Potemkin Villager wrote:Anybody care to wager how long it is until the first EV battery blows up/ goes on fire/ melts down whilst being fast charged? I don't want to be near it!
That will probably happen just about as often as ICE cars catch fire which I can tell you from experience is quite the show.
Every human devised and produced machine has it's faulty units in a production run so it is unrealistic to expect perfection. I expect Tesla has sensors in each part of the battery pack that will monitor the heat being generated and control it but that will not be one hundred percent effective. When the insurance industry gets enough real world data they will set insurance rates accordingly.
In the meantime I would not fast charge one in the attached garage of a million dollar mansion. That wont bother me as I don't even have a garage at present.
Potemkin Villager wrote:Anybody care to wager how long it is until the first EV battery blows up/ goes on fire/ melts down whilst being fast charged? I don't want to be near it!
Bound to happen, but arguably no more dangerous than a similar accident involving petrol, I would not care to be near either!
large lithium batteries make me nervous, but so do stashes of petrol.
If petrol was a new invention, it would never be permitted for the public to handle it without any training or safety equipment.
"Installers and owners of emergency diesels must assume that they will have to run for a week or more"
Potemkin Villager wrote:Anybody care to wager how long it is until the first EV battery blows up/ goes on fire/ melts down whilst being fast charged? I don't want to be near it!
Potemkin Villager wrote:Anybody care to wager how long it is until the first EV battery blows up/ goes on fire/ melts down whilst being fast charged? I don't want to be near it!
Surprised it hasn't happened already.
Yes certainly more possible with first production runs then with later versions that have been had their design and construction adjusted based on early failures.
There is also this about lithium batteries in general. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGYX9mkGLF8
If all you have to do is crush a lithium cell to make it burn any severe crash would probably end up as a fire. It will be interesting to see how they guard against it.
But venturing into our brave new world I put down my $100 today.
Watching the Hydraulic Press Channel is one of my favourite relaxation activities. They could not get ignition but probably because the batteries fell out before being crushed. The narrator has a great Scandinavian accent too.
Car designers are pretty good at protecting the passenger cell in cars nowadays, at least in Europe, so it shouldn't be a problem to extend that protection to the battery storage. You don't hear of many petrol cars bursting into flames in crashes so why should e-cars be any different?
kenneal - lagger wrote:Car designers are pretty good at protecting the passenger cell in cars nowadays, at least in Europe, so it shouldn't be a problem to extend that protection to the battery storage. You don't hear of many petrol cars bursting into flames in crashes so why should e-cars be any different?
Actually ICE cars burning after a severe crash is pretty common. (about 5000 per year) So common it does not make the news unless a passenger is trapped and burned to death. Compared to the total number of car crashes(5.5 million) it is a very small percentage.
They have done a good job of placing gas tanks where they are least likely to be ruptured in a crash but there are still significant numbers that burn.
I once had a Ford "Pinto" that had a drop in rear gas tank that served as the floor of the trunk and filled in center over the license plate. A rear-ender would rip the filler pipe off, splashing gas over the back of the passenger seats. They pulled that design off the market quickly.
If EVs can get the same safety and fire record as the current ICE cars that will certainly be good enough but of course the naysayers will disagree.
I have thought of a new way to encourage the wider use of electric cars.
Many parents on the school run are utterly desperate to park as close as possible to the school gates.
Double parking, trespassing onto private property, and parking illegally are all common. Some engage in physical combat to get a bit closer.
How about reserving those parking places nearest to the gates for electric vehicles only ?
The thought of the child walking another 100 yards would assuredly encourage adoption of EVs.
"Installers and owners of emergency diesels must assume that they will have to run for a week or more"
adam2 wrote:I have thought of a new way to encourage the wider use of electric cars.
Many parents on the school run are utterly desperate to park as close as possible to the school gates.
Double parking, trespassing onto private property, and parking illegally are all common. Some engage in physical combat to get a bit closer.
How about reserving those parking places nearest to the gates for electric vehicles only ?
The thought of the child walking another 100 yards would assuredly encourage adoption of EVs.
I suspect the number of soccer moms is declining along with birth rates etc. A larger market would be the single millennials commuting to their jobs. Place chargers at their company parking space and dock their pay for the juice but perhaps at a subsidized rate.
Work site EV chargers are increasingly common in the UK. New tax rules make EVs very much cheaper as company cars from this tax year. Mostly they are only 7KW chargers, but every little helps. Of course overnight charging at home would be better for balancing the grid
Unfortunately the rise of SUVs and demise of diesels means that total transport CO2 is rising in Europe. Most cars are several times bigger and more powerful than is needed to transport their occupants, but that is not going to change this side of Teotwawki, so selling EVs is better than nothing, even EV SUVs.
PS_RalphW wrote:, so selling EVs is better than nothing, even EV SUVs.
I think EVs are a lot more then "better then nothing". If charged by renewable energy sources they are the answer to the climate change problem. Consider that every bit of an EVs drive motors can be recycled except the metal in the bearings that has been worn away. Every other part of the car chassis has at least as good durability as an ICE vehicle and a lot less parts to wear out or rust away.
PS_RalphW wrote:, so selling EVs is better than nothing, even EV SUVs.
I think EVs are a lot more then "better then nothing". If charged by renewable energy sources they are the answer to the climate change problem. Consider that every bit of an EVs drive motors can be recycled except the metal in the bearings that has been worn away. Every other part of the car chassis has at least as good durability as an ICE vehicle and a lot less parts to wear out or rust away.
They are the answer to the climate change problem if it can be shown that:
(a) the total carbon consumption, from cradle to grave, including all supply chains of all energy sources is better for EV's as opposed to ICE vehicles
(b) Renewables can both replace the transport fleet's energy requirements as whilst simultaneously replace the energy feed-stock of the rest of the electrical supply.
Do you have any evidence to provide in support of the above?
Do you have any evidence that it doesn't? And why does the existing feedstock for the electric grid need to be changed at the same time as EVs are adopted? Worst problems first don't you think?
