Chinese EV's burning brightly

[so called]

I've just seen this video purporting to show lots of Chinese EV's going up in flames.
Various models.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOA7qKMcjcE&t=...

[Maracus]

Reminds me of when Vauxhall Zafiras used to set fire to themselves.

[rowley birkin]

Maracus said:

Reminds me of when Vauxhall Zafiras used to set fire to themselves.

Easier to put the Zafira fire out though, and it can't spy on you either

[Maracus]

rowley birkin said:

Maracus said:

Reminds me of when Vauxhall Zafiras used to set fire to themselves.

Easier to put the Zafira fire out though, and it can't spy on you either

They took some putting as well.

Depends how paranoid you are

[TheDeuce]

A compilation of the videos that have each spawned their own thread on here previously - what are we to do with this information? Cross fingers each time we drive? Make a concerted effort to 'be lucky'?

We could call off the whole EV thing I suppose

[Maracus]

TheDeuce said:

A compilation of the videos that have each spawned their own thread on here previously - what are we to do with this information? Cross fingers each time we drive? Make a concerted effort to 'be lucky'?

We could call off the whole EV thing I suppose

Agreed.

Mine hasn't caught fire once in 3 years. Maybe I should take it back as it's obviously faulty.

[DonkeyApple]

so called said:

I've just seen this video purporting to show lots of Chinese EV's going up in flames.
Various models.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOA7qKMcjcE&t=...

That dude does really hate China though.

I think the risk area for the U.K. lies mostly in an inevitable Grenfell type incident from all the cheap eScooters being kept in flats. It seems depressingly inevitable that one of those council chariots is going to take out a block of flats

In terms of EV cars in the U.K. the Chinese stuff that lands in the U.K. typically has a Western badge on it and has been built in China to quite a different standard to some of the locally sold stuff. BYD has come from nowhere in the EV market to being one of the major EV players so I'd expect their meteoric expansion to have cut plenty of corners.

But I suspect that what we are soon to start seeing in the U.K. is the insurance industry starting to block EVs from certain places by declining to underwrite the risk. Obvious places could be underground parking in residential buildings where the structure simply hasn't been designed to withstand the potential fire event and a retrofit suppression system can't compensate.

Where China is hugely important is that it is the largest and oldest EV market in the world and with EVs build to a wide range of standards so it will be the country where the data is created regarding how Li battery safety deteriorates as the cells die off within a pack at different rates and how well various BMS cope etc.

Mr I Hate China also seems to be making a bit of meal out of the rather bloody obvious aspect that these vloggers etc are never impartial as they will say anything you want for 50p and will never risk not getting their next 50p or tiny, brief moment of fame. Plus, the car industry is very much like a party for princesses where the slightest absence of smoke being blown hard and fast up the 'arris leads to an immediate tantrum, lobbing of toys and swinging of handbags.

[TheDeuce]

DonkeyApple said:

I think the risk area for the U.K. lies mostly in an inevitable Grenfell type incident from all the cheap eScooters being kept in flats. It seems depressingly inevitable that one of those council chariots is going to take out a block of flats

I think you're right. Not just eScooters, but eBikes, 'hoverboards' and so on, many have a fairly significant battery pack and they all get knocked around, dropped, crashed and so on.

A quick google and this was the first result: https://news.sky.com/story/alarming-increase-in-th...

88 ebike fires in London alone last year - and realistically any of them could have started with a bike on charge in an apartment, with the owner not even at home. It's actually amazing a major emergency hasn't resulted from these types of fire yet - but I agree, it seems inevitable.

To my mind this seems a far greater threat in general than EV fires, because EV's are mostly kept outdoors and if one goes up, a lot of people will know about it very quickly. Smaller electrical personal transport bikes/scooters etc tend to be stored in apartments/flats and could easily be unattended, in a room with a load of other stuff that will quickly catch and nobody would know until the fire was ripping into other parts of the building.

Scary stuff, and each Christmas millions more of these things seem likely to arrive here on a container ship!

[GT9]

This will get really interesting when fuel cell cars start catching fire.

Putting two separate energy stores in one car is always going to raise the prospect of fire.

Regular hybrids are much more likely to catch fire than EVs for this same reason.

Let's just hope those 700 bar hydrogen tanks are going withstand the fire before it's put out.

[so called]

DonkeyApple said:

so called said:

I've just seen this video purporting to show lots of Chinese EV's going up in flames.
Various models.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOA7qKMcjcE&t=...

That dude does really hate China though.

I think the risk area for the U.K. lies mostly in an inevitable Grenfell type incident from all the cheap eScooters being kept in flats. It seems depressingly inevitable that one of those council chariots is going to take out a block of flats

In terms of EV cars in the U.K. the Chinese stuff that lands in the U.K. typically has a Western badge on it and has been built in China to quite a different standard to some of the locally sold stuff. BYD has come from nowhere in the EV market to being one of the major EV players so I'd expect their meteoric expansion to have cut plenty of corners.

But I suspect that what we are soon to start seeing in the U.K. is the insurance industry starting to block EVs from certain places by declining to underwrite the risk. Obvious places could be underground parking in residential buildings where the structure simply hasn't been designed to withstand the potential fire event and a retrofit suppression system can't compensate.

