5 ms·

This isn't uncommon in motor vehicle accidents, however.

jonathankoren 5y ago
In Hollywood crashes maybe, but in the real world auto fires are not common at all. As of 2018, there are 56 fires per billion miles driven. Furthermore, only 3% of all fatal automobile accidents involved fire. https://www.nfpa.org/-/media/Files/News-and-Research/Fire-statistics-and-reports/US-Fire-Problem/osvehiclefires.pdf https://www.nfpa.org/-/media/Files/News-and-Research/Fire-st...
- Diederich 5y ago
  Do Teslas/electric cars burn more frequently in severe crashes than ICE vehicles? Last time I looked, a few years back, the data showed that ICE vehicles burned quite a bit more frequently.
  - ffggvv 5y ago
    tesla’s are death traps. you can’t put out their fires with water. and since their doors aren’t mechanical you’re stuck inside once the battery dies. this fire took over 4 hours to put out with the fire department not knowing how to put it out
    - adventured 5y ago
      > and since their doors aren’t mechanical you’re stuck inside once the battery dies Tesla's front doors have internal mechanical levers that can be used in the case of power loss.
    - King-Aaron 5y ago
      This sounds like you just have a bone to pick with Tesla. Their doors can be opened when the battery dies.
    - hash9 5y ago
      Doors that dont open on a power failure sound super fucking unsafe. Looks like on the Model s they do open manually in front if you pull the handle back enough and in the back via a hidden release cable under the seat which sounds less than ideal. I'm not sure if this is the case with the other models. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01lXcD_Uz74 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01lXcD_Uz74 https://www.manualslib.com/manual/1234782/Tesla-S.html?page=9#manual https://www.manualslib.com/manual/1234782/Tesla-S.html?page=...
      - fiddlerwoaroof 5y ago
        The Model 3 has a manual emergency release in the armrest: it's one of the more awkward parts of the car, actually, because it's right where most people expect the door handle to be and the actual "door handle" is a button a little bit up.
    - Karunamon 5y ago
      since their doors aren’t mechanical you’re stuck inside once the battery dies This is maliciously false. There's a manual door handle just like you'd find in every other car; to the point where people new to them almost always use it by accident instead of using the button. https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-model-y-vs-model-3-differences/tesla-model-y-emergency-door-release/ https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-model-y-vs-model-3-differenc... It's in an identical place on the other models. Please don't trot out hot takes like this on something you don't understand.
  - jsight 5y ago
    That is a really good question, tbh. I've seen comparisons that show the Tesla's burning less often, but those weren't specifically post crash. A lot of ICE cars come from fuel leaks, often after major repairs and without a collision. I'm not aware of a direct comparison of post-crash fires. Anecodally, it seems the post-crash fires are rare with the 3 and Y and much less rare with the S/X.
  - lazyasciiart 5y ago
    The average age of a car in a fire is over ten years. Electric vehicles should be less common based on their relative youth.
- King-Aaron 5y ago
  The first sentence in your article that you linked states that in one year in the US alone, 560 civilians burned to death in fires. Wrangling statistics to try and suit your argument is one thing, but that's more than one person a day that's burning to death in a car.
  - jonathankoren 5y ago
    Wrangling statistics!?!? 102 people die A DAY in automobile accidents, and you’re claiming that less than the number of people that die in a single week is common? I’ll do the math for you. Fire is involved in ONE PERCENT of all vehicle accident deaths. And then you use the word “civilian”? What do you even mean by that? How is that word even applicable here? This would be cute, if it wasn’t so obviously motivated. Go clutch your pearls somewhere else. Elon isn’t taking you on his B-Ark. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_vehicle_fatality_rate_in_U.S._by_year https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_vehicle_fatality_rate_in...
    - King-Aaron 5y ago
      > An estimated 212,500 vehicle fires caused 560 civilian deaths It's what it says in the article you linked. I'm not sure why they specified 'civilian deaths'. I never said it was common, I said burning to death in a car isn't uncommon. I'm no EV proponent, by the way. You seem to be pretty fired up about it though - pardon the pun. Edit: Added that I'm also not sure why civilian deaths is specifically mentioned.
      - lazyasciiart 5y ago
        There is a footnote from the phrase "civilian deaths" saying it is excluding firefighters.
        King-Aaron 5y ago
        Ah yep, that would make sense then
        5y ago
- Dylan16807 5y ago
  3% isn't that small. What's the percent for teslas? I'd say the stupid doors are a much bigger problem than the ability to catch fire.
throwaway0a5e 5y ago
The fleet of EVs is very different from the fleet of light duty ICE vehicle. You can't do a 1:1 comparison and have anything useful come out of it. There is no EV equivalent of a rusted out 1995 S10 with a gas tank held in with a ratchet strap for anyone to crash because EVs haven't been around that long. I suspect once you control for vehicle age the difference is marginal. Statistically nobody is burning to death in late model luxury sedans (Tesla included) because they're well enough designed that practically nobody is getting trapped in the vehicle in the first place.

