EV opposition in the media is ramping up

[tsedge]

I can just imagine the meeting a few years back between big oil and legacy auto. Scared sh**tless about the threat of EVs. The focus group comes up with what we can do better, 'we can travel 700 miles on a tank and fill up in 5 seconds and do another 700', and there started a whole industry of FUD.

And it isn't even 5 seconds, it is:

• Wait in car queuing for free pump.
• Stand in cold pumping fuel for 5 minutes in smelly dirty forecourt.
• Queue in kiosk to pay.

This whole experience isn't required with an EV: park at charger, plug in and walk straight to get food / drink / toilet. Come back (when ready), stow charger and drive off.

CarWoW (not my favourite outlet) just did an EV group range test vs. an ICE car, driving from London to the Scottish border. It was completely pointless, they even stopped without recharging to have a break on the way. Most of the cars got to the border. Surprise, surprise, the ICE car still had more range. It was a great example of a pointless sensationalised journey that nobody would ever do in that way (without charging and stopping en route), for headlines. And it was extremely boring video.

 

[GranTurismoEra]

We could do a quick poll.... How often has your EV exploded and caught fire and have you installed a fire-suppression system outside your house to manage this better in future?

Helps having a nice high pressure hose outside although the battery used in MG4 and Cyberster is said to have zero fires or at fault to date according to a Chinese forum.

 

[Rolfe]

And it isn't even 5 seconds, it is:

• Wait in car queuing for free pump.
• Stand in cold pumping fuel for 5 minutes in smelly dirty forecourt.
• Queue in kiosk to pay.

This whole experience isn't required with an EV: park at charger, plug in and walk straight to get food / drink / toilet. Come back (when ready), stow charger and drive off.

CarWoW (not my favourite outlet) just did an EV group range test vs. an ICE car, driving from London to the Scottish border. It was completely pointless, they even stopped without recharging to have a break on the way. Most of the cars got to the border. Surprise, surprise, the ICE car still had more range. It was a great example of a pointless sensationalised journey that nobody would ever do in that way (without charging and stopping en route), for headlines. And it was extremely boring video.

I used to hate stopping for petrol. So much so that I would wait until I was practically running on fumes. Complicated by the fact that the nearest petrol station to home is nine miles away so I had to calculate when and where to stop while out and about. I usually ended up at a Jet forecourt in Newmains at midnight in freezing rain.

Now I look forward to the charging stops on a long journey as I get half an hour relaxing with a coffee and a book.

 

[GaryMG4]

Now I look forward to the charging stops on a long journey as I get half an hour relaxing with a coffee and a book.

The whole (EV) driving experience is a lot more relaxing, less tiredness from noise, no pressing on to get the journey over because you know you'll need to stop anyway, the stop allows you to relax.

 

[mGizmo]

And it was extremely boring video.

At least they didn't try and dramatise it by having one of the EVs catch fire...

 

[GranTurismoEra]

At least they didn't try and dramatise it by having one of the EVs catch fire...

"Aggressive Fire"

 

[LenEV2016]

"Aggressive Fire"

The Tesla fire from the A1(m) 3 days ago went up pretty quick, apparently crashed into the central reservation. Quite clearly started in the back of the car

 

[salty]

WOW that's bad. But so is an ICE fire. Not nice to see either.

 

[Gadget Geek]

The problem with an ICE fire the EV haters neglect to mention is that the fuel spreads the fire beyond the structure of the vehicle. (Remember the Luton airport car park fire)

 

[Les burrows]

In my 60 plus years off driving many types of vehicles with 2 wheels or many more the question that has popped up every time I have come to purchase or renew my insurance is would you like the cover to be,
Fully Comprehensive insurance
Third party FIRE and theft
Or third party only sir.

All vehicles have been covered for FIRE long before EVs anything might catch fire at any time.
Les

 

[Rolfe]

The Tesla fire from the A1(m) 3 days ago went up pretty quick, apparently crashed into the central reservation. Quite clearly started in the back of the car

View attachment 40483View attachment 40484

If the car crashes, all bets are off. However, does anyone know what type of battery was in that car? I'd be surprised if an LFP did that.

 

[siteguru]

The latest Model 3s have LFP batteries, so I believe. If it was an older Model 3, or a Model Y, (or a Long Range Performance version) then it was almost certainly an NMC pack.

 

[Cafeg]

My charging point is under my house in the internal garage. The only change I made was to put a smoke alarm down there. I also have a tesla Powerwall 2 solar battery in the same garage space for over 5 years now without any problems.

 

[Rolfe]

The latest Model 3s have LFP batteries, so I believe. If it was an older Model 3, or a Model Y, (or a Long Range Performance version) then it was almost certainly an NMC pack.

I think from the picture it was a Model 3.

 

[LenEV2016]

If the car crashes, all bets are off. However, does anyone know what type of battery was in that car? I'd be surprised if an LFP did that.

Short range model 3s have been LFP for a while, anything else is NMC

 

[Gomev]

The problem with an ICE fire the EV haters neglect to mention is that the fuel spreads the fire beyond the structure of the vehicle. (Remember the Luton airport car park fire)

Not to mention the airport car park fire at Heathrow that wasn't mentioned earlier this month (not too serious)

Fire in car park - Heathrow Airport

Four fire engines and around 25 firefighters were called to a fire in a multi-storey car park at Heathrow Airport.

www.london-fire.gov.uk

or the multi storey car park fire at Liverpool in 2017 where well over 1000 cars were destroyed and the car park demolished

or the airport fire at Sola airport Stavanger in 2020 caused by a diesel

Fire destroys hundreds of cars in unsprinklered Norwegian car park – European Fire Sprinkler Network

and so on......

 

[GranTurismoEra]

These fires are hard to put out. Good thing they were able to open the door. Best to keep a baton or something as the modern windows are much more reinforced. Im not saying he/she did anything wrong but i have seen Tesla M3s flying. They don't hang about.

Lets hope the MGs stay out of the "limelight" so to speak. A low burn possibility is a good start. Crashed EVs usually have a biohazard sticker or cordon around them. An on board fire suppression system from factory similar to what race cars have would be good. Itll add weight to the car though

 

[Susanna]

My charging point is under my house in the internal garage. The only change I made was to put a smoke alarm down there. I also have a tesla Powerwall 2 solar battery in the same garage space for over 5 years now without any problems.

My EVSE is in my attached double garage, and where the car is parked. After researching, I decided to buy and install a heat alarm in there, rather than a smoke alarm. It’s connected to smoke alarms inside my bungalow, so should provide an audible warning of anything untoward in the garage.

 

[Everest]

My EVSE is in my attached double garage, and where the car is parked. After researching, I decided to buy and install a heat alarm in there, rather than a smoke alarm. It’s connected to smoke alarms inside my bungalow, so should provide an audible warning of anything untoward in the garage.

This ^^^ I would say is the ideal solution.

IMHO the greatest risk of a fire, when home charging, is not from a substandard cell overheating within the EV, but from a poor connection (bad crimp etc.) in the wiring in the CU/distribution box/EVSE which is delivering 32A continuously for 5 or 6 hours.

 

[securespark]

Yeah, this is where ferrules and torque drivers come in very handy.

And I concur about the heat alarm. I used to fit rate of rise heat detectors where the system would trigger if the temperature rises very quickly, normally more than 15° per minute.