Valuable information about electric cars
- Thread starter SnakeBit!
- Start date
Wow that's actually really good to know. I happen across tons of car fires.
ttocs
Post Whore
lipo batteries have been huge in the remote control car/airplane world for a while now. They can go into thermal just from bad charging or from impacts and short of smothering them with sand there isn't much you can do. They make all kinds of fireproof safety bags that you are supposed to charge the batteries inside of in case it does explode but at that point the bag is just to give you something to grab and throw outside. Others I have seen make a system where they put the battery inside of a brick and then put a bag of sand on top of it so that if it does explode then the sand smothers it. Because of all this there have been more then a few house fires caused by people plugging them in and then walking away. We lost one member of our rc club when his little workshop caught fire and was started by a battery.
For a while now I have been thinking that it should be mandated that auto manf need to include a fire ext somewhere in the car and for cars like this it seems a no brainer.
For a while now I have been thinking that it should be mandated that auto manf need to include a fire ext somewhere in the car and for cars like this it seems a no brainer.
RedTwilight
Active Member
THe battery compositions are ever changing.
The earlier Lithium Polymere (Li-Po) batteries that we use in RC started out at somewhat volatile and sensitive to overcharging. Advances in battery tech have allowed them to be less sensitive and can be charged and discharged at far higher rates than they used to be able to handle.
But they don't just explode. More like leak an a very intense exothermic reaction occur. We've taken an old Li-Po at my RC club and ran a spike through it to show members what happens to one.
Lithium Ion (as used in cell phones and EV's, etc) are more forgiving than Li-Po but can still succumb to shorts or too high of rate of charge or discharge.
The newest and potentially safer are Aluminum-Ion and Aluminum Graphene are still being perfected. But the potential to replace Li-Po and Li-Ion are very promising.
So with all these chemicals, don't forget that the proper fire extinguisher should be used.
The earlier Lithium Polymere (Li-Po) batteries that we use in RC started out at somewhat volatile and sensitive to overcharging. Advances in battery tech have allowed them to be less sensitive and can be charged and discharged at far higher rates than they used to be able to handle.
But they don't just explode. More like leak an a very intense exothermic reaction occur. We've taken an old Li-Po at my RC club and ran a spike through it to show members what happens to one.
Lithium Ion (as used in cell phones and EV's, etc) are more forgiving than Li-Po but can still succumb to shorts or too high of rate of charge or discharge.
The newest and potentially safer are Aluminum-Ion and Aluminum Graphene are still being perfected. But the potential to replace Li-Po and Li-Ion are very promising.
So with all these chemicals, don't forget that the proper fire extinguisher should be used.
ttocs
Post Whore
I can say that explosion was a bit of a stretch, but I think "very intense" might be a bit of a stretch in the other direction to downplay what happens.
MyLittlePony
Active Member
Actually I own a Model S, and there are several locations on the car that have decals inside telling fire crew where to not cut, and other instructions. The Chevy Volt we had also had these, even though it was a plug-in hybrid, thus also contained combustible fuel. When purchasing the car, an associate even claimed they were helping departments in training what to do, since they’re so different. Whether that is true or not, I can’t say, and whether the department that comes to rescue you is one that had the training is another thing. But EVs are the future, so everyone in the emergency response industry need to know what to do.
EV’s are not the future, they will always be a niche. There will never be anything less than an abundance of fuel to burn - whether it’s from the ground or derived from plants - but there will forever be a major hindrance with charging times.
Oil is not going away. Ever. It didn’t come from dinosaurs, it comes from organic matter in the ocean and is constantly being replenished. This is not theory, this is fact - and that’s why the majority of oil exploration is done out there in deep water, to find nice new reservoirs that will self sustain like the oil fields in the Gulf of Mexico.
Oil is not going away. Ever. It didn’t come from dinosaurs, it comes from organic matter in the ocean and is constantly being replenished. This is not theory, this is fact - and that’s why the majority of oil exploration is done out there in deep water, to find nice new reservoirs that will self sustain like the oil fields in the Gulf of Mexico.
ttocs
Post Whore
I am not sold on it myself but not writing it off either. I had a friend that worked at a place that was working to make electric cars work and eventually left because the head engineer told him that it would never work with out huge government subsidies that do not appear to be happening anytime soon. I myself being into electronics I understand that the electric vehicles sound all clean and perfect until you realize that most of the us is powered by nuclear/coal power. Then take into account the loss of power with transmitting down lines as well as just in the charging process as well as just setting up a new infrastructure for recharging all the cars and I am not sure what will happen.
If I lived in Florida and could have a solar panel charge my car when I’m home and a portable panel to charge it at work then I’d consider it. Then it’s technically clean energy and that’s about the only way. Otherwise, no it’s not as clean as everyone says cause it still takes coal/ nuclear power just as Scott said.
