Electric cars.

How many ICE cars spontaneously combust many hours after they were last used, whilst parked in a driveway? I'd wager that number is next to nil.

 

In well over 30 years of driving and managing public service depots containing hundreds of buses and coaches, I can say that there have been exactly zero cases of them self combusting whilst parked up, unused for hours. Not one.

Yes, if fuel sprays on hot exhaust when in use, they can, but never whilst sat doing nothing. Couple incidents like this with the very recent battery storage/recycling plants (one in the US and one in Aus I believe) at what stage do we stop and think that we might just be getting something wrong? We're playing Russian roulette here and worse, being forced to do it!

 

No, you are completely missing the point. EV's and more specifically the batteries therein are presenting risks that are unacceptably higher than those presented by ICE vehicles - namely, the ability to self-combust when parked, in this case. They are also presenting other unacceptable risks, which is why insurers are backing away from covering them or covering properties where they are residing/charging and also why communities are (rightly) asking questions about their safety next to battery storage/recycling sites.

No government is mandating that you use a saw or a knife - if you use those tools, you should know the risks of doing so and know how to deal with adverse events.. that, is the difference.

 

Please never do any form of risk assessment @Stephen Southwest - you apparently have no concept of the potential outcomes where there are variances between likelihood and severity.

As for this being one rare event, that is the whole point - you have apparently missed other posts, not all that long ago detailing where manufacturers have recalls out for EV's specifically because they are prone to self-combusting, or indeed the two very recent battery storage/recycling plants, one in the US and one in Aus.

As for my relationship with tech or indeed EV's specifically, my fear is based on what the potential outcomes could be for me, my friends and my colleagues - - I work on a site that operates EV's, rather large ones as it happens. My job is managing the department that decides how far they are able to go between charges and indeed scheduling the distances they cover as well as their charging, whilst the lady that sits to my left works with the suppliers to ensure that percolates across to a real-life charging strategy. My office is directly next to the undercover area that has 5.5Mw of incoming power, with no less than two transformer substations on site... and, we are one of those who are being bitten already by insurers being reluctant to offer cover, and those who are willing are charging a pretty penny. Now, why would those insurers be reluctant all of a sudden? We've been operating EV's for a number of years now, so what has changed?

See, I am disabled, so bluntly cannot run as fast as the others if there is a ruddy great bang when I am in my office - so forgive me if I am a tad concerned about our headlong pitch into a technology that is having more than a few teething problems.... especially so that it is a technology that is being mandated.

 

That last bit is the thing that worries me the most. At the moment I can avoid what seems to be a possible higher danger than previously. So I intend to keep, if possible, my current car until I am no longer capable of driving or hopefully the current (no pun intended) apparent problems have been overcome. I'll come back to you about that when I'm 100.

One of my neighbours has the similar model to my ICE but his is the EV version. He now pays just over £400 more for insurance than I do whereas we had been paying similar prices when he had his ICE. The insurer he had prior to the current one is one of the few companies that does not insure EV's but he had no trouble getting insurance elsewhere at the higher rate.

A friend, who lives in London, has been refused house insurance by two companies simply because of his EV although, again, others were happy to insure him (at a slightly higher price) and one would only insure him if the car wasn't on charge at night

I much prefer to be cautious and object to being pressured into buying a version that I don't want at the moment - but I'm a grumpy old man and will complain about anything that I see as pressurising me instead of trying to persuade me.

How Difficult It Is to Get Insurance for Electric Cars? 2025.

 

Good to see someone bucking the trend, well done

https://www.instituteforenergyresea...twice-as-much-as-those-for-gasoline-vehicles/