VW EVs tend to catch fire when recharging, or shortly thereafter. Despite the
article saying no other cases exist, news in Germany suggests otherwise.
https://insideevs.com/news/527874/volkswagen-id3-netherlands-fire-charging/
Volkswagen ID.3 Bursts Into Flames In The Netherlands
Andrei Nedelea
This Volkswagen ID.3 burst into flames after a woman from the Dutch city of
Groningen disconnected it from the curbside charger. She had just put her child
in the vehicle and wanted to get behind the wheel when she noticed the car
started to smoke, and not long after that it was completely enveloped by flames.
They were able to leave the vehicle quickly and were unharmed, but the ID.3
itself was burnt beyond repair, even damaging a car (another EV, a first-gen
Nissan Leaf) parked right behind it. Firefighters were quick to reach the
scene, but the electric Volkswagen hatchback could not be saved and what was
left of it was towed away.
Volkswagen is reportedly going to thoroughly investigate the wreckage to try to
uncover why the vehicle spontaneously combusted. There seems to be a consensus
among manufacturers that electric vehicles don’t necessarily pose a greater
fire risk than regular internal combustion-engined vehicles, yet EV battery
packs are known for being very dangerous when exposed to very high temperatures.
We didn’t find information about any other Volkswagen ID.3 or ID.4 fires, so
this could very well be the first one. We will post a follow-up article to this
one once the information as to why this particular ID.3 encountered this issue
becomes available. It could be something charging-related (since the vehicle
was plugged in shortly before it started smoking), but we’ll wait for the
official version as to what exactly happened.
The ID.3 didn’t get off to the best start in Europe, after being delayed, then
recalled (in October and November 2020) for an issue with the protective
earthed conductor (PE conductor) on the charger that could apparently become
loose and eventually detach. It was also heavily criticized for its glitchy
infotainment software, but these issues have been addressed to a degree - it’s
not perfect, but it’s better than before.
Mit freundlichen Grüßen/Kind regards,
Robert German
Tesla referral code: Robert85963
Sent from somewhere