It’s a great idea and I’m sure one day they’ll find cleaner ways to make power, but until then I’ll stick to burning petrol and corn.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
It’s a great idea and I’m sure one day they’ll find cleaner ways to make power, but until then I’ll stick to burning petrol and corn.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
ttocs
Post Whore
now europe has made huge strides in renewable energy and there I would support it a little more then here. The high price of fuel in those countries would also be another point in its favor.
PinkieT
Well-Known Member
We had a Ford Focus FFE (all electric) car for a few years. We also have solar panels that produced 495 kWh last month. As for what 3.14 said, the oil is not replenishing itself, at least not fast enough for us to use. The oil we are pumping now was from organic matter buried in the Jurassic (180 million to 140 million years ago) and Cretaceous (140 million to 65 million years ago) periods.
MyLittlePony
Active Member
At first I thought this was a joke. EVs aren’t the future because we are running out of combustible fuel. There are plenty of other reasons. Which I can list, if you truly want to hear them.
And one of the reasons they drill off shore is because no one owns the soil under it (technically), and no government can regulate it either because of where they are. Also, it’s so difficult to do any drilling here in the states. There are already so many regulations put in place to protect citizens, but even when they have a legal right, citizens lose their shit!
My state has its own power grid, and has so much energy coming in from windmills and solar, that it’s actually wasted because they can’t store it all. I’m not sure how much they get from coal, but even if it’s 100%, our home is solar. So our Tesla and former Volt were technically “solar powered.” The real argument in how green these vehicles are involves the manufacturing process. If you’re buying a new car, no matter what powers it, it hurts the environment due to pollution involved during production, not to mention all the resources taken from the earth to make the batteries, sheet metal, etc. The only way to avoid this is buying used, which is smart anyway because Model S’s depreciate pretty fast; like by $10,000 each year.
So, honestly, if you want to help the environment, keep you’re current car. Buy salvaged or refurbished parts. I have had my mustang for 21 years. Compared to modern cars, it’s a gas guzzler, but so few things are new on it. All those parts that would’ve otherwise sat in a landfill or salvage yard were essentially “recycled.” The say a new F series truck is sold every 30 seconds... ...what happens to all the old ones? Keep your car on the road for as long as it makes economic sense.
The real problem is marketing. They’re trying to get city dwellers to buy these things, but many live in apartment complexes, so they not only can’t charge at work, but can’t charge at home either. Suburbanites, however, they have no problem charging them. And it honestly is no different than charging your phone at night while you sleep. Go to bed, wake up the next morning, and you have a 200 mile range again. Some even have more than that. I was curious to see what leaving the state might be like, and really, you’re stopping to charge as often as you would stop to refuel a normal car. Does it take 3 minutes? No. But we’re talking long trips here. You and everyone going to the bathroom, eating a meal, etc. You’d do that in a combustible car.
Before the Model S, we had the Volt. The range was around 50 miles, depending on conditions. It could get 60 on a good day, but it was a plug in hybrid, so you didn’t have charging anxiety. If, for whatever reason, you went too far, the fuel would power the generator, recharging the battery. This is the type of vehicle city dwellers should own, or anyone considering such a vehicle. We had that car for two years, and only filled it up, like maybe 3 times.
But as for loss of power, how do you charge? Well, with the amount of driving my family does, if that’s all we drive, it may take a week or two, but that would mean a big natural disaster, and Tesla has been known to extend ranges (yes, they can do that) for vehicles registered in certain disaster areas).
And just like when your own power goes out for days at a time, you find someone that will let you charge your phone. You’d find someone who will let you charge your car, may it be a friend, family member, or an actual facility that charges this kind of service.
But that’s another reason why plug in hybrids like the Volt was so good, if that happened, you had an alternative, the fuel, a back up plan. But wait, combustible cars like the mustang are just as likely to have this issue. When Hurricane Harvey hit the TX coast, people in DFW went into panic mode. I had already gotten fuel for the mustang the day before, but demand surged due to a scare and places were selling out. There were hour long lines and stations that were simply closed because they had no fuel. People were comparing it with the fuel shortages of the 70s.
This problem lasted about two weeks. During which, I did not drive my mustang at all. I only drove the Volt. People needed that gas to get to work, school, food, etc... ...to drive my mustang when I had an EV would be a crime. Whatever the mustang used should go to those people. They don’t know it, but they should be thankful for what EVs existed in the area back then.
ttocs
Post Whore
I agree that hybrids are a good fit at the current time as we have have a prius for over 10 yrs and been really happy with it. It only takes a second to throw 8 gallons in the tank to fill it up and with it averaging 45+ mpg it gets well over 300 miles on a tank.
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