Hawaiʻi’s largest shipping company told customers this week that it won’t ship electric vehicles to Hawaiʻi anymore. Matson says it’s because of the fire risk of shipping lithium-ion batteries.
Matson has told customers in a letter that it will stop transporting not only electric vehicles to Hawaiʻi but also plug-in hybrids because of the fire risk.
Last month a cargo ship carrying 70 EVs and nearly 700 hybrids caught fire 300 miles south of Alaska. Smoke was first seen from the EV car deck, but it’s not confirmed that an EV battery was the source of the fire.
Matson says it plans to resume shipping EVs — but only when it has what the company calls appropriate safety solutions that can be put in place.
Matson shipped 30,000 vehicles last year, but the exact number of EVs and hybrid vehicles is unknown. Pasha Hawaii reportedly continues to ship EVs.
A bill passed by the Legislature this year directs the Hawaiʻi State Energy Office to develop a working group to get a handle on the best practices for EV batteries when they’re no longer needed.
Hawaiʻi’s Chief Energy Officer Mark Glick says that’s a challenge that’s become more pressing with the rapid growth of the EV market.
The Hawaiʻi Automobile Dealers Association says the market share of EVs in Hawaiʻi reached a record 17.3% in the first quarter.
Tesla led the segment with nearly 60% of all EVs. That was followed by strong growth from Kia, which saw year-over-year sales more than double.
