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This is one of the two reasons why I would not own an EV. Current fire codes were not developed with EVs in mind. An EV battery burns at a very high temperature, is extremely difficult to extinguish, and a burning EV battery produces deadly smoke - the fire chief in the video does a good job of explaining those risks.
Sure the odds of having a fire like this are small, but if and when it does occur, it has the potential to be a major disaster, and possibly fatal. Fortunately this family had smoke detectors and got out of their house safely before inhaling the toxic smoke.
The second reason is loss of range and reliability in Midwestern winter, this has been covered well in the "Chicago Winter" thread.
Last edited by GearHeadDave; 01-20-2024 at 06:36 AM..
Everyone needs to make their own decisions about what is their best choice for a new car. I think there is a good deal of evidence that EV fires can be more difficult to put out. However, there is also a good deal of evidence that they are considerably less common than ICE vehicle fires.
In a study done by AutoInsuranceEZ, using data obtained from the NTSB, they found:
Hybrid Vehicle Fires: 3,475 per 100,000 vehicles sold
ICE Vehicle Fires: 1,530 per 100,000 vehicles sold
So one can argue that EVs are safer with regard to fire risks today. Moreover, newer battery designs coming on the market - like the LiFePO4 batteries, have much lower fire risk than this.
1. No one really cares about your personal reasons for not wanting an EV.
2. My EV will always live in the garage. The much-more-likely-to-burn gas car will always be outside. One, because we can’t start it in the garage anyway, and two because it’s dangerous.
I don’t care which one is harder to put out. If there’s a fire in my house, my concern is getting out, not putting it out. The gas car is much more likely to start a fire in my house, astronomically so. In the event of ANY fire, we’re getting out or we are not. I’ve never heard of people surviving a house fire having remained inside from ignition until extinguished. Read that carefully because my words were purposefully chosen, then please prove me wrong because I’d love to hear otherwise.
Everyone needs to make their own decisions about what is their best choice for a new car. I think there is a good deal of evidence that EV fires can be more difficult to put out. However, there is also a good deal of evidence that they are considerably less common than ICE vehicle fires.
In a study done by AutoInsuranceEZ, using data obtained from the NTSB, they found:
Hybrid Vehicle Fires: 3,475 per 100,000 vehicles sold
ICE Vehicle Fires: 1,530 per 100,000 vehicles sold
So one can argue that EVs are safer with regard to fire risks today. Moreover, newer battery designs coming on the market - like the LiFePO4 batteries, have much lower fire risk than this.
Perfect response to the what has become a whole lot of unwarranted fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD). Ae EVs harder to extinguish that ICE vehicles...yes, but to EVs cause more structural damage in an event of a house fire? I don't think there is any data showing that. I would rather avoid the fire to begin with, and based on actual data, EVs seem to be the way to go. Basing a purchasing decision on that is just asinine though.
Now I have a plugin hybrid but rarely ever uses the ICE engine. Though this is completely anecdotal, the amount of car issues I had in my traditional ICE vehicles far outnumber the issues I've had with the hybrid battery, which is zero. From dead batteries, to overheating, belts, bad alternator, starter etc...I much more fear a dead battery on a cold morning in one of our pure ICE vehicles than I do the hybrid. I had to jump my sons ICE car just the other week just as I have stranded motorist with dead batteries and no portable battery starter or even cables.
Though I do just fine with the battery range of my hybrid and charging stations out and about to keep me off of using the ICE, I don't think there is any range I would travel within my metro that would not be managale with a single charge, there and back, even in the dead of winter. I never have to worry about being on E and needing gas, hoping I can make it to a gas station, or make it to work then have enough gas to get to a gas station afterwards because I forget to fill up the night prior. I plugin in inside the garage and now I have more than what I need for the day every morning for months on end, while my wife is hitting a gas station every other week. Her gas cost well over $100 every month while my hybrid uses about $18 worth of electricity a month.
Everyone needs to make their own decisions about what is their best choice for a new car. I think there is a good deal of evidence that EV fires can be more difficult to put out. However, there is also a good deal of evidence that they are considerably less common than ICE vehicle fires.
