From a consumer perspective, it’s pretty irrelevent. If a car catches fire, it’s a write-off anyway. The only difference is how long it takes firefighters to extinguish what used to be a car once they arrive.
Lol, I’m saying this as a firefighter. I’ve attended a couple of dozen vehicle fires in my time, and not once has the vehicle been in a salvageable state by the time we arrive. Unless it catches fire in front of a permanent-crew station, it will be ruined by the time anyone arrives.
Whether it takes 30 minutes or an hour to make things safe after the fact is a negligible concern.
I ask out of ignorance: is there much difference to how quick the ignition tends to be? I’ve seen lithium battery explosions from laptops but few (non-Hollywood) car explosions.
Not a clue to be honest. My experience is all from turning up to deal with cars that are already well involved.
Only thing I will say is that Hollywood car explosions are a myth. Fuel tanks will flare off, but don’t actually explode(with the exception of LPG in rare circumstances where the pressure relief fails). Tyres do explode, but aren’t a major hazard unless you’re within a metre or two of them when they do.
Even inside a garage, the difficulty in fully extinguishing the car is somewhat irrelevant. Suppression of the fire, ie, containing it so that nothing else catches fire, is identical for ICE and BEV. It just takes longer to fully extinguish a battery fire.
From a consumer perspective, it’s pretty irrelevent. If a car catches fire, it’s a write-off anyway. The only difference is how long it takes firefighters to extinguish what used to be a car once they arrive.
I mean call me a filthy society-liking socialist but I don’t really like to operate in a “pssh, that’s the fire department’s problem” kind of mode.
Lol, I’m saying this as a firefighter. I’ve attended a couple of dozen vehicle fires in my time, and not once has the vehicle been in a salvageable state by the time we arrive. Unless it catches fire in front of a permanent-crew station, it will be ruined by the time anyone arrives.
Whether it takes 30 minutes or an hour to make things safe after the fact is a negligible concern.
I ask out of ignorance: is there much difference to how quick the ignition tends to be? I’ve seen lithium battery explosions from laptops but few (non-Hollywood) car explosions.
Not a clue to be honest. My experience is all from turning up to deal with cars that are already well involved.
Only thing I will say is that Hollywood car explosions are a myth. Fuel tanks will flare off, but don’t actually explode(with the exception of LPG in rare circumstances where the pressure relief fails). Tyres do explode, but aren’t a major hazard unless you’re within a metre or two of them when they do.
Do you park your car in an attached garage?
Even inside a garage, the difficulty in fully extinguishing the car is somewhat irrelevant. Suppression of the fire, ie, containing it so that nothing else catches fire, is identical for ICE and BEV. It just takes longer to fully extinguish a battery fire.