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Comment by jacquesm

1 hour ago

> I'm not sure

> definitely

If you're not sure, why the definitely?

Lithium packs can light up (much) faster than you sketch here. The process you describe is correct in sequence but it takes about as long to read that sentence to get to a car that is engulfed in flame. More than one person died from the combination of toxic gases and heat before they managed to get out of the car.

Lithium Ion is a very bad battery type for anything that should be safe or moves, LFP is far better and LTO is better still.

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jacquesm

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ggreer  1 hour ago

The "I'm not sure" referred to road damage. The "definitely" referred to risk to people.

The fact that some people have died in lithium battery fires doesn't tell you if they're a greater risk than petroleum vehicle fires. Around 500 Americans die in vehicle fires every year. Last year, EVs were around 3% of vehicle miles traveled in the US, so if they're as dangerous as petroleum vehicles, we should expect 15 battery fire deaths in 2025. The actual number seems to be 2 or 3.

  • jacquesm  1 hour ago

    Petrol != diesel.

    • ggreer  32 minutes ago

      By petroleum I mean gasoline and diesel.

      Diesel vehicles are 11% of vehicle miles traveled in the US, and around 60 people died in diesel vehicle fires last year (12% of vehicle fire fatalities). So they seem to be as dangerous as gasoline vehicles. This is probably because while diesel is more difficult to ignite than gasoline, diesel vehicles tend to have larger fuel tanks, so the harm caused by a diesel fire tends to be greater.

      2 replies →

flanz_10  1 hour ago

> If you're not sure, why the definitely?

They said "I'm not sure" to the road surface question, and "definitely more of a risk to people".

Roads and people are different things.

  • jacquesm  1 hour ago

    Yes, and petrol and diesel are also different things. Completely different flashpoint and activation energy.