inclduing accidents in very hot/sunny weather.
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