Comment by hgomersall
1 day ago
Do you worry about spontaneous combustion of ICE cars? They are far more likely to burst into flames than EVs.
1 day ago
Do you worry about spontaneous combustion of ICE cars? They are far more likely to burst into flames than EVs.
Is this true when adjusting for vehicle age? The average age of an EV is quite a bit lower than the average age of an ICE vehicle, and I assume there is at least some correlation between a vehicle's age and how likely it is to explode (based on degradation, type of use, type of owner, etc.).
> They are far more likely to burst into flames than EVs.
There’s a substantial increased risk only with ICE cars that are at least 10 years old and poorly maintained. Li-ion EVs carry that risk from day one.
Neither EVs nor ICE cars spontaneously combust unless there's a design flaw. Even when this happens it tends to be very rare, but the Chevy Bolt fires for example were fixed with a recall. Similarly a Ford recall last year fixed a problem where fuel injectors could leak and cause an engine fire.
EVs and ICE cars can both catch on fire in a bad enough accident, but this is true regardless of the age of the vehicle, and tends to be more sudden and violent with gasoline explosions vs battery fires.
> unless there's a design flaw
No. They can happen with manufacturing flaws, wear and tear, or with a dent to the underside of the car in case of EVs too.