Here we go again - some BMW electric car may catch fire

[Trav]

Let's fix that, lol, you've now witnessed this by proxy!
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Old VW Beetle, they would go up at the drop of a hat. The positive side is they were easy enough to put out if the owner carried a fire extinguisher (in the OE safety kit, first aid kit, warning triangle, fire extinguisher). They would not however catch fire for no reason in the garage under the house at 3am.

 

[Cujet]

Ice cars catch fire far more often than BEV's per million miles driven.

An oft quoted statistic. However, it is not as clear as that.

EV's are new, with the vast majority being less than 3 years old.

Fully 70% of ICE vehicle fires are, a) cars, b)10 years old or older. Furthermore, hot operation, male drivers, and high speed collisions are highly represented.

Absent a few troubled models, ICE vehicles don't spontaneously combust. EV's on the other hand, represent a different kind of "impossible to extinguish" risk, and despite efforts, the problem continues unabated.

Tesla is packing their 4680's in a fire resistant polymer, with good reason.

 

[RooflessVW]

 

[UncleDave]

An oft quoted statistic. However, it is not as clear as that.

EV's are new, with the vast majority being less than 3 years old.

Fully 70% of ICE vehicle fires are, a) cars, b)10 years old or older. Furthermore, hot operation, male drivers, and high speed collisions are highly represented.

Absent a few troubled models, ICE vehicles don't spontaneously combust. EV's on the other hand, represent a different kind of "impossible to extinguish" risk, and despite efforts, the problem continues unabated.

Is there a set of statistics that you prefer or think is clearer ?

I'm always open to looking at data.

On the cargo ship fire - the NTSB said the fire on the Hoegh Xiamen started on the eighth deck of the ship, sparked by an improperly disconnected battery on one of the 2,400 vehicles onboard.
They dont specify it was a BEV. I recall the cars were mostly German, but is there any more info on this?

 

[UncleDave]

No it is just some EV proponents drank too much Kool Aid. Most EV fans have a hard time accepting the expensive battery in the vehicle began dying the day it was made.

People believe all kinds of crazy things.

Such is the way of propulsion in general.

Your or my new engines start a slow decay from day 1 in every ice vehicle we've ever owned.

 

[Trav]

I have a LS6 crate engine that is still on the original GM pallet in plastic that I bought new in 2008 for a project I got side tracked on for health reasons, it is still perfectly fine. If that was an EV battery chances are at 14 years and doing nothing it would be toast or it would have burned my garage down.

Last year I worked on a 47 Mercury with the original flat head V8, it needed minor stuff but was in no way in bad shape and ran like a top.

 

[JeffKeryk]

EV and ICE drivetrains each have their place and they each have plusses and minuses.

 

[UncleDave]

I have a LS6 crate engine that is still on the original GM pallet in plastic that I bought new in 2008 for a project I got side tracked on for health reasons, it is still perfectly fine. If that was an EV battery chances are at 14 years and doing nothing it would be toast or it would have burned my garage down.

Last year I worked on a 47 Mercury with the original flat head V8, it needed minor stuff but was in no way in bad shape and ran like a top.

True an unused long block wont degrade much if at all (maybe seals), but if you run it it will.

Leak it down - put 100K on it and leak it down again and it will show wear.

An unexcersized lithium battery can last a looong time if held at 50% charge, but not like a chunk of iron.

With 300 fires of all types out of 1.9+M cars the stats don't agree it will burst into flames sitting in your garage.

The estimated life of a model s battery is between 3 and 500K miles and degrades about 1% per year in use.

Thats certainly good enough. These cars aren't preservation material anyway.

I looooove my gasoline and pistons, but these setups are pretty sweet.

 

[Revving2Redline]

Lots of Saturn cars on fire I saw. We had a Ferrari catch on fire down here near Wichita and it was the first I had ever heard of an exotic catching fire.

 

[JeffKeryk]

Lots of Saturn cars on fire I saw. We had a Ferrari catch on fire down here near Wichita and it was the first I had ever heard of an exotic catching fire.

That makes a grown man cry...

 

[Spyderman24_7]

Old VW Beetle, they would go up at the drop of a hat. The positive side is they were easy enough to put out if the owner carried a fire extinguisher (in the OE safety kit, first aid kit, warning triangle, fire extinguisher). They would not however catch fire for no reason in the garage under the house at 3am.

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Truth be told, that was likely providing more combustible power than the engine was ever capable of!

 

[Trav]

The old Beetle engine was one of the best engines ever made and the basis for many others. If the fuel hose from the pump to the carb was changed as part of routine maintenance it was no issue.