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Electric Vehicles Can Explode Says Jeremy Clarkson

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naomi24 | 08:05 Sun 30th Jul 2023 | Motoring
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His article here is quite alarming.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/23240656/jeremy-clarkson-electric-vehicles-exploding-dangerous-petrol/

Is the relentless march to rid us of what we have in favour of electric vehicles a mistake?
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I'd believe everything Jeremy Clarkson claims.
Because, I'm also naive,,
More, or less dangerous than an ICE vehicle?

650 cars catch fire each year in the Devon area alone:
https://www.dsfire.gov.uk/safety/on-the-road/car-and-vehicle-fires

I am beginning to wonder whether house insurance providers will soon be charging a premium if you keep one on the drive or in a garage attached to the house. We know that an motor accident involving an EV often causes a fire that emergency services can't extinguish. There is currently a serious fire burning aboard a ship passing through the North Sea, that was heading for The Channel, that is transporting EVs to the Middle Easts from Germany. The crew were evacuated some days ago and the ship was in danger of sinking. The deadly pollution, had it gone down, would have ruined valuable fishing grounds for generations without it being towed back towards shore but can still devastate a bird breeding ground. . We already know that mobile phone batteries can cause fires or small explosions as do electric bike batteries. People have died in fires caused by charging bike batteries in doors and overnight. Why would car batteries be any less prone to such problems?

https://apnews.com/article/cargo-ship-fire-netherlands-environment-sea-ca213ea320ba2c664d12e960c52331ee

The cause of that fire hasn't been established, Togo, despite what the DM alarmist headline blared yesterday.

Lorries seem to catch fire fairly regularly, too
‘Often’, Togo? I’m aware that en electrical vehicle fire *can* be difficult to put out due to what’s known as ‘thermal runaway’ in damaged cells, but not sure that’s ‘often’ the case is it?

As for insurance, Companies don’t charge extra premiums to park ICE cars outside domestic properties:
https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/23637462.great-lever-car-fire-spreads-house-early-hours/

https://www.totnes-today.co.uk/news/car-fire-spreads-to-house-622371

https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/17868794.car-fire-spreads-garage-property-poole/
We've know they can burst info flame for quite some time. Blamed on the batteries apparently. These ridiculous dangerous scooters, some idiots have allowed on our roads, can too. And word is that electric cars are perilious to repair after an accident. They sure don't seem like a good move, even before considering all the other known issues.
It was being reported, initially, that a crew member had blamed the fire on an electric vehicle aboard and that the crew had tried to extinguish it. That "report" seem to have disappeared from all subsequent updates. The news agencies wouldn't suppress that info if put under pressure by the powers that be I suppose. A very valuable export source for German cars would be in jeopardy if potential customers were alerted. Petrol vehicle fires are always caused by either accident damage, poor maintenance, pure stupidity, overloading, or overheating due to a fault. Electric vehicle fires can start spontaneously due to the inherent built in characteristics of the batteries themselves. An unpredictable chemical reaction in the batteries themselves can cause thermal runaway which causes overheating and intense internal pressure in the battery. The size of the batteries makes it nigh on impossible to bring the ensuing blaze under control.
I love my electric car and am prepared to take the ‘risk’ that apparently comes with owning one and keeping it in the driveway near the house.
Togo:
‘ In fact, it’s an urban myth – research into actual cases has shown that EVs are much less likely to combust than their petrol or diesel equivalents’

https://www.thecarexpert.co.uk/are-electric-car-fires-really-that-common/

As per my other link, 650 car fires in the Devon area alone, per year.

The scaremongering is making headlines rather than the reality, as usual.
Could part of the problem be that the fire services aren't equipped with sufficient foam tenders? Airports have them and can deal with huge fuel fires, wouldn't foam extinguish battery fires as well?
//An electric car was the suspected source of the blaze, a coastguard spokesperson said.//

https://news.sky.com/story/one-dead-and-several-injured-after-major-fire-on-cargo-ship-near-ameland-in-netherlands-12927537

//The fire was allegedly sparked by an electric car on board the ship which was manned by a crew of 23 who initially attempted to put out the fire//

https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1795698/Electric-cars-to-blame-after-18-000-tonne-cargo-ship-explodes

//An electric car has been linked to a fire on a cargo ship in the North Sea which killed one person and forced others to jump overboard....//

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/07/26/electric-car-linked-deadly-fire-cargo-ship-north-sea/

This is the third such fatal fire in two years aboard a ship carrying EVs. The other two did sink, one just off the Azores. Just saying.
Yes, we all know about the fire on the cargo ship (the cause of which is speculation at present).

Are you seriously saying that electric vehicles are more dangerous than ICE ones, given my link and the stats that there are 650 vehicle fires in the Devon area alone? I appreciate some of those 650 might be electric vehicles but I’d bed the farm on the vast majority being ICE sourced.
I wondered originally whether insurance companies would eventually be forced to consider the inherent risks of keeping an EV close to or within an adjoined garage. This was because housing associations and administrators of multi occupancy hosing are taking such matters seriously. This mainly concerns the danger of mobility scooters being charged and stored indoors. I does not affect me at the moment but does not mean I should ignore it. If say a neighbour parks an EV close to my property what are my options to insist it is moved or not charged overnight when I am asleep? Insurance companies have never been slow to divest themselves or responsibility or the seize an opportunity to increase premiums. I did not join the thread for a pecking party, or a bickerfest, I have better things to do.
Nor, I suspect, did you join it to ignore overwhelming evidence that ICE vehicles catch fire pretty frequently.

I’ve given 3 links where an ICE vehicle fire spread to a house (I was careful to chose ones where the vehicle is shown and is not an EV) yet I’m not aware of insurance companies charging extra premiums for parking such a vehicle close to a property. Are you?
Jezza is on a health and safety mission, obviously.



Remember Excrementgate? He does it for laughs.
JC is correct there are well known problems with them catching fire and those fires are very difficult to extinguish. Remember the Rimac?
https://www.news24.com/life/motoring/cardoctor/fuel_focus/richard-hammonds-crash-why-did-his-ev-catch-fire-20170614
then
Then there are the tesla fires:
https://www.tesla-fire.com/
TBF, you only need to read the first sentence:
//FOR years I’ve told people until I’m blue in the face that electric cars don’t have enough range, that they take far too long to charge up, that they will always be too expensive and that they aren’t even very ­environmental.// - enough said!
Anything with a lithium battery can catch fire so that would apply to cars as well as laptops etc. Particularly if they are damaged and thermal runaway applies. Normal fire extinguishers don't work on them either as the only way to put the fire out is to cool the battery.
Some of the recommendations from the manufacturers. The battery level advice is enlightening. They quote all the mileage range figures based on a fully charged battery driven to zero charge but recommend that you don't. If you do you are damaging the battery, presumably, maybe even invalidating the warranty. The charge times are always the least amount of time it is possible to access, despite it being inadvisable. Plus don't park it in the sun. Maybe that is what is causing all the fires in Greece and elsewhere?

Minimize your car and car’s battery to exposure to high temperatures when the car is in park.

Minimize having the batteries at 100% charge.

Avoid using fast charging units.

Keep the battery between 80% and 20% charge.

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