"When even The Washington Post begins to cover the electric car’s Fire Problem, you know the problem is becoming too big not to cover.
It has always been a problem
– but an under-reported problem –
in part because of the corporate media’s being very much a kind of marketing division for the electric car
and the subsidies and mandates upon which their existence depends and
– more so – on the “climate change” narrative, without which there would be little if any justification for the subsidies and mandates.
Since the corporate media is very much on board with the “climate change” narrative, it is natural it would be favorably inclined toward the electric car and this has been reflected in its coverage – or rather, the lack thereof.
Especially as regards the electric car’s deficits, including the built-in tendency of all electric cars – not just Teslas – to spontaneously combust.
As when not being driven.
As when parked in the garage – which has led in a number of cases to the garage (and the house attached) burning to the ground.
EVs have two unique problems that make them fire-prone when at rest – in addition to being more likely to burn when hit.
The first is a function of their high-voltage battery packs, which are a lattice-like maze of individual interconnected cells.
A defect in materials or workmanship in any one of these cells can result in a short circuit and what’s known as thermal runaway
– which can very quickly lead to a very high-temperature chemical fire that is extremely difficult to stop once it starts
and which can re-start, even if all the flames are extinguished –
for the same thermal runaway reasons.
An electric car battery fire is fundamentally different from a gasoline fire, which is sparked – literally – and which cannot happen without a spark.
A leaking gas tank merely leaks – unless there is a spark.
This is why it is less likely that a fire will happen when a gasoline-powered car is involved in an accident.
It is even less likely, because the tank must first leak – and that, too, is less likely.
Two things have to happen for a gasoline-powered car to catch fire.
First, the gas tank’s physical integrity must be compromised.
It is not enough to just damage it.
It can be bent, it can be smashed.
But for a fire to happen, it must be made to leak gas, as by hitting it hard enough to crack a seam or puncture it.
This is actually pretty hard to do as well as unlikely to happen.
First, because the gas tank is located in one part of the car, usually behind the rear axle – which serves as a physical bulwark protecting the gas tank if the vehicle is rear-ended.
If the car runs into something or is hit from the side, there is almost no chance the gas tank will be hit and so it is not likely to be damaged sufficiently to result in a leak.
Even if it is hit hard enough to result in a leak, there must then be a spark – to ignite any leaking gas/fumes.
If there is no spark, there will be no fire.
Gasoline does not spontaneously combust and for that reason is inherently safer.
This is why even the defective Ford Pinto very rarely caught fire.
More than 3 million were made; only a few ever caught fire.
Statistically, the fire risk was near-nil.
100 percent nil, if the Pinto was parked.
With electric cars, a fire can happen if there is just a leak – in between the individual cells, as a result of a material defect during manufacture or assembly of the battery pack.
Or caused by damage to the structure of the battery pack itself during a wreck.
Such damage is more likely to happen because there is much more battery than tank.
An electric car’s battery pack usually runs the entire length of the car’s floorpan.
It is installed, sandwich-style, like a layer of cheese in between the meat (the “meat” being the car’s floorpans).
This arrangement being necessary to spread out what would otherwise be a hugely bulky battery that would take up an enormous amount of vertical space,
which would eat up cargo or passenger space and render the car very impractical for carrying people or cargo.
By laying the battery pack out flat and wide and long, the battery pack takes up less vertical space and so doesn’t intrude upon the car’s interior passenger/cargo space.
But now you have the problem of greater fire risk arising from greater risk of the battery pack’s structural integrity being compromised in the event of any accident.
A hit from any angle can damage the battery pack, resulting in a short circuit, thermal runaway – and a runaway fire.
A very fast and very hot fire, much more so than a gas fire – which can engulf the entire car in flames – and extremely toxic fumes – so quickly that there is no time to get the people out in time.
There is also a third way electric cars can catch fire.
Thermal runaway risk increases during charging – in particular, what is styled “fast” charging (which takes many times as long as it takes to refuel a non-electric car).
Anyone familiar with electric devices knows that high heat attends high voltages, particularly when instilled from source to battery.
The “faster” you try to charge up a battery, the more likely the thermal runaway.
It is why electric cars have elaborate electronics to modulate the rate at which they are charged and why they cannot be fully “fast” charged.
At least, not safely.
It is necessary – for safety – to partially charge them, to avoid a thermal runaway – and also because it is harmful to the battery pack’s longevity to “fast” charge it to 100 percent of its capacity.
The usual top-off limit is 80 percent of capacity.
Which means, of course, that you are 20 percent shy of capacity – and lose 20 percent of whatever the electric car’s advertised maximum range is.
But that is another deficit for another time.
The point is that electric are inherently fire-prone.
Three times as prone to fires as non-electric cars.
They are more likely to catch fire from a defect during manufacture/assembly; if the battery pack is damaged in an accident – and while “fueling.”
They are much more likely to burn your house down when parked – and perhaps you along with it.
And the likelihood goes up as more and more electric cars are forced onto the “market” –
which is no longer allowed to discipline the manufacture of cars that are inherently more dangerous as well as more expensive and more restrictive.
This has happened, to a great extent, because the mainstream corporate press has declined to enlighten the public about the dangers and deficits of the electric car,
having committed itself to the “climate change” narrative that justifies the electric car.
It is of a piece with strange indifference to the harm being caused by the “vaccines,” which are also killing people ...
In both cases, it doesn’t seem to matter – because it’s not saving lives (or the environment) that matters.
I leave it up to you to ponder what does matter, as regards both."
Total Pageviews
Saturday, August 21, 2021
"Electric Cars Are Hot . . . Literally"
Source: