• Quick note - the problem with Youtube videos not embedding on the forum appears to have been fixed, thanks to ZiprHead. If you do still see problems let me know.

Cont: Luton Airport Car Park Fire IV

Wudang said:
I found this (which I think may have been posted before?) I used a different search engine with the search terms below.


BASE search engine and parms https://www.base-search.net/Search/Results?lookfor=electric vehicle fires statistics&type=all&sort=score desc,dctitle_sort asc&oaboost=1&refid=dcdden&filter[]=f_dclang:eng
Click to expand...

Did you notice this little gem?

It is worth noting that globally, there have been 353 EV fires over 12 years from 2010 to
2022, based on a total of 22.5 million EVs.
Click to expand...

Kind of hard to get to that to line up with the offending line from the insurance 'research' isn't it?

3,474 fires in hybrid vehicles per 100,000 vehicles sold
Click to expand...

353 fires in any EV of any kind in twelve years vs 3,473 per 100k vehicles sold.

Seriously, I smell a rat.

I'm noting from the insurance article, the second figure was their justification for charging an extra $20 per month insurance premiums for household fire insurance.
 
I’ve tried to find figures for EV fires in Malaysia, as a large proportion of the population here thinks they catch fire easily. I found figures from the Malaysian fire service saying there were 3,500+ car fires in 2023, then a news report saying there were 4 EV fires in the 12 months up to October 2024, of which 3 were due to crash/debris damage and 1 overcharging. EVs are only 1.2% of recent registrations, though, so probably too small a sample size on top and bottom of equation to draw anything reliable from.

This year, one EV fire made the headlines when a Taycan caught fire, and the press delighted in ‘Million Dollar EV burnout’ style reporting (note people here often refer to the ringgit as dollar, and a Taycan goes for RM750k, so if you imagine it had an extra 33% of optional extras, you can squint to get to that figure!). But the reporting of the 50 or so people who die each year from ICE car fires is paragraphs on p9 unless it involves children.

Malaysia also has a heftily petroleum-driven economy (though it’s not the biggest part any more), with revenues from the state petroleum company backing up government spending.
 
An ICE vehicle that catches fire goes up very quickly. Anything that prevents an occupant from leaping out quickly can be fatal. In contrast EV fires often, I think usually, start more of a slow burn (no liquid fuel and very little oil) and are easier to escape from.

I know someone who got a small reduction in his home insurance premium when he told his insurance company that he had an EV (and a home charger), on the basis that this reduced the likelihood of a vehicle-related fire at the house.

I'm not sure how you overcharge an EV, unless the thing is faulty. I believe that the safety standards for Chinese EVs sold in China aren't nearly so rigorous as for the cars they export. That although many Chinese drive cars similar to the ones for foreign markets, there are also cheap runabouts without the battery management systems we would expect. So that's going to skew things.

I think there are two factors that will work in opposite directions. One is improving manufacturing standards to make EVs even less likely to catch fire, but the other is an increase in ageing EVs with wearing components and dodgy repairs. Although, as time goes on and the early models are mainly scrapped, the overall effect could be positive.

The flammability of ICE cars is pretty horrific, but it's been ignored as something that's "aye been". With the switch to EVs, concentration on fire reduction can only be a good thing regardless of the fact that EVs are already relatively safe. The overall benefit could be substantial.
 
Someone's found a new way to do car parking wrong in Luton Airport's Car Park.

Car Park 1 this time, the twin of number 2 which burned down. This time they decided to exit the car park while still 2 floors up. IDK if it was an EV or not (but it definitely was and it was somehow definitely the cause, of course).

www.bbc.co.uk

London Luton Airport: Man hurt after vehicle falls from car park

The vehicle is believed to have taken a wrong turn and crashed from the third storey to the ground.
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk
 
Jack by the hedge said:
Someone's found a new way to do car parking wrong in Luton Airport's Car Park.

Car Park 1 this time, the twin of number 2 which burned down. This time they decided to exit the car park while still 2 floors up. IDK if it was an EV or not (but it definitely was and it was somehow definitely the cause, of course).

www.bbc.co.uk

London Luton Airport: Man hurt after vehicle falls from car park

The vehicle is believed to have taken a wrong turn and crashed from the third storey to the ground.
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk
Click to expand...
Those barriers look rather lightweight, usually they're concrete.
 
catsmate said:
Those barriers look rather lightweight, usually they're concrete.
Click to expand...
I was thinking that too. Flimsy.

You rather imagine that multi-storey car parks would be built such that if a confused driver presses go instead of stop, or goes right instead of left, they won't suddenly find themselves outside.
 
Jack by the hedge said:
I was thinking that too. Flimsy.

You rather imagine that multi-storey car parks would be built such that if a confused driver presses go instead of stop, or goes right instead of left, they won't suddenly find themselves outside.
Click to expand...
Exactly. Very disruptive to traffic.
Off-hand I don't recall an aboveground multi-storey with such light barriers but I admit it's not something I notice.
 
Jack by the hedge said:
Someone's found a new way to do car parking wrong in Luton Airport's Car Park.

Car Park 1 this time, the twin of number 2 which burned down. This time they decided to exit the car park while still 2 floors up. IDK if it was an EV or not (but it definitely was and it was somehow definitely the cause, of course).

www.bbc.co.uk

London Luton Airport: Man hurt after vehicle falls from car park

The vehicle is believed to have taken a wrong turn and crashed from the third storey to the ground.
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk
Click to expand...

That's quite an extreme response to losing your ticket.
 
I think this car actually was an EV. Astonishingly it seems to be more or less intact and is not on fire.
 

I'm not sure what the last few posts have to do with the fire at Luton airport

ETA, the 8 I put in AAH

Replying to this modbox in thread will be off topic  Posted By: jimbob
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom