Are we still convinced that electric vehicles are the best way forward?

[Mad4slalom]

Many of us more enlightened people in the UK have grave concerns about the fire and associated risks from EV`s . Thr problem is that the A - holes in power choose to ignore this fundamental flaw in thier policies to drive ICE vehicles off our roads .

I was at a friends place when he noticed th tiny lithium battery pack from his RC plane had expanded like a balloon. When he pricked the plastic with a knife and the air got in there it started giving off the most Accrid smoke almost like an eruption that completely filled a 15 x 10’ conservatory within 3/4 minutes. You could not breathe at all. Put me off Ev’ s and their batteries.

 

[Roscobbc]

I was at a friends place when he noticed th tiny lithium battery pack from his RC plane had expanded like a balloon. When he pricked the plastic with a knife and the air got in there it started giving off the most Accrid smoke almost like an eruption that completely filled a 15 x 10’ conservatory within 3/4 minutes. You could not breathe at all. Put me off Ev’ s and their batteries.

Now we are all encouraged to do our 'bit' for recycling - we've seen the disposal containers at our civic amenity depots........do we really bother to seperate-out the dry and nicad batteries......or simply sling them in the dustbin? - the latter I expect. Presuming the same mindset applies to old, failed and faulty lithium cells we don't have to thing about the potential consequences a few years in the future when all the crap (and mixed battery cells) are a good few feet compacted under a couple of meters of hardcore, sealed and topped-off with concrete........and a lithium battery (as Mad4slalom explains) spontaneously combusts and starts a chain reaction under all that concrete......

 

[Chuffer]

I was at a friends place when he noticed th tiny lithium battery pack from his RC plane had expanded like a balloon. When he pricked the plastic with a knife and the air got in there it started giving off the most Accrid smoke almost like an eruption that completely filled a 15 x 10’ conservatory within 3/4 minutes. You could not breathe at all. Put me off Ev’ s and their batteries.

The sooner Joe Public wises up to all the inherant problems assocaited with EV`s , battery fires and disposal of same , not mention the drain on the very finite mineral resources to produce them and stops buying EV`s the better .

 

[Adtheman]

I run a Tesla Model 3 LR, not the full fat performance but there's nothing in it after 40mph so opted to save myself 10k over my 4 yr lease, I run my own limited company which means virtually no benefit in kind. My previous car an Audi S4 used to cost me £3.5k in bik before i turned a wheel, lease cost was about the same as the model 3. It then used to cost me between £150-200 per week in fuel. (500 miles). Ive just done 20k miles in the Tesla, £56.20 bik and averaging £145 per month in electric. Figure its saving me close to 10k per year for my work shuttle, now that's with having. Its not perfect and its a bit clinical and soulless but it can still outrun BMW 'M' cars and a lot of more expensive so called supercars. Is it the way forwards? works for me.

 

[Stingray]

Always gives me a chuckle when an electric car driver, bored out of their brain, sees a sports car and desperately hopes one quick burst of acceleration might miraculously transform their heavily subsidised domestic appliance into something more interesting. IMO an electric car is the automotive equivalent of Heineken 0.0

 

[Nassau65]

A couple of friends have got Tesla S’s they are real nice rides.

 

[Chuffer]

I run a Tesla Model 3 LR, not the full fat performance but there's nothing in it after 40mph so opted to save myself 10k over my 4 yr lease, I run my own limited company which means virtually no benefit in kind. My previous car an Audi S4 used to cost me £3.5k in bik before i turned a wheel, lease cost was about the same as the model 3. It then used to cost me between £150-200 per week in fuel. (500 miles). Ive just done 20k miles in the Tesla, £56.20 bik and averaging £145 per month in electric. Figure its saving me close to 10k per year for my work shuttle, now that's with having. Its not perfect and its a bit clinical and soulless but it can still outrun BMW 'M' cars and a lot of more expensive so called supercars. Is it the way forwards? works for me.

