Another one bites the dust - After massive bus fire, CT pulls electric fleet from service
(www.middletownpress.com)
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Why do the "carbon footprint" people refuse to talk about how fossil fuels are used to produce the electricity that runs EVs? Maybe it's because they're trying to force a shitty product on the plebs as a means of controlling them. It sure as shit isn't about emissions.
Fossil fuel power plants are far more efficient, and the electrical grid runs on a mix of sources that includes nuclear, wind, solar, hydro, etc.
But mostly coal and natural gas. I mean I ain't mad at it- we're the Saudi Arabia of coal, and Canada probably has enough natural gas to make Russia blush if they just looked for it and could provide all of North America with like 1000 years of power. Although I do think BEVs are a wrong turn and FCEVs are the way; I know they currently suck and will suck for the foreseeable future but if they had the market share of BEVs they'd probably not suck- and that massive amount of natural gas that US and Canada (probably) have can be converted into hydrogen. BEVs are just too fucking heavy; BEVs weigh like 1500-2000 lbs more than equivalent ICE vehicles.
I don't believe these issues are insurmountable, just that the companies that make these vehicles probably don't want to do what's necessary.
That is to say, it's not enough to try to design the battery system so there will be no fire. They also need to design it to contain a fire. But that requires extra weight and volume that could otherwise be used for a bigger battery to make the bus look more capable.
No. It's not that.
EVs today are what cars of the 1890s were: technically functional but probably more of a pain in the ass than the previous technology (horses) for most situations.
Once making a reliable car became cheap enough to mass produce them, everyone bought one. Hat tip to Henry Ford and all that, but someone would have done it if not for him.
I'm 100% on board with EVs -- just not until it makes sense for me to switch, and we're not even close. I wouldn't want one of the EV cars out there right now if I got it for free -- it's again technically functional but more of a pain in the ass than my gas-powered car.
Governments trying to force this shit right now are evil, asinine, or both.
Gasoline is much safer than batteries.
Batteries have to carry a LOT of energy in a relatively fragile state, where the energy is split between a flimsy barrier. If the two sides ever link together - called a "short" - the battery can violently explode.
As we require bigger and bigger batteries charged with more and more KWH of electricity, the risk of a runaway chain reaction dumping all of that energy into an explosion or violent fire exponentially increases:
Yes, because it's not just a chemical reaction where oxygen is reacting with something, like you see with gasoline and other chemical fuels. Battery fires are driven by the conversion of potential electrical energy into heat/fire, so spraying it with water does jack shit.
Well.. at least movies depicting car explosions are now realistic lol.