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Just last week there was a fire in my apartment complex: 47 cars burned in the underground garage, the building directly above has to be demolished because of t
by mamon 6y ago
Just last week there was a fire in my apartment complex: 47 cars burned in the underground garage, the building directly above has to be demolished because of the damage it took. 70 families lost their homes. Reason? Electric car exploded while charging. I think that after initial enthusiasm there will be a push back against electric cars due to safety concerns.
EDIT: Burning electric vehicles are much harder to put down than, say gas cars, because, for one they don't need external source of oxygen, and second, there's much more of fuel to burn: 1200 lbs of batteries in a Tesla vs 10 gallons (85 lbs) of gas in the tank of an average car. Electric cars will probably be banned from underground parkings, sooner or later.
And saying that gas cars are "destroying the planet" is just ridiculous - they are maybe 5% of total CO2 emissions. And electric cars are actually responsible for even more emissions - not from burning fuel, obviously, but just manufacturing it releases more carbon dioxide than an average gas-powered car will in its 25 years lifecycle.
- colinmhayes 6y agoGas cars are destroying the planet. They are much much less safe.
- nl 6y agoThis sounds more like a problem with the fire suppression in the building. Wikipedia lists a few instances of electric cars catching alight in building but none where the building was destroyed[1]. Do you have a link to the news coverage of your incident so I can add it to Wikipedia? [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plug-in_electric_vehicle_fire_incidents https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plug-in_electric_vehicle_fire_...
- perardi 6y agoWell…I have to think, at some point, a gasoline car has caught fire. What with the multi-gallon tank full of explosives.
- Swenrekcah 6y agoI think there will be a strong push for upgrading all outlets in garages to support charging an EV. Like you point out it is dangerous to charge without the proper equipment.
- Diederich 6y ago> And electric cars are actually responsible for even more emissions - not from burning fuel, obviously, but just manufacturing it releases more carbon dioxide than an average gas-powered car will in its 25 years lifecycle. I don't believe this is true. This video crunches the numbers pretty thoroughly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RhtiPefVzM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RhtiPefVzM "The main takeaway from this video: Electric cars certainly aren't any worse for the environment than gasoline cars regardless of where your energy comes from, and in the vast majority of cases, they are vastly superior to gasoline cars."
- JoeAltmaier 6y agoBut its not about the energy - its about the cost of materials, which is a rough estimate of its impact on the environment. And that big old exotic-metal battery has got to have an impact?
- _ph_ 6y agoWhich "exotic-metals" go into a battery? Lithium isn't. Cobolt isn't really either, and it is equally used for gasoline cars. Nor are really manganese or nickel. And all of them can be recycled. And how much material is needed for the oil drilling and transportation, which will no longer be needed going forward?
- Diederich 6y agoThere's a lot of analysis online about these topics, and more importantly, the total cost/impact/negative externalities associated with battery storage is going down approximately exponentially. The same can not be said for fossil fuel energy systems.
- SEJeff 6y agoGas powered cars also catch on fire and burn way more often than battery powered ones do, yet it isn't in the news because it is common.