Congratulations , you have been successfuly duped by the politicians and greenies by benefiting from their short term financial inducements to go electric whilst not challenging the medium to long term short comings electrical vehicles and the carbon footprint of their manufacture and altimate disposal .

 

[teamzr1]

They may work fine for those that drive short distances, have no fear where they go that if a charger is needed that there is one
and what the costs are for charging at a 3rd party for profit charger business.

I have read here in the USA due to the long distances we drive as example a friend of mine living in central Texas, to go buy food he has to pull a trailer, drive 90 miles (180 round trip) !
In those cases, better make damn sure batteries were charged up when leaving home
Also long distances like freeways, try driving at night, bad weather.
And even the next gas station can be 200 miles away and as of now most likely do not have charges or even if they have fast chargers

Also, people get a real wake-up call when in just 3-4 years the batteries go belly-Up and new ones cost more than the vehicle's worth is

Can you imagine here in the USA there are apartment complex that have 400 apartments,
and no chargers, their wiring from the street side can only handle 100 amps max main and home charger requires 40-50 amps ?

There have been brown-outs here in Texas this hot summer ( 105F deg Plus, every day for 60 days plus, and heat index is another 15 deg) and due to getting suckered into making electricity via mostly wind Turbos,
but lots of days with NO wind, those put out nothing and now brownouts turning off A/Cs in this heat

Now add vehicle chargers, no fricking way going to happen.
Should have gone nuke power plants like in the early 1970s

 

[Adtheman]

Congratulations , you have been successfuly duped by the politicians and greenies by benefiting from their short term financial inducements to go electric whilst not challenging the medium to long term short comings electrical vehicles and the carbon footprint of their manufacture and altimate disposal .

It’s like I said Chuffer it’s clinical and soulless but it ain’t a bad car by a long way and I constantly travel the country using the supercharger network without a single problem and save 10k a year the the short term greenie bonus it is for me. The disposal of any car ICE or Electric will have an impact on the environment. Ignorance is bliss for some.

 

[Chuffer]

They may work fine for those that drive short distances, have no fear where they go that if a charger is needed that there is one
and what the costs are for charging at a 3rd party for profit charger business.

I have read here in the USA due to the long distances we drive as example a friend of mine living in central Texas, to go buy food he has to pull a trailer, drive 90 miles (180 round trip) !
In those cases, better make damn sure batteries were charged up when leaving home
Also long distances like freeways, try driving at night, bad weather.
And even the next gas station can be 200 miles away and as of now most likely do not have charges or even if they have fast chargers

Also, people get a real wake-up call when in just 3-4 years the batteries go belly-Up and new ones cost more than the vehicle's worth is

Can you imagine here in the USA there are apartment complex that have 400 apartments,
and no chargers, their wiring from the street side can only handle 100 amps max main and home charger requires 40-50 amps ?

There have been brown-outs here in Texas this hot summer ( 105F deg Plus, every day for 60 days plus, and heat index is another 15 deg) and due to getting suckered into making electricity via mostly wind Turbos,
but lots of days with NO wind, those put out nothing and now brownouts turning off A/Cs in this heat

Now add vehicle chargers, no fricking way going to happen.
Should have gone nuke power plants like in the early 1970s

You hit the nail right on the head .

 

[Chuffer]

It’s like I said Chuffer it’s clinical and soulless but it ain’t a bad car by a long way and I constantly travel the country using the supercharger network without a single problem and save 10k a year the the short term greenie bonus it is for me. The disposal of any car ICE or Electric will have an impact on the environment. Ignorance is bliss for some.

I will continue to do my bit for the environment by driving my every day car , an SUV with its 5.7 Litre V8 . It is 16 years old , covered only 72K miles and has `wiped its face` carbon footprint wise probably twice over by now . Plus it`s fun to drive .

 

[Adtheman]

I will continue to do my bit for the environment by driving my every day car , an SUV with its 5.7 Litre V8 . It is 16 years old , covered only 72K miles and has `wiped its face` carbon footprint wise probably twice over by now . Plus it`s fun to drive .