In a study done by AutoInsuranceEZ, using data obtained from the NTSB, they found:
Hybrid Vehicle Fires: 3,475 per 100,000 vehicles sold
ICE Vehicle Fires: 1,530 per 100,000 vehicles sold
So one can argue that EVs are safer with regard to fire risks today. Moreover, newer battery designs coming on the market - like the LiFePO4 batteries, have much lower fire risk than this.
cept for 1 little inconvenient truth - of these hybrid and ice fires in garages, when a collision is NOT involved (in which it would NEVER be in your garage, it would be at the shop) they are all started: electrically. And based on the recalls, it appears to be switchery or fluids (generally brake or tranny) leaking onto something electrical and going bzzzzzzt.
sorta kinda removed the whole 'ICE' part out of the equation no? In my detached concrete block garage my greatest risks, according to those who know, appears to be the 40v batteries in my Ryobi power equipment and the 20v batteries in the porter cable, dewalt, and craftsman power drills. they are not concerned AT ALL with the briggs powered mower, tiller and checumseh snow blower. In fact, they dont seem to care I have 5 gallon plastic cans of fuel.
The LARGEST consumer warning I ever got, was for the big 3.7v "AA only larger" battery I have in a USB charged, cordless fan I keep when the power goes out.
cept for 1 little inconvenient truth - of these hybrid and ice fires in garages, when a collision is NOT involved (in which it would NEVER be in your garage, it would be at the shop) they are all started: electrically. And based on the recalls, it appears to be switchery or fluids (generally brake or tranny) leaking onto something electrical and going bzzzzzzt.
sorta kinda removed the whole 'ICE' part out of the equation no? In my detached concrete block garage my greatest risks, according to those who know, appears to be the 40v batteries in my Ryobi power equipment and the 20v batteries in the porter cable, dewalt, and craftsman power drills. they are not concerned AT ALL with the briggs powered mower, tiller and checumseh snow blower. In fact, they dont seem to care I have 5 gallon plastic cans of fuel.
The LARGEST consumer warning I ever got, was for the big 3.7v "AA only larger" battery I have in a USB charged, cordless fan I keep when the power goes out.
If the rates of fire are valid that's all irrelevant. The cause does not matter, a fire is still a fire no matter what part of the car caused it.
1. No one really cares about your personal reasons for not wanting an EV.
2. My EV will always live in the garage. The much-more-likely-to-burn gas car will always be outside. One, because we can’t start it in the garage anyway, and two because it’s dangerous.
I don’t care which one is harder to put out. If there’s a fire in my house, my concern is getting out, not putting it out. The gas car is much more likely to start a fire in my house, astronomically so. In the event of ANY fire, we’re getting out or we are not. I’ve never heard of people surviving a house fire having remained inside from ignition until extinguished. Read that carefully because my words were purposefully chosen, then please prove me wrong because I’d love to hear otherwise.
I challenge your assertion that a gas powered car you owned would be "much more likely to burn" than an EV.
I have posted how rare EV fires are. I have posted how much more common car fires are with gas-powered cars.
The nuance there is that fire risk is worst in older, poorly maintained gas-powered cars. There are NO older, poorly maintained EVs. There are no older EVs at all. One of the reasons EV cars have such low fire risk is that the oldest ones on the planet are only 12 years old vs. pushing 20 years old for gas-powered cars.
Another HUGE difference is that nobody poor owns an EV. Car fires tend to happen to cars owned by the poor. The poor exclusively own gas-powered cars and the poor are 100 times more likely to never maintain their old gas-powered car because they lack the money to do so. A significant fire risk.
So if you have a well maintained gas powered car under 10 years old, it most certainly is not any more likely to burn than an EV car that is under 10 years old.
A difference however is, when a 6-month old EV car does burn, you get this. Brand new Mercedes-Benz EV loaner. Good thing such events are so rare.
I’ve little interest in watching an anecdote video, but the cut scene shown looks like every burnt car I’ve ever seen. I’ve never physically seen a burnt electric car (yet). So what “difference” are you trying to show me?
In the early days of automobiles some people had an “unattached garage” and one of the reasons was the risk of fire. I’ve seen some high end new homes with an unattached garage as part of the home build. Not everyone lives in a community where this would be viable. If you have the money and are worried then consider installing a fire suppression system and alarm system. While a traditional sprinkler would not extinguish the fire, it would reduce the spread of the fire until the fire department arrives.
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