Where China is hugely important is that it is the largest and oldest EV market in the world and with EVs build to a wide range of standards so it will be the country where the data is created regarding how Li battery safety deteriorates as the cells die off within a pack at different rates and how well various BMS cope etc.

Mr I Hate China also seems to be making a bit of meal out of the rather bloody obvious aspect that these vloggers etc are never impartial as they will say anything you want for 50p and will never risk not getting their next 50p or tiny, brief moment of fame. Plus, the car industry is very much like a party for princesses where the slightest absence of smoke being blown hard and fast up the 'arris leads to an immediate tantrum, lobbing of toys and swinging of handbags.

Yes, you're right.
I did hesitate to post based on the clear anti-China bias.

[DonkeyApple]

so called said:

Yes, you're right.
I did hesitate to post based on the clear anti-China bias.

We could always balance him a bit with that Electric Viking bellend?

[TheDeuce]

GT9 said:

This will get really interesting when fuel cell cars start catching fire.

Putting two separate energy stores in one car is always going to raise the prospect of fire.

Regular hybrids are much more likely to catch fire than EVs for this same reason.

Let's just hope those 700 bar hydrogen tanks are going withstand the fire before it's put out.

Seems safe enough to me - since no one is buying such cars

I really think that in the UK at least, once people that bang on about HFC cars actually get to grips with the cost of the cars, the cost to fuel them and the packaging downsides of all the stuff they have to fit in, they'll quietly lose interest and take an EV out for a test drive instead.

[DonkeyApple]

TheDeuce said:

Seems safe enough to me - since no one is buying such cars

I really think that in the UK at least, once people that bang on about HFC cars actually get to grips with the cost of the cars, the cost to fuel them and the packaging downsides of all the stuff they have to fit in, they'll quietly lose interest and take an EV out for a test drive instead.

I suspect it's simpler than that. Once it dawns on them that no one is confiscating their petrol car on Jan 1st 2035 and making all the petrol stations disappear and there mysteriously being 10m used EVs knocking about, they'll stop wanting silly transport solutions and just stick with the obvious stuff that works.

[TheDeuce]

DonkeyApple said:

TheDeuce said:

Seems safe enough to me - since no one is buying such cars

I really think that in the UK at least, once people that bang on about HFC cars actually get to grips with the cost of the cars, the cost to fuel them and the packaging downsides of all the stuff they have to fit in, they'll quietly lose interest and take an EV out for a test drive instead.

I suspect it's simpler than that. Once it dawns on them that no one is confiscating their petrol car on Jan 1st 2035 and making all the petrol stations disappear and there mysteriously being 10m used EVs knocking about, they'll stop wanting silly transport solutions and just stick with the obvious stuff that works.

I think you're right. These strange people only yammer on about alternatives to EV because they just want EV to bugger off! In reality they'll mostly stick to ICE because they can. Those who are seriously considering buying a fuel cell car one day will mostly be put off by various realities when that day comes and they research it properly.

I also don't see any signs of the hydrogen infrastructure getting going in the UK so who would buy one? Conversely, until millions do buy them, the infrastructure won't get started. It's a none starter for the UK I think.

[mersontheperson]

Couldn’t agree more with the points made above.

Don’t forget about the cargo ship where 4000 Porsche, Audi and Bentley were destroyed in a fire. They crew were luck to get off that ship alive

[TheDeuce]

mersontheperson said:

Couldn’t agree more with the points made above.

Don’t forget about the cargo ship where 4000 Porsche, Audi and Bentley were destroyed in a fire. They crew were luck to get off that ship alive

Did they ever get to the bottom of how that fire started? Or is everyone involved still pointing the finger at everyone else..

[FiF]

No comment about the Chinese thing, though having been directly and indirectly a victim and affected by theft and abuse of intellectual property and personally uncovered an industrial spy I'm not particularly enamoured of that nation's practices.

However there's been a report from Reuters and others concerning insurers being very wary about repair of EVs after minor bumps where the battery pack may have been damaged.

Here's DAILY T https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/consumer-affairs...

Reuters https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportat...

[delta0]

Good job the rate of fires in EVs is lower than ICE. Am I doing it right? Oh wait…

[mersontheperson]

delta0 said:

Good job the rate of fires in EVs is lower than ICE. Am I doing it right? Oh wait…

Are they though? It would be interesting to see the data, and if they are comparing like for like with age, etc.

Also, a fire in an ICE vehicle can be remedied very quickly and repaired well if caught quickly. I am pretty sure that’s not the case if their is a battery fire on an EV

[GT9]

mersontheperson said:

delta0 said:

Good job the rate of fires in EVs is lower than ICE. Am I doing it right? Oh wait…

Are they though? It would be interesting to see the data, and if they are comparing like for like with age, etc.

Also, a fire in an ICE vehicle can be remedied very quickly and repaired well if caught quickly. I am pretty sure that’s not the case if their is a battery fire on an EV

What happened when you googled 'do EVs catch fire?'