[Wivenhoe]

Originally Posted by LogicalApex

I'm not sure I follow the train of thought here.

ICE cars have engine fire risks and there have been engine fire risk recalls. Including one from Kia where they note owners shouldn't park these gas powered cars in their garages or the just under 1M vehicles BMW recalled for engine fire risk.

Obviously, manufacturers should recall vehicles that pose a safety risk and I'm glad to see they are doing so irrespective of the power plant. But there is always a risk with all vehicles in this area. My understanding is they still require by law that cars are equipped with fire extinguishers in the EU due to car fire safety laws. That doesn't mean we shouldn't drive gas cars or that one power plant option is inherently safer than others.

Keep in mind that there are almost 200K vehicle engine fires on the highway annually in the US. That's a lot of vehicle fires!

The point about this is that there is a recall specifically to repair defective battery components that could cause a fire. This is an additional risk to an engine fire in a plug-in and potentially more serious - fire crews are very wary of dealing with ev / hybrids not least because - Failure of the battery may then be accompanied by the release of toxic gas, fire, jet flames, and explosion.
The risks associated with HV batteries must increase with age and this is something that should be considered - in the UK we have to have our cars tested at 3 years old and then annually. I very much doubt the testing stations have the expertise or equipment to check all the components of the HV hybrid system and this is something that should be considered to reflect the growth in EV’s / Plug-ins.
I’m not sure it would be a good idea to use a liquid based fire extinguisher on a HV battery fire !

[LogicalApex]

Originally Posted by Wivenhoe

The point about this is that there is a recall specifically to repair defective battery components that could cause a fire. This is an additional risk to an engine fire in a plug-in and potentially more serious - fire crews are very wary of dealing with ev / hybrids not least because - Failure of the battery may then be accompanied by the release of toxic gas, fire, jet flames, and explosion.
The risks associated with HV batteries must increase with age and this is something that should be considered - in the UK we have to have our cars tested at 3 years old and then annually. I very much doubt the testing stations have the expertise or equipment to check all the components of the HV hybrid system and this is something that should be considered to reflect the growth in EV’s / Plug-ins.
I’m not sure it would be a good idea to use a liquid based fire extinguisher on a HV battery fire !

In PA our cars are annually inspected for both safety and emissions testing. I don't know how extensive the testing is for EVs, but I'm sure it will be continually evolved to accommodate unique EV realities.

That being said, it is as if you're hunting for a reason to say EVs are inherently bad because something can go wrong with the battery -- up to even a fire! The batteries are generally very safe and we don't have EVs catching fire in the news every day. But I'm sure we'll continually see improvements to safety for them as well.

The bigger concern with EVs is the same for battery powered things overall. The issue of battery recycling as that's the sort of Achilles heel of electric. You have this component that you can't easily dispose of or recycle that has a finite life. In the case of BMW they've committed to taking back spent batteries from their EVs and use them to power their factories and other uses, but hopefully that chestnut will be cracked this decade.

[LuvMyE92]

Obviously we all have strong opinions and can each formulate rational and suggestive arguments to support our position.

I love electric cars - the instant torque, the presumed "green" factor (much of my electricity here is produced via nuclear, which (if we ignore the waste product) is pretty green in my book) and reduced maintenance costs, no need to wait for a "warm up" to nail the throttle, etc. But I'm not ready to own one, primarily because of the lack of supporting infrastructure here in NC.

So, just because I don't own one, and don't particularly want an PHEV right now doesn't mean that I don't support and appreciate all of you folks who are exploring the leading edge of technology. Compare the latest (pick your car) offering to what we had 10 years ago. Toyota Prius and maybe that Nissan thing... compare performance, cost, etc. today versus then. We've come a long way, and the journey is just getting started.

So thank you, all of you, who are taking this leap into the new technology, which will benefit us all in years to come.

[jsf721]

I am very happy with my 540x drive M sport. Perfect balance of economy, handling, fun and power. It’s a lease and yes I’d love an M550 x or and M5 or M5C but those were to Budget heavy.