7 ms·

Yea, here the batteries catch fire and a bunch of kids burn to death. Grim, but possible.

by bnt 5y ago

Johnny555 5y ago
Not likely, not without being in a serious accident. Despite the Chevy Bolt's highly publicized battery fires (which did not kill anyone), EV batteries don't usually burst into flames unprovoked. The battery will be well protected in a school bus frame.
pavon 5y ago
ICE vehicles have orders of magnitude higher fire risk than EV. https://www.kbb.com/car-news/study-electric-vehicles-involved-in-fewest-car-fires/ https://www.kbb.com/car-news/study-electric-vehicles-involve...
thehappypm 5y ago
Right, because diesel buses are totally not flammable at all.
- PaulHoule 5y ago
  I bought a number of plastic "jerry cans" that all had stickers on them saying you shouldn't use gasoline or diesel to start fires. Oddly the reason why is different for the two fluids. Gasoline can catch fire quickly and form a fireball, whereas diesel is hard to ignite and won't help start a fire. This movie https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_5th_Wave_(film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_5th_Wave_(film) has a scene where the kids set a school bus on fire with the fuel which isn't realistic.
  - sokoloff 5y ago
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nL10C7FSbE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nL10C7FSbE compares the flammability of several types of fuels. 2m08s for Jet-A. 3m50s for #2 diesel. 6m03s for heating oil. 7m30s for kerosene (all those are basically the same and surprising to most how not flammable they are in liquid form). 10m15s for avgas. 11m30s for auto gas.
    - lstodd 5y ago
      That's some bullshit video. All you need is some tissue and a gas soldering iron or equivalent lighter. Lights up in under one second.
      - PaulHoule 5y ago
        Back in the day we would make ‘firebowls’ with a metal bowl and burning various liquids, igniting it with a long lighter. We would burn everything from gasoline to corn oil that way.
kube-system 5y ago
Fire risk is a major reason why we already put as many as 8 or more emergency exits on full size school busses.
- olivermarks 5y ago
  https://youtu.be/J6eS6JzBn0k https://youtu.be/J6eS6JzBn0k Lithium-Ion Battery Fires in Electric Vehicles - Safety Risks to Emergency RespondersNTSBGov Thermal runaway, stranded energy and battery reignition should preclude EV usage to transport children until adequate safety measures are put in place. EV car fires are intense, high voltage and severe. A bus full of children fire doesn't bear thinking about.
  - lostlogin 5y ago
    Ever been near a car fire? They burn pretty well and you'll feel it from the other side of a multilane road. I've also seen buses burn. Is there a reason to think that more kids are going to burn in electric busses than ICE ones?
    - olivermarks 5y ago
      Ever been near an EV fire? They burn with the equivalent of a 220v welder across the whole battery skateboard, will literally melt aluminum wheels and body parts and require 20 tons of water to temporarily extinguish. There's a huge difference between an ICE vehicle fire, which is essentially rubber, upholstery and plastics burning sometime compounded by gasoline vapor and an EV thermal runaway trapped energy event. I think all EVs should be required to have manual escape locks etc at a minimum. https://youtu.be/J6eS6JzBn0k https://youtu.be/J6eS6JzBn0k
      - olivermarks 5y ago
        It's incredible to me that EV enthusiasts are such zealots they refuse to take into account the facts around practicality, pollution and fire risk, just choosing to downvote instead. A demonstration of a gasoline vs battery fire https://youtu.be/tuVxwmnhqP4 https://youtu.be/tuVxwmnhqP4

Yea, here the batteries catch fire and a bunch of kids burn to death. Grim, but possible.

by bnt 5y ago

Yea, here the batteries catch fire and a bunch of kids burn to death. Grim, but possible.

Not likely, not without being in a serious accident. Despite the Chevy Bolt's highly publicized battery fires (which did not kill anyone), EV batteries don't usually burst into flames unprovoked. The battery will be well protected in a school bus frame.

pavon 5y ago

ICE vehicles have orders of magnitude higher fire risk than EV. https://www.kbb.com/car-news/study-electric-vehicles-involved-in-fewest-car-fires/ https://www.kbb.com/car-news/study-electric-vehicles-involve...

thehappypm 5y ago

Right, because diesel buses are totally not flammable at all.

PaulHoule 5y ago
I bought a number of plastic "jerry cans" that all had stickers on them saying you shouldn't use gasoline or diesel to start fires. Oddly the reason why is different for the two fluids. Gasoline can catch fire quickly and form a fireball, whereas diesel is hard to ignite and won't help start a fire. This movie https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_5th_Wave_(film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_5th_Wave_(film) has a scene where the kids set a school bus on fire with the fuel which isn't realistic.
- sokoloff 5y ago
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nL10C7FSbE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nL10C7FSbE compares the flammability of several types of fuels. 2m08s for Jet-A. 3m50s for #2 diesel. 6m03s for heating oil. 7m30s for kerosene (all those are basically the same and surprising to most how not flammable they are in liquid form). 10m15s for avgas. 11m30s for auto gas.
  - lstodd 5y ago
    That's some bullshit video. All you need is some tissue and a gas soldering iron or equivalent lighter. Lights up in under one second.
    - PaulHoule 5y ago
      Back in the day we would make ‘firebowls’ with a metal bowl and burning various liquids, igniting it with a long lighter. We would burn everything from gasoline to corn oil that way.

kube-system 5y ago

Fire risk is a major reason why we already put as many as 8 or more emergency exits on full size school busses.

olivermarks 5y ago
https://youtu.be/J6eS6JzBn0k https://youtu.be/J6eS6JzBn0k Lithium-Ion Battery Fires in Electric Vehicles - Safety Risks to Emergency RespondersNTSBGov Thermal runaway, stranded energy and battery reignition should preclude EV usage to transport children until adequate safety measures are put in place. EV car fires are intense, high voltage and severe. A bus full of children fire doesn't bear thinking about.
- lostlogin 5y ago
  Ever been near a car fire? They burn pretty well and you'll feel it from the other side of a multilane road. I've also seen buses burn. Is there a reason to think that more kids are going to burn in electric busses than ICE ones?
  - olivermarks 5y ago
    Ever been near an EV fire? They burn with the equivalent of a 220v welder across the whole battery skateboard, will literally melt aluminum wheels and body parts and require 20 tons of water to temporarily extinguish. There's a huge difference between an ICE vehicle fire, which is essentially rubber, upholstery and plastics burning sometime compounded by gasoline vapor and an EV thermal runaway trapped energy event. I think all EVs should be required to have manual escape locks etc at a minimum. https://youtu.be/J6eS6JzBn0k https://youtu.be/J6eS6JzBn0k
    - olivermarks 5y ago
      It's incredible to me that EV enthusiasts are such zealots they refuse to take into account the facts around practicality, pollution and fire risk, just choosing to downvote instead. A demonstration of a gasoline vs battery fire https://youtu.be/tuVxwmnhqP4 https://youtu.be/tuVxwmnhqP4