Posted on 09/23/2023 10:26:58 AM PDT by Signalman
Electric vehicle (EV) sales are up, but that may come with unintended—if not lethal—consequences. EVs pose many problems that are not well-known including potentially dangerous conditions in commercial parking garages and the fire risks associated with lithium-ion batteries used by EV's.
Electric vehicles are becoming more prevalent, and being scrutinized for their potential dangers, even when they are not being driven. In July of this year a cargo ship caught fire off the Netherlands' coast after 3,500 new vehicles caught fire while in transport. One crew member was killed, and investigators said "the fire started in the battery of an electric car."
Flammability aside, EVs elicit concerns because of just how heavy they are compared to traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. Many older parking garages were simply not built with the weights of modern cars in mind, let alone EVs. The lithium-ion batteries that power new EVs account for a large portion of the weight discrepancy with traditional cars. For example, according to automotive trade journal Jobber News, "An electric vehicle can weigh much more than its internal combustion engine counterpart — the Ford F-150 Lightning can weigh 2,000-3,000 pounds more than the ICE version."
The battery of an electric GMC Hummer weighs approximately 2,900 pounds, or about the same as an entire 2022 Honda Civic.
The Telegraph reported that experts in the U.K. have warned that parking garages “could be at risk of collapse as heavier electric vehicles put pressure on ageing infrastructure.”
“I don’t want to be too alarmist, but there definitely is the potential for some of the early car parks in poor condition to collapse,” Chris Whapples, a structural engineer and a consultant on parking garage regulation, told The Telegraph. “Operators need to be aware of The battery of an electric GMC Hummer weighs approximately 2,900 pounds, or about the same as an entire 2022 Honda Civic.
There is also a concern over the fire hazard that EVs pose, especially when parked in commercial garages because of those buildings' tight quarters and restricted access.
In June, Siemens AG released a White Paper reviewing fire safety protocols in parking garages housing electric vehicles. Smaller parking spaces, larger vehicles, and the increase of plastics in car design has led to greater risks from multi-vehicle fires in parking garages just with ICE vehicles, according to Siemens.
The Siemens report highlights two recent international garage fires—one in Liverpool, U.K. in 2017 and another at the Stavanger Airport in Norway in 2020—which both caused significant structural damage and loss of property. This danger could be amplified by electric vehicles.
Most parking garages today were designed to accommodate ICE vehicles, rather than newer EVs, which Siemens explains, react differently to fires. The lithium-ion batteries that power electric vehicles undergo what is known as “thermal runaway” when they combust, making a fire in an EV extremely difficult to extinguish. EV battery fires can also reignite hours or days after visible signs of fire are gone, the report said.
“An electric vehicle (EV) battery fire releases the stored chemical energy, causing a rapid increase in temperature,” the report reads. “This results in an explosive combustion of the battery electrolyte vapor, with intense heat and highly toxic smoke, and can easily lead to multi-vehicle fires.”
Putting out an EV battery fire requires more water than a traditional fire because the reaction taking place in the battery cannot be stopped until the fuel is spent. In other words, the battery can only be cooled to prevent the spread of the fire until it has fizzled out.
In an article about the hazards of EVs, Health Facilities Magazine reports that “thousands of gallons” of water are required to put out EV battery fires, sometimes over a period of 24 hours, to cool the battery until it burns out. A fire like this occurring in a parking garage presents additional challenges because a traditional method of firefighters—turning an EV on its side to access the battery so that water can cool it down—may not be available in the confines of a parking garage.
In addition to the safety hazards of fire and building collapses, electric vehicle ownership comes with other cost and safety effects on the average consumer:
According to The Wall Street Journal, the average insurance cost for a traditional vehicle is $193 a month. With an all-electric vehicle, the average insurance costs increase to $317 a month, a 64% increase in expenses.
Liberty Mutual advises that a consumer "may want to consider additional coverages" beyond traditional vehicles because of the high upfront and repair and replacement costs of EVs, leading to further increases in insurance costs. Maintaining EVs can cost the consumer more than traditional internal combustion engine vehicles. They are more expensive to repair because parts can cost more, there are fewer repair shops that can work on them, and labor costs for repairs is high, according to Liberty Mutual.