I also run a very nice C3 and an Audi S5 convertible so I’m a true petrol head always have been, I also understand that the electric cars are not as green as some make out so I find myself a little in the middle here. There are pros and cons for both but tbh I do laugh about the idiots who bleat on about range anxiety what a crock of crap. It’s a case of the 6 p’s Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance. You wouldn’t dream of doing a 1000 miles in an ice car without proper breaks or planning a stop for coffee or fuel. It’s exactly the same in an electric okay May take a little longer to charge but properly planned it’s a doddle. Plus you save a shit load of money

 

[Roscobbc]

Probably need to take yourself back to early motoring days when petrol was only available from roadside retailers (like cycle and hardware shops) in cans......there were very few roadside petrol dispensers....they would have been hand cranked.....probably not too much of an issue with queues, given the low numbers of cars in use. So you'd need to plan sourcing your fuel Monday to Friday, perhaps 8 or 9am through to 5pm? and be prepared to take a few cans with you if brave enough to take an extended trip somewhere......

 

[Chuffer]

I also run a very nice C3 and an Audi S5 convertible so I’m a true petrol head always have been, I also understand that the electric cars are not as green as some make out so I find myself a little in the middle here. There are pros and cons for both but tbh I do laugh about the idiots who bleat on about range anxiety what a crock of crap. It’s a case of the 6 p’s Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance. You wouldn’t dream of doing a 1000 miles in an ice car without proper breaks or planning a stop for coffee or fuel. It’s exactly the same in an electric okay May take a little longer to charge but properly planned it’s a doddle. Plus you save a shit load of money

I bet your Lexus won`t still be running on the same battery in 6 years time never mind 16 years like my V8 Jeep running on its ICE . You will have probably bought several EV`s in 16 years as they gradually go a knacker bit by bit . Where is the shit load of saving then ???
The crux of the issue is that all us ICE owners are subsidising EV owners with our heavy fuel duties just to provide a short term fix to a long term problem !

 

[Roscobbc]

I bet your Lexus won`t still be running on the same battery in 6 years time never mind 16 years like my V8 Jeep running on its ICE . You will have probably bought several EV`s in 16 years as they gradually go a knacker bit by bit . Where is the shit load of saving then ???
The crux of the issue is that all us ICE owners are subsidising EV owners with our heavy fuel duties just to provide a short term fix to a long term problem !

Perhaps not an EV in the true sense but ever wondered why the UK's minicab and Uber drivers have gobbled up all of the Prius's in the country? - strangely not perhaps because the batteries are any better than anything else.......or because they last longer than other cars - no, mainly because once they are registered as a low emission vehicle (meaning possibly escaping congestion charges) and generally applicable for the rest of the vehicles lifetime. Despite Prius's being one of the most uncomfortable vehicles in its class they are extremely well built and will easily do a mileage of three or four hundred miles before major repairs are needed. Transfer that logic over to a Lexus and the same serviceability could still apply providing the second, third and forth owners are prepared to fork out for routine servicing. When Lexus/Toyota bring a full EV to market no doubt it will be a 'proper' thing.

 

[Chuffer]

Perhaps not an EV in the true sense but ever wondered why the UK's minicab and Uber drivers have gobbled up all of the Prius's in the country? - strangely not perhaps because the batteries are any better than anything else.......or because they last longer than other cars - no, mainly because once they are registered as a low emission vehicle (meaning possibly escaping congestion charges) and generally applicable for the rest of the vehicles lifetime. Despite Prius's being one of the most uncomfortable vehicles in its class they are extremely well built and will easily do a mileage of three or four hundred thousand miles before major repairs are needed. Transfer that logic over to a Lexus and the same serviceability could still apply providing the second, third and forth owners are prepared to fork out for routine servicing. When Lexus/Toyota bring a full EV to market no doubt it will be a 'proper' thing.

Only 3 or 4 hundred miles !! I think I will stick to walking !

