Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms Lithium battery fire

I have tried to understand the statistics which state that EV cars are less likely to catch fire than IC cars. In everything I have read, I have not seen anything which adjusts for the fact that IC cars have a much older vehicle park than EV cars and therefore will have more cars serviced outside of the main dealer network. The stats don't just need to look at the proportion of EV vs IC cars they need to reflect the fact that vehicle age and service history is going to play a part in the likelihood of a fire occurring.

And when it comes to traffic accidents I doubt an EV is less prone to accidents than any other modern car and one thing is certain; a damaged EV is a very dangerous beast. This is not only for the occupants but also for rescue services.

A fireman told me about 6 years ago that they were getting extra training to deal with EV fires. The bottom line was to leave them burn and take limited action if/when the danger to life or spread increased.
e was a video on youtube showing an example of an ev battery post damage.
A car was left with battery in it. Over time the Li battery started to react, slowly but increasing. They then immersed the whole thing in a container full of water and left it.
Apparently it is the electrolyte that is a big factor in fires. Solid state electrolytes is the preferred route as they don’t react like the gel/liquid ones. Basically chemically (wet) inert but still active. A US professor demonstrated one. He made a”battery” by sandwiching a solid electrolyte between aluminium foil layers. Connected a bulb to indicate power on. He then took scissors and repeatedly cut it down to a small size. It continued powering the bulb with no problems.
I am wary of recharging Li batteries. There are sensible precautions. A proper recharger ( avoiding online auction sites and cheap rubbish), not enclosing the battery/device to allow air cooling, avoid overnight if possible. My iphone has a built in charging management linked to reducing heating during charging. It does get warm if put on a charging pad. Useful device for a short top-up but I prefer a cable/usb connection for longer, phone on it’s side to maximise air contact.
The Plus Four usb sockets are in the back of the glovebox. Not ideal but I keep the phone outside and the box closes without pinching over the cable.
Am I paranoid? I don’t think so. Sensibly careful? Yes.

Just remembered a tv prog about Sellafield. They have an area there that is a huge water tank. In it are a large number of skips with radioactive material (waste) in them. They don’t know what exactly is in each one and are slowly dealing with them. Removing the contents and enclosing them in concrete. The presenter, film crew, guide were on a very limited time filming there!

The big issue with radioactive waste is not the uranuim/plutonium/neverendium, it's the protective gear and tools. If you imagine the numbers of staff involved and their protective gear, this has limted use and all of it has to be safely contained "forever". As Alastair said, no regard was given when dreaming up nuclear power, to the safe disposal of anything.

EV's are the same. Nobody wants to have an EV with end of life battery fail. Disposing of EV's at end of life is never mentioned. Arguably the manufacturer should be responsible, but that will never happen. And so it remains maybe the biggest issue of what is trumpeted as a totally green solution, which clearly isn't. Just like nuclear.

The maker is already paying for the mining and creation. It's why a like for like car is £10-15k more! If they were also made accountable for the safe disposal to an ecological level I am guessing it would add another £10K+ as well so our chances of moving to EV models would just come to a halt.

Okay, i've got it. The answer to all our circular economy goals.
https://www.autoevolution.com/news/...-the-glory-days-of-childhood-192276.html

Was reading some stats a few days ago ( if I had any sort of memory I would say where) but the gist of them was that the chances of a leccy car catching fire were way less than for a petrol or diesel car. I think it was the Norwegian government report

Was reading some stats a few days ago ( if I had any sort of memory I would say where) but the gist of them was that the chances of a leccy car catching fire were way less than for a petrol or diesel car. I think it was the Norwegian government report

I read that too, and a quick summary is here:

https://electrificationstrategy.eu/...ty-risk-than-conventional-transportation

- petrol and diesel are 4 to 5 times more likely to cause a fire, but the EV fires are much more difficult to deal with.

I gained similar information on an EV course a few Saturdays ago. It was aimed at those in motorsport and a very interesting few hours spent with colleague marshals and officials