CBS News reports that comparatively heavier EVs pose risks for passengers in lighter vehicles or pedestrians if involved in a crash. The laws of physics provide that in a crash between a heavier and a lighter vehicle, the forces exerted on the lighter of the two will be much greater, posing a greater risk of injury or to life.
Experts are still at odds about the safety of a fully electric vehicle (as opposed to a gas-hybrid) if caught in a severe snowstorm and traffic jam. The Washington Post noted that "It is a scientific fact that batteries of all kinds lose capacity more rapidly in cold weather, and that includes the sophisticated lithium-ion ones used by Teslas and other EVs." A transition to electric vehicles has become the centerpiece of the Biden Administration’s goal to reach net-zero carbon emissions for the federal government by 2050. Last month, the U.S. Department of Treasury said that it will supply $12 billion in loans and grants to the auto industry to aid in the transition to electric vehicles countrywide. President Biden’s EPA also recently proposed a rule to set new tailpipe standards that are designed to instigate between a 64% to 69% EV adoption rate by next decade, according to EPA official and reported by CNN.
Safety concerns and increased costs for Americans may not be the only factors that will hinder the Biden Administration’s efforts. This summer, Ford announced that it is projected to lose $4.5 billion from EVs this year, revised from their earlier predicted loss of $3 billion.
“The near-term pace of EV adoption will be a little slower than expected, which is going to benefit early movers like Ford," Ford CEO Farley said in a press release reported by Fox Business. "EV customers are brand loyal and we’re winning lots of them with our high-volume, first-generation products; we’re making smart investments in capabilities and capacity around the world; and, while others are trying to catch up, we have clean-sheet, next-generation products in advanced development that will blow people away."
That company continues to generate substantial profits from its traditional vehicle lines. “Ford Model e is an EV startup within Ford. As everyone knows, EV startups lose money while they invest in capabilities, develop knowledge, build volume and gain share," Farley said this spring, before the losses were announced.
And this was not the only bad news for the Biden Administration, who has attached itself to "green" energy initiatives. Recently, Secretary of the Department of Energy Jennifer Granholm scheduled a four-day road trip from Charlotte, NC to Memphis, TN to highlight the benefits of EVs to Americans. It revealed bad planning and the challenges EV owners who wish to travel cross-country may face.
Granholm's caravan experienced charging station shortages, ran up against the limited driving range of EVs, and used a gas-powered car to commandeer a spot for Secretary Granholm’s EV, angering a family of "ordinary" citizens wanting to charge their own car. “It was poor judgement on the part of the team,” Granholm told Rep. Scott Franklin (R-FL) at a hearing this week.
As the share of EVs populating America’s roads continues to increase, incidents like these may become more common. Coupled with the potential safety hazards of these new vehicles, in addition to the coming crisis of depleted lithium storage—the debate over the long-term benefits transitioning to electric vehicles is far from over.
When you tally up the EV negatives, there are way more of them than the positives. It’s just another cockamamy fade by hypocritical environmental Globalists. They get chauffeured around in big SUVs and fly in personal jets around the world while dictating to the little people how they should live. They are arrogant SOBs who shouldn’t be given the time of day.
In the modern era people have been pumping oil out of the ground since around 1860.
That is well over 150 years.
Today and in recent years the world consumption of oil has been approximately 90 million barrels of crude oil a day.
That’s 32,850,000,000 (32.85 BILLION) barrels per year.
(an industry standard barrel contains approximately 45 gallons of crude oil)
About 45 percent of a typical barrel of crude oil is refined into gasoline.
An additional 29 percent is refined to diesel fuel.
The remaining oil is used to make plastics and other products
Will the lithium and rare earth mineral mines produce sufficient material to make enough vehicle batteries
to replace 74% of the energy produced by the oil pumped every day?
Will those mines still be producing 150 yeas from now?
PS - Think of this:
The Greenies are always carrying on about “renewable energy”,
But none of the lithium or rare earth minerals rquired for modern EV batteries is renewable.
And my bet is that those mineral mines will run dry a long time befor the oild wells dry up.
Saudi Arabia alone has been pumping oil for 85 years and is still producing 4.5 BILLION barrels a year with proven reserves of more than 220 years at that rate.
Did the same, no home owners, but I get anxious come hurricane season
I go to Reddit to read articles and saw an post about some guy was denied parking in a parking garage. They would not allow Chevy Bolts. His electric car was not a Bolt but still banned and he could not understand why.
Answers given were high insurance costs, electric cars damaged slightly in accident but are totaled out by the insurance company as the battery needs replacement. Uncontrollable fire, mass deaths.
There were people who still thought electric was good. I guess if your home or car is not on fire then everything is good.
Those high insurance costs will also cause gas car insurance to rise to help pay for electric.
If you are more than 3 miles from ocean, chances of hurricane damage odds favor you by 1000:1. At 10+ miles from ocean odds favor by 10,000:1.
I paid HI since 1970 without collecting a dime.
Enough is enough.
“...unexpectedly!”
#27 Depends on the maker of batteries.
This guy has a site with nearly 3 million subscribers. He talks loud and fast.
Here is his tests on knockoff batteries. In short do not buy.
How Dangerous Are Knockoff Tool Batteries? Let’s find out!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xf0qqsRMKpM
I bought a backup battery for my Ryobi lawn mower from Amazon. It has worked better than the original battery. Now the original battery is dead, but the off-brand battery is working fine.
I have a long time friend who has been a car salesman for nearly 30 years and he tells me it's difficult to even interest a potential customer in test driving an EV.
His words not mine.. "they're pretty much turned OFF when it comes to EVs."
Just so you know... I'm located in the mid-south just outside Nashville.
Do hybrids have those lithium batteries too?
Yeah. Where are they insuring those cars, San Francisco? Our two cost us 1900 per year. If II did not feel the need to have uninsured coverage it would be much less.
“””So many reasons not to buy an Electric Car…””
Citizens Free Press has linked this FR thread to their site with the above title.
This is a first for me - CFP linked directly to Free Republic for their story! Thanks for the pub, Kane 😁
“”can easily be fully recharged each night””
Kalifornia is forcing regulations that will require all EVs to be capable of bidirectional charging. The Kalifornia tyrants want mandatory ‘plug into the grid’ capability for all EVs. The purpose? They don’t even try to hide it. They want the power in YOUR EV just in case they decide they need it.
So, you could be charging your EV overnight, and expect to drive in the morning. The tyrants could just take your EVs energy. They will probably mandate everyone purchase a bicycle for when they have taken your electricity. Each according to their need, don’tcha know.
Chinese EVs are very inexpensive. The strike facilitated a CCP takeover of U.S. auto. They’ll loss lead.
It doesn't appear anything has passed yet, but they seem to be taking a serious look at it.
This article is full of FUD info. It’s the automotive equivalent of what the msm says about “assault weapons”.
EV fires are rare compared to ICE car fires, and hybrids are the worst.
Hummer EV weigh 4.5 tons, it’s a beast, and only a few dozen have sold. A Tesla model Y is about 4,500 pounds, model 3 about 4,000 pounds. The model Y is the best selling vehicle in the world in Q1. Teslas are the safest cars as tested by NHTSA and Euro Ncap.
EVs battery prices are falling and just reached $100/kwh. Since the battery is 40% of the cost, the price of EVs will continue to fall. Manufacturers warranty the battery for about 8 years or 100,000 miles. Degradation is about 1% a year.
The US is behind in EV adoption, but at 8% and growing 60% per year, it will catch up with Europe (20%) and China (40%) soon enough.
If you want to buy an American car here in the US, check out Cars dot com and see which cars have the highest U.S. made content: the top 4 are Teslas.
Maintenance is much less expensive than ICE cars. Running costs are much less especially if you charge at home or drive a lot. Repair can be more depending on extent of damage. Your typical fender bender is going to be about the same.
I like the idea of buying my car online, and avoiding the dealership “experience”: markups and unnecessary dealer installed stuff that can add thousands of dollars to the cost.
There are a lot of reasons EVs might not work for you, but this biased article isn’t what you should base a buying decision on.
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