 

[teamzr1]

BMW is recalling iX M60 and i4s electric vehicles due to irregularities in the Samsung-made batteries that can catch fire.
Owners have been asked to stop driving the cars and park them outside.

The iX M60 starts at 105,100 and the i4 just shy of $53,000, and those recalled were manufactured with high voltage battery that 'may have internal damage.'

The issue is impacting BMW iX SAV models built from 2022 to 2023 and i4 M50 vehicles produced between November 22, 2021, and July 30, 2022, according to a letter from BMW of North America sent to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

 

[Chuffer]

BMW is recalling iX M60 and i4s electric vehicles due to irregularities in the Samsung-made batteries that can catch fire.
Owners have been asked to stop driving the cars and park them outside.

The iX M60 starts at 105,100 and the i4 just shy of $53,000, and those recalled were manufactured with high voltage battery that 'may have internal damage.'

The issue is impacting BMW iX SAV models built from 2022 to 2023 and i4 M50 vehicles produced between November 22, 2021, and July 30, 2022, according to a letter from BMW of North America sent to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

Sez it all really don`t it !

 

[Chuffer]

Now try to convince me that EV`s are environmentally friendly . This is a field full `dead` EV`s that the French Government bought for their staff to whiz about in . All the batteries have died and are too costly to replace . That`s a hell of a lot of nasty stuff to dispose of , not to mention the cost !!

 

[teamzr1]

An electric Jaguar I-Pace car spontaneously caught fire and burned down to ashes in July.

The Florida-based vehicle owner told Elecktrek that he had left his car plugged into the charger on June 16 before he went to sleep.

The following day, Gonzalo Salazar returned to take the vehicle on a few errands, driving for around 12 miles before he returned home and put the vehicle back in the garage.
When Salazar headed inside, he began hearing pops from the garage. Curious about the strange noise, he went to the garage, only to see thick smoke emanating from within.

“My thought immediately was, ‘When there is smoke, there is fire,’ and I need to get the car out of the house garage,” Salazar said in his email to Elecktrek
Listening to his instinct, he drove the smoking vehicle out of the garage and onto the street in front of his home.
He then headed back inside to grab his phone and call Jaguar roadside assistance to take the vehicle to safety.

“When I ended the conversation with them there were more pops, but this time it was followed by fire from under the car. I then called 911 to come help with the situation,” Salazar wrote.

“But this was not a slow burn, once the fire started there were multiple pops, and the car was just engulfed in flames rapidly.”
Firefighters responding to the scene used flame retardant to douse the flames.
“There was debris flying everywhere, so I kept my distance,” Salazar said.

“After the fire department poured a special foam fire suppressant for what seemed a long time, the car was still making a humming sound coming from the front of the car.”
By the time the fire was put out, the vehicle was reduced to ash, with only some parts near the hood remaining partly burned, pictures shared by Elecktrek showed.

“Jaguar, on the other hand, is not being helpful at all, stating they need to complete their own investigation, but because of the risk of igniting the fire once again, they are unable to find a place where they can lift the car up, therefore their ‘investigation’ is on hold, and they are not taking any responsibility for what happened,” he said.

According to Elecktrek, the battery in Salazar’s car is the fourth such I-Pace battery to spontaneously catch fire.

Although according to the outlet, electric vehicle fires aren’t as prevalent as gasoline-based vehicle fires; however, electric vehicle battery fires are much harder to put out.

I-Pace vehicles use LG pouch battery cells. LG Chem battery cells have previously caused fires due to a defect in them in Chevrolet Bolt vehicles, forcing Chevrolet and Hyundai to issue product recalls to replace the batteries.

When asked by Electrek about any links between the four I-Pace fires and the LG batteries, Jaguar responded with a general statement that did not address the question.
“Jaguar Land Rover North America, LLC is committed to our customers’ safety, and we are aware of this I-PACE incident in Boynton Beach, Florida.”

“We have been in contact with and are cooperating with the customer’s insurance company expert regarding a vehicle inspection. JLRNA is unable to comment further on your questions until the investigation is completed.”