In Hollywood crashes maybe, but in the real world auto fires are not common at all. As of 2018, there are 56 fires per billion miles driven. Furthermore, only 3% of all fatal automobile accidents involved fire. https://www.nfpa.org/-/media/Files/News-and-Research/Fire-statistics-and-reports/US-Fire-Problem/osvehiclefires.pdf https://www.nfpa.org/-/media/Files/News-and-Research/Fire-st...

Diederich 5y ago
Do Teslas/electric cars burn more frequently in severe crashes than ICE vehicles? Last time I looked, a few years back, the data showed that ICE vehicles burned quite a bit more frequently.
- ffggvv 5y ago
  tesla’s are death traps. you can’t put out their fires with water. and since their doors aren’t mechanical you’re stuck inside once the battery dies. this fire took over 4 hours to put out with the fire department not knowing how to put it out
  - adventured 5y ago
    > and since their doors aren’t mechanical you’re stuck inside once the battery dies Tesla's front doors have internal mechanical levers that can be used in the case of power loss.
  - King-Aaron 5y ago
    This sounds like you just have a bone to pick with Tesla. Their doors can be opened when the battery dies.
  - hash9 5y ago
    Doors that dont open on a power failure sound super fucking unsafe. Looks like on the Model s they do open manually in front if you pull the handle back enough and in the back via a hidden release cable under the seat which sounds less than ideal. I'm not sure if this is the case with the other models. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01lXcD_Uz74 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01lXcD_Uz74 https://www.manualslib.com/manual/1234782/Tesla-S.html?page=9#manual https://www.manualslib.com/manual/1234782/Tesla-S.html?page=...
    - fiddlerwoaroof 5y ago
      The Model 3 has a manual emergency release in the armrest: it's one of the more awkward parts of the car, actually, because it's right where most people expect the door handle to be and the actual "door handle" is a button a little bit up.
  - Karunamon 5y ago
    since their doors aren’t mechanical you’re stuck inside once the battery dies This is maliciously false. There's a manual door handle just like you'd find in every other car; to the point where people new to them almost always use it by accident instead of using the button. https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-model-y-vs-model-3-differences/tesla-model-y-emergency-door-release/ https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-model-y-vs-model-3-differenc... It's in an identical place on the other models. Please don't trot out hot takes like this on something you don't understand.
- jsight 5y ago
  That is a really good question, tbh. I've seen comparisons that show the Tesla's burning less often, but those weren't specifically post crash. A lot of ICE cars come from fuel leaks, often after major repairs and without a collision. I'm not aware of a direct comparison of post-crash fires. Anecodally, it seems the post-crash fires are rare with the 3 and Y and much less rare with the S/X.
- lazyasciiart 5y ago
  The average age of a car in a fire is over ten years. Electric vehicles should be less common based on their relative youth.
King-Aaron 5y ago
The first sentence in your article that you linked states that in one year in the US alone, 560 civilians burned to death in fires. Wrangling statistics to try and suit your argument is one thing, but that's more than one person a day that's burning to death in a car.
- jonathankoren 5y ago
  Wrangling statistics!?!? 102 people die A DAY in automobile accidents, and you’re claiming that less than the number of people that die in a single week is common? I’ll do the math for you. Fire is involved in ONE PERCENT of all vehicle accident deaths. And then you use the word “civilian”? What do you even mean by that? How is that word even applicable here? This would be cute, if it wasn’t so obviously motivated. Go clutch your pearls somewhere else. Elon isn’t taking you on his B-Ark. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_vehicle_fatality_rate_in_U.S._by_year https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_vehicle_fatality_rate_in...
  - King-Aaron 5y ago
    > An estimated 212,500 vehicle fires caused 560 civilian deaths It's what it says in the article you linked. I'm not sure why they specified 'civilian deaths'. I never said it was common, I said burning to death in a car isn't uncommon. I'm no EV proponent, by the way. You seem to be pretty fired up about it though - pardon the pun. Edit: Added that I'm also not sure why civilian deaths is specifically mentioned.
    - lazyasciiart 5y ago
      There is a footnote from the phrase "civilian deaths" saying it is excluding firefighters.
      - King-Aaron 5y ago
        Ah yep, that would make sense then
      - 5y ago
Dylan16807 5y ago
3% isn't that small. What's the percent for teslas? I'd say the stupid doors are a much bigger problem than the ability to catch fire.

throwaway0a5e 5y ago

The fleet of EVs is very different from the fleet of light duty ICE vehicle. You can't do a 1:1 comparison and have anything useful come out of it. There is no EV equivalent of a rusted out 1995 S10 with a gas tank held in with a ratchet strap for anyone to crash because EVs haven't been around that long. I suspect once you control for vehicle age the difference is marginal. Statistically nobody is burning to death in late model luxury sedans (Tesla included) because they're well enough designed that practically nobody is getting trapped in the vehicle in the first place.