Good points. I feel safe with my EV. Just hope companies work to make EVs the
safest vehicles on the road.
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________________________________
From: knoxev-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <knoxev-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> on behalf of
Marty Young <youngma65500@xxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, August 23, 2021 12:54:17 PM
To: knoxev@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <knoxev@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [knoxev] Re: Bolt recall
I agree that it is disconcerting. It is also disheartening for those of us who
are advocates of EVs.
I also realise that statistics provide little comfort to those who have lost
their car or home. But I do think it's important to put these events into
perspective.
There are now more than 10 million electric cars on the road worldwide
(https://www.iea.org/reports/global-ev-outlook-2021). Out of that worldwide
fleet, there have been just a handful of fires. But almost each one is
reported on and we hear the details of each occurrence.
Again, this is not to minimize the trauma of those events for the people
involved. But because each event is publicized, it's impact is magnified
relative to the statistical reality. Not unlike the way a person's fear of
flying can be heightened due to the fact that each and every plane crash will
make into the news.
I also agree that it's important to consider that this technology is still in
its early days. I like the "100 years" analogy. The first mass-produced EV
was the Nissan Leaf that came out in 2010...almost 100 years after the
introduction of the mass-produced Ford Model T in 1908. So you could say that
in 2021 EV development is where ICE vehicle development was in 1921.
Not surprisingly, ICE vehicles from that era caught fire with more frequency
than they do today. Undoubtedly, future generations of EVs will be less likely
to catch fire than the EVs of today. That will be especially true once the
liquid electrolyte in current batteries is eventually replaced by a solid
(non-flammable) matrix.
In the meantime, I do find some solace in the fact that the odds of my EV
bursting into flames is still statistically extremely low.
On Sun, Aug 22, 2021 at 12:30 PM Rudy Singh
<n39c5r@xxxxxxxxx<mailto:n39c5r@xxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
What is disconcerting is it can happen so many years after manufacturing. And,
it is not specific to one company even though GM is making the news right now.
This battery technology for cars is not that old (maybe 10 to 12 years) as
compared to gasoline. They have 100 years jump on us. One corroded
connection, be it from overheating, poorly made materials, natural wear and
tear, and that's it. The more battery you have in the car, the more likely
this could happen - more cells etc. Let's hope these are isolated incidents,
but it does get me thinking - and what if the new battery fails in 3 years - up
in smoke right! If we really want to transition to electric transportation, we
can't have these spontaneous fires. It's one thing for a fuel pump to fail and
you can't start the car, but a fire that destroys everything you have and
possibly kills you - that is scary! If I were thinking of transitioning and
heard of this, I might stay clear for a while...
Glad I still have my 1997 T100 - lol:)
Rudy
