3 ms·

My guesstimation is that we're just trading modes of failure and it'll roughly be a wash in the end. Gas cars have leaky oil and combustion happening (my old h

My guesstimation is that we're just trading modes of failure and it'll roughly be a wash in the end. Gas cars have leaky oil and combustion happening (my old high school car caught on fire under the hood). Users are regularly handling gasoline at stations. Electric cars may be a bigger problem parked or at home. Overall less maintenance that might cause a fire but batteries so far seem more susceptible than gas tanks which are dangerous but don't generally ignite. Users are installing charging stations (although should be covered by electrical codes). Fire suppression in the garage and at charging locations might become popular (encouraged by insurance discounts). Yeah, batteries are "dangerous". We're all still carrying them around in our pockets and purses.

throwaway0a5e 5y ago
I think it'll be a wash too but I think that the failures will move up the socioeconomic ladder so you'll hear more about it.
akira2501 5y ago
> Gas cars have leaky oil and combustion happening (my old high school car caught on fire under the hood). Users are regularly handling gasoline at stations. It's worth considering that during the life of the car, far greater time will be spent charging as opposed to time spent fueling one, and even then, a fueling station can easily be outfitted with specialized safety devices that combat fuel fires. > Yeah, batteries are "dangerous". We're all still carrying them around in our pockets and purses. Stored energy is dangerous. The higher the density of that energy, the more danger it presents. Vehicle battery packs are designed with integrated cooling, and thus can be far denser than what's in your pocket. Not to be completely negative, but to expect that there won't be a "safety learning curve" with larger and larger numbers of battery operated vehicles does not seem like sound planning. Met correctly, I'm sure we'll be able to manage it.
elihu 5y ago
We could make different trade-offs. If we had electrified freeways (allowing cars to charge while moving), most people wouldn't need large batteries in their cars just for the occasional road trip and manufacturers could use safer, cheaper chemistries like lithium iron phosphate.
perl4ever 5y ago
>Yeah, batteries are "dangerous". We're all still carrying them around in our pockets and purses. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UPS_Airlines_Flight_6 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UPS_Airlines_Flight_6 "The FAA issued a restriction on the carrying of lithium batteries in bulk on passenger flights" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asiana_Airlines_Flight_991 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asiana_Airlines_Flight_991 "the International Civil Aviation Organization considered applying new safety standards to air carriage of lithium batteries as a result of this"

throwaway0a5e 5y ago

I think it'll be a wash too but I think that the failures will move up the socioeconomic ladder so you'll hear more about it.

akira2501 5y ago

> Gas cars have leaky oil and combustion happening (my old high school car caught on fire under the hood). Users are regularly handling gasoline at stations. It's worth considering that during the life of the car, far greater time will be spent charging as opposed to time spent fueling one, and even then, a fueling station can easily be outfitted with specialized safety devices that combat fuel fires. > Yeah, batteries are "dangerous". We're all still carrying them around in our pockets and purses. Stored energy is dangerous. The higher the density of that energy, the more danger it presents. Vehicle battery packs are designed with integrated cooling, and thus can be far denser than what's in your pocket. Not to be completely negative, but to expect that there won't be a "safety learning curve" with larger and larger numbers of battery operated vehicles does not seem like sound planning. Met correctly, I'm sure we'll be able to manage it.

elihu 5y ago

We could make different trade-offs. If we had electrified freeways (allowing cars to charge while moving), most people wouldn't need large batteries in their cars just for the occasional road trip and manufacturers could use safer, cheaper chemistries like lithium iron phosphate.

perl4ever 5y ago

>Yeah, batteries are "dangerous". We're all still carrying them around in our pockets and purses. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UPS_Airlines_Flight_6 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UPS_Airlines_Flight_6 "The FAA issued a restriction on the carrying of lithium batteries in bulk on passenger flights" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asiana_Airlines_Flight_991 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asiana_Airlines_Flight_991 "the International Civil Aviation Organization considered applying new safety standards to air carriage of lithium batteries as